Cowlitz County WA Archives Biographies.....Lewis, John Wesley September 13, 1894 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/wa/wafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Ila L. Wakley iwakley@msn.com June 7, 2010, 10:02 am Source: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. III, Published 1928, Pages 401 - 402 Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company JOHN WESLEY LEWIS. Though a comparatively young man, John W. Lewis has had much business experience and as assistant manager of the west unit of the Long-Bell Lumber Company at Longview, Washington, has given proof of unusual executive ability and dependable judgment. Mr. Lewis was born at Pollock, Grant parish, Louisiana, September 13,, 1894, and is a son of John Thomas and Martha Elizabeth (Tracy) Lewis. The Lewis family is of Scotch-Irish origin. His father, a native of Mississippi, was a successful farmer, owning four hundred and eighty acres of land. He raised cattle, operated a grain mill, and also engaged in the lumber business and was an active man of affairs up to the time of his death, which occurred at Pollock about 1902. His widow survived him a number of years, dying at Pollock in 1921. John W. Lewis attended the public school at Pollock to the age of fifteen years, when he went to work and during the ensuing four years saved enough money to enable him to attend a business college at Bowling Green, Kentucky, for six months, which completed his scholastic training. His widowed mother had eight children and managed to maintain the homestead and rear her children, but was not able to give them the educational advantages she would have liked. Mr. Lewis went to work for the Great Southern Lumber Company at Bogaloosa, Louisiana, with which he remained for a short time, when he engaged in logging operations on his own account near Hackley, Louisiana. In 1917 he became the owner of a lumber mill at Jonesville, Louisiana, which he operated until 1919, when he went to Lake Charles, that state, as chief clerk and later became general manager for Calcasieu division of the Long-Bell Lumber Company's plant, which position he held until April 13, 1926, when he was transferred to Longview, Washington, as assistant manager of the company's west unit, in which position he is giving very capable and satisfactory service. On December 12, 1908, in Pollock, Louisiana, Mr. Lewis was united in marriage to Miss Mattie Isabelle Stewart, who was born at that place April 27, 1884, and is a daughter of A. W. and Emma Stewart. The former, a native of Mississippi, was for many years engaged in farming, mercantile and logging business, and died at Pollock in 1922. Mrs. Lewis received a good education, being a graduate of the Meridian (Miss.) Woman's College. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis are the parents of four children: Jennings Conrad, born August 29, 1909; John Wesley, Jr., born August 22, 1914; Fred Alton, August 12, 1921; and Doris Elane, June 28, 1923. Mr. Lewis has always given his political support to the democratic party and has taken an active interest in public affairs. While a resident of Lake Charles, Louisiana, he was a director of the Calcasieu National Bank of Southwest Louisiana; was a director of the Lake Charles Chamber of Commerce, served as chairman of the American Red Cross for the parishes of Calcasieu and Cammeron, and was chairman of the court of honor of the Boy Scouts and vice president of the Boy Scout Council. Because he was engaged in an essential industry, he was exempted from military service during the World war. He is a Mason, has received the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite; and belongs to the Order of the Eastern Star. The Concatinated Order of Hoo-Hoo, a lumbermen's organization, and the Longview Country Club number him in their membership. A man of strong character and sterling integrity, his record has won for him a deservedly high place in the regard of all who have been associated with him, and he is one of the Long-Bell Company's most capable and effective officials. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/wa/cowlitz/bios/lewis162gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/wafiles/ File size: 4.4 Kb