Lewis, Robert

Born: 1822-XX-XX Virginia

Died: 1874-02-20 Clinton, Illinois

Flourished: Clinton, Illinois

Robert Lewis was a circuit court clerk and grocer. Lewis read law and earned admission to the bar in Ohio, but gave up the profession after his first case. He moved with his parents to Waynesville, Illinois, where he clerked for the firm of Snell and Lewis. He served as founding secretary of Olive Lodge, No. 98, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, chartered in 1851. He became clerk of the DeWitt County Circuit Court in 1852, a position he held until 1860. In April 1853, Lewis received appointment as postmaster of Clinton, Illinois. He remained postmaster until January 1856. Following his clerk years, Lewis purchased an interest in the grocery store of G. W. Neal in Clinton, planning to sell dry goods, groceries, sugars, molasses, and produce. In 1860, he owned real property valued at $10,000 and had a personal estate of $3,000. He was a member of the Democratic Party.

Lewis married Caroline Barnett in October 1854. By 1860, the couple had three children.

Clinton Weekly Register (IL), 27 February 1874, 5:2; Clinton Public (IL), 26 February 1874, 5:2; History of DeWitt County Illinois with Biographical Sketches of Prominent Representative Citizens of the County (Chicago: Pioneer, 1910), 1:135, 342; History of DeWitt County, Illinois (Philadelphia: W. R. Brink, 1882), 156; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), blank County, IL, Clinton, DeWitt County, IL, 86; The Central Transcript (Clinton, IL), 15 November 1860, 3:3; Record of Appointment of Postmasters, 1832-1971, NARA Microfilm Publication, M841, 145 rolls, Records of the Post Office Department, RG 28, 1845-1855, 18:44; 1855-1865, 20a:32, National Archives Building, Washington, DC; Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, DeWitt County, 20 October 1854, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL.