Sumner County Biographies
"Portrait and Biographical Album of Sumner County"
Chapman Bros., Chicago, 1890
SHARPE P. G. LEWIS, President of
First National Bank of Caldwell,
prominently connected with the growth
and development of the city, was born in
Bucks County, Pa., June 24, 1849, and is a son of
Reading and Margaret (Shadinger) Lewis. The
paternal ancestry are of English origin, the first
settlements in this country having been made in
Connecticut. Thomas Lewis, the grandfather of
our subject, was a native of the same county in
which he of whom we write first saw the light, and
Reading Lewis was also born in that county. The
latter was born about 1821, and lived in Pennsylvania until 1873 when he removed to Newton,
Kan., whence ten years later he removed to Caldwell, in which city his death took place in January,
1888. He was a graduate of Jefferson Medical
College at Philadelphia and devoted most of his
life to the practice of the medical profession. Ho
was in easy financial circumstances. For many
years before his death he was a member of the
Friends' Church. His wife was born in Bucks
County, Pa., about 1827 and departed this life in
1862. She was of German ancestry, her forefathers
having been among the first settlers of the county
in which she was born.
Our subject is the eldest in a family of four
children, was reared in Bucks and Montgomery
Counties, Pa., and was the recipient of excellent
educational advantages, as well as the best of home
training. He acquired an academic education and
in quite early life taught school. In 1872 he went
to Macon County, Ill., and was engaged in teaching, and in carrying on the mercantile business and
buying grain at Argenta until 1878. He then followed his father to Newton, Kan., and the next
year took up his abode in Caldwell where he has
since resided. In Pennsylvania and at Newton he
read law, and in the latter place was admitted to
the bar and practiced his profession, and in connection therewith carried on a loaning business.
In 1881 he, with others, organized and put into
running order the Caldwell Savings Bank and was
male Vice-President of the institution, but in the
following year became President, continuing in
that capacity until 1887, when the bank was reorganized as the First National Bank of Caldwell,
Kan. He has since served as President of the new
institution and he is also extensively engaged in
the real-estate and money-loaning business. He
started in life without a dollar, and has made all
he now possesses since he came to Kansas.
The marriage of Mr. Lewis was celebrated at
Argenta, Ill., in 1875, his bride being Miss Mary
A., daughter of Nathanial Griffin, and a native of
Champaign County, Ill. The estimable and intelligent lady has borne her husband six children:
Anna, Edna, Ralph, Eugene, Francis, and Ernest.
Anna and Francis have been removed from their
parents by death. Mr. Lewis belongs to the social
orders of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons,
and the Knights of Pythias. He is a stanch supporter of the Republican party. A man of more
than ordinary intelligence and fine business qualifications, honorable in his dealing with mankind and
exerting all his influence for the advancement of
the material and moral interests of the city and
vicinity, Mr. Lewis is regarded with respect by the
citizens of Caldwell and wherever he is known.
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This website created Oct. 29, 2011 by Sheryl McClure.
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