Martin J. Lewis Biography


	This biography appears on pages 88-92 in "History of Dakota Territory" 
	by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. IV (1915) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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				MARTIN J. LEWIS.  

	It is not difficult to speak of Martin J. Lewis, of Vermillion, 
for his life and his character were as clear as the sunlight. No man 
came in contact with him but speedily appreciated him at his true worth 
and knew he was a man who not only cherished a high ideal of duty but 
who lived up to it. He constantly labored for the right and from his 
early youth devoted a large portion of his time to the service of 
others. He was not an idle sentimentalist, but an earnest, effective 
worker. He was at the head of large business interests which he managed 
successfully, yet it was his rule to set apart some time each day for 
the labors of love to which he was devoted. While his friends missed 
him greatly, the memory of his beautiful life, of his sincerity and 
simplicity remains as a blessed benediction to those who knew him There 
was none who came within the circle of his acquaintance but who felt 
uplifted and benefited by the association.  

	Martin J. Lewis was a native of Bergen, Genesee county, New York, 
born February 13, 1843, at which time his father, William Lewis, was a 
prominent merchant of that place. Subsequently the family removed to 
Holley, Orleans county, New York, where the father became interested in 
trade and in milling, and while the family there resided Martin J. 
Lewis attended the Holley Academy. He was a youth of thirteen when his 
parents went to Columbus, Wisconsin, where the father became identified 
with various business enterprises, including that of banking, and it 
was under his direction that Martin J. Lewis made his initial step in 
banking circles, acting as paying teller in a bank when but sixteen 
years of age and often handling tens of thousands of dollars in a 
single day. A successive step in the business world was made when he 
entered the office of his uncle, Hon. J. T. Lewis, who at that time was 
secretary of state of Wisconsin and who during the early '60s became 
war governor there.  

	In further preparation for life's practical and responsible 
duties Martin J. Lewis attended the Milwaukee Commercial College, from 
which he was graduated on the completion of the regular course of 
study. Dakota was still under territorial rule when in 1869 he arrived 
in Vermillion and with the interests and upbuilding of the city he was 
thereafter closely associated to the time of his demise. He started in 
business life there as one of the partners in the firm of McHenry, 
Thompson & Lewis. There were changes in partnership from time to time 
until about 1870, when the firm of Inman, Thompson & Company was formed 
and so continued for more than two decades. In this Mr. Lewis was a 
partner, as he was in the firm of Thompson & Lewis. He won for himself 
a prominent position in commercial circles and an equally creditable 
place among the financiers of the state. Upon the organization of the 
First National Bank of Vermillion he was chosen its cashier and his 
ability, enterprise and well defined and carefully executed plans were 
among the most salient factors in its success. He aided in establishing 
and conducting the bank upon a safe basis, in which progressiveness was 
tempered by a wise conservatism that brought protection to the 
depositors yet did not impede the growth of the institution. The 
business integrity of Mr. Lewis was ever above question. All recognized 
the honesty of his methods and knew that he would far rather suffer 
loss than cause another to lose a cent through ally act of his. 
Moreover, he was always willing to extend a helping hand to those who 
were attempting to gain a foothold in the business world and he aided 
many another by substantial assistance and by wise counsel.  

	One of the most pleasing chapters in the life history of Mr. 
Lewis was his devotion to his parents. Thirteen years prior to his 
death he erected an attractive residence in Vermillion and sent for his 
father and mother to join him in his South Dakota home. They did so and 
he put forth every possible effort to promote their comfort and 
happiness up to $he time when he was called from this life. He also had 
three sisters, Mrs. D. M. Inman, Mrs. M. D. Thompson and Mrs. R. A. 
Morgan, to whom he was equally devoted and loyal.  

