Sedgwick County KSGenWeb

Portrait And Biographical Album of Sedgwick County, Kan.

Chapman Brothers 1888

Pages 206 - 207

COL. HIRAM W. LEWIS, who is an eminent financier of Southern Kansas, and a prominent citizen of Sedgwick County, is President of the Kansas National Bank, and of the National Loan Company, of Wichita, and is also President of the First National Bank at Pratt, Pratt County, and Vice President of the Kingman National Bank, Kingman County, Kan.  He is a native of Warren, Trumbull Co., Ohio, and the date of his birth was March 11, 1843.  He is the son of Fitch B. and Fanny (Coats)  Lewis, natives of Trumbull County, where his father was engaged in farming and stock-dealing, and here his death occurred in 1878.  He was a man of much sound wisdom and practical ability, and, with his amiable wife, held an honored position in the community where they lived.  His wife died many years prior to his decease, her death taking place in 1852.  They were the parents of two children, a daughter, now Mrs. J. L. Hill, of Wichita, and the subject of this biography.

      Col. Lewis remained an inmate of the home of his father until he was twenty years old. He received a fine education at the Garfield Eclectic Institute, at Hiram, Ohio, and subsequently at Williston Seminary, Easthampton, Mass.  In the darkest hours of the great Rebellion he laid aside his scholarly pursuits and went to the battle-field in the defense of his country, serving in the Army of the Cumberland from May, 1863, to June, 1865.  He fought with valor in many battles and skirmishes, and at the battle of Chickamauga was wounded.  After the war was over he resumed his studies, and entering the Williston Seminary at Easthampton, Mass., was a student there for nearly three years, attaining high rank in scholarship.  In 1869 he went to Mississippi, and engaged in the business of raising cotton.  During his residence in that State he became very influential in public affairs.  He was a member of the State Legislature for 1870 and 1871, and for four years, from 1871 to 1875, he was Sheriff and Tax Collector.  He also engaged in a journalistic enterprise, and was editor and proprietor of the Columbus Press, a paper published in Columbus, Miss., in the interests of the Republican party.

     In the year 1876 Col. Lewis left his home in the South and came to Wichita, where he has ever since been prominently identified with the business interests of the city.  He immediately entered on his career as a banker by opening the Farmer's and Merchant's Bank, which was conducted under that name until 1882, when it was nationalized with a capital of $50,000.  He has since increased its capital to $250,000, and the loan company has at present a capital of $500,000.  Besides these he has banking interests in other counties, as above mentioned, and owns stock in various other banks with which he has no official  connection.  He is a large real-estate holder.  He has had a hand in the various enterprises for the  benefit of the city; he was one of the three men who built the city waterworks, and he founded the hydraulic roller mills with others.  Aside from his work in aiding the material prosperity of the city, the Colonel has shown himself a public benefactor in advancing the higher educational interests, not only of this city but of the whole State, by assisting in the foundation of the Lewis Academy, to the support of which he has contributed generously, and the youth of to-day, and of all time to come, will have cause to bless him and his fellow-founders for placing within their reach the means of a better education that they could otherwise obtain.

      The marriage of Col. Lewis to Miss Lucy F. Strong took place in 1868.  She was the daughter of Alfred L. Strong, of Easthampton, Mass., and was a native of that town.  She died in Wichita in 1880.  She was a woman of fine character, and during her few years' residence here her pleasant social qualities won her many true friends.  She was the mother of four children, namely: George S., Fanny C., Frederick W. and Mary.  Our subject was a second time married. His present wife is a sister of his former wife, and her maiden name was Kitty Strong.  Three children have been born of this union--Alfred F., Lucy and Philip K.

      Col. and Mrs. Lewis are members of the Presbyterian Church, and take a conspicuous part in all its works for the moral advancement of the town.  The Colonel is an earnest advocate of temperance.  In politics he is prominently identified with the Republican party, of Kansas.  He and his wife have a beautiful home on the corner of Topeka avenue and Second street, and the many who have crossed its threshold have gone away with pleasant memories of the gracious hostess and genial host.

      Our subject is a man of broad culture and literary ability, and during these years of his busy career he has still found time to devote to intellectual pastimes, and many an able article and graceful poem from his ready pen finds its way to an appreciative public through the columns of a newspaper.

[ Home ]