LEWIS, WARREN C. It has been the rare privilege of the
subject of this sketch to sit on the knee of his grandfather, Jonathan
LEWIS, and hear him relate the inspiring story of Bunker Hill and Saratoga,
in which battles he fought. Jonathan LEWIS was a pioneer and the first
town clerk of Kirby, Vermont, and one of the earliest settlers of West
Concord, then an unbroken wilderness. Warren C. was one of the nine children
of Jonathan LEWIS, Jr., a venerable citizen of that town, who died in 1877
in his ninetieth year. After attaining his majority, Warren obtained an
academic education, and became a successful teacher.
“He
doffed with ease the scholar's gown,
To
peddle wares from town to town;
And
through the long vacations' reach,
In
lonely lowland district teach.” |
He peddled watches and jewelry several years and secured the nucleus
for future enterprises. He intended to become a civil engineer, but embraced
an opportunity to engage in the
lumber business with D. P. HALL and M. and C. HILL