	The root of his conduct and of his relations with all of his 
fellowmen was found in his religious faith. When twenty years of age he 
made public profession of his belief in Christianity, but waited for 
three years to be baptized in the church in order that his sisters 
might receive the ordinance with him. He remained thereafter a most 
earnest, upright, conscientious Christian, who ever felt that he was 
but a steward into whose charge was given the things of this life, and 
he rendered a just account for all that came to him. He gave freely, 
generously and liberally of his means to the support of the First 
Baptist church of Vermillion and it was largely due to his efforts that 
the fine house of worship was erected. He long served as one of the 
deacons in the church and as superintendent of the Sunday school, 
taking a most active part in the organization of the school and doing 
everything in his power to make it a potent influence for good in the 
lives of the young, believing firmly in the proverb of King Solomon: 
"Train a child up in the way he should go and when he is old he will 
not depart therefrom." He was especially interested in organizing the 
Young People,s Union and the Junior Society of the church, and he loved 
to aid and encourage the young people in their work. To them he was 
constantly extending a helping hand or speaking an encouraging word, 
and he assisted many in their efforts to discriminate between that 
which is worth while in life and that which is nonessential. He 
believed in and supported all those agencies which work for the 
betterment of the individual and for the advancement of civilization, 
and as a citizen of the community in which he lived he did much to 
further public progress. He was especially interested in the University 
of South Dakota and his generous gifts aided in its establishment and 
in its later rebuilding. He manifested the same spirit toward Sioux 
Falls College, and one of the practical phases of his interest in 
education was the entertainment which he extended in his own home to 
young men eager for an education but with limited means. He helped them 
not only to enjoy the pleasures of home life in this way, but also 
shielded them from many temptations. In large measure he regarded the 
poor as his especial charge and to him might be properly applied the 
stanza which Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote on one of his classmates, who 
fifty years after their graduation was a noted philanthropist:  

	"You see that boy laughing, you think he's all fun; 
	But the angels laugh, too, at the good he has done. 
	The children laugh loud as they troop to his call, 
	But the poor man that knows him laughs loudest of all."  

	On the 8th of June, 1895, Mr. Lewis, accompanied by his nephew, 
Captain Orville W. Thompson, and Edward A. Ufford, left Vermillion for 
a tour of the old world. They visited many points of modern and 
historic interest and after about thirteen months of travel sailed 
again for America. At New York, where Mr. Lewis paused for a few days 
to visit relatives, he became ill and death called him on the 20th of 
June, 1896. His remains were taken back to Vermillion for interment. On 
that occasion one of the local papers wrote: "Martin J. Lewis died as 
he had lived - peacefully, blissfully, triumphantly. And as he wished, 
expressed across the wide ocean, he has been laid at rest by tender 
hands in the home cemetery. The home-coming came at last, O friend and 
brother, and a royal tribute it was to thy virtues." The funeral was 
made a memorial service and was probably attended by the largest 
concourse of people that has ever gathered on such an occasion in 
Vermillion. We again quote from a local paper, which said:  

	"And so the strong man, the good man, the true and tender and 
pure-hearted citizen, the Christian gentleman, has gone out from our 
midst. He went as one who had fought the good fight and kept the faith, 
a victor, one who could look up and beyond the hills of earth into 
heaven's windows and see and hear the reception there awaiting him. 
Long will he be missed and mourned and the memory of his life will be a 
better tribute than any pen can portray. Martin J. Lewis lived a life 
of irreproachable character; he was sincere, devoted, public-spirited, 
generous; he builded for others, benefit; he was the firm friend of 
education and religion, and contributed greatly for the advance of 
each; he was honest in purpose. Characters like his will ever stand the 
test of time and circumstance."  

	There was no one held in higher esteem, more sincerely honored or 
deeply loved in Vermillion than Martin J. Lewis. He had enjoyed the 
success that brings intellectual liberty, making him a citizen of the 
wider world of thought and knowledge, and as he studied and considered 
the conditions, questions and problems of the day, he came to know and 
realize that character building is worth more than all else, and he not 
only strove that his own life should measure up to high standards, but 
put forth most earnest efforts to encourage and aid others, especially 
the young, to see and do the right. Such careers are too near us now 
for their significance to be appraised at its true value, but the 
future will be able to trace the tremendous effect of their labors upon 
society and the institutions of their times. Such a spirit can never be 
lost to the world and must have stepped into a greater, more beautiful 
life when the door closed upon him and shut him from mortal vision, but 
such a friend, so dear, so loyal, so great-hearted, can never be 
replaced to those who were his associates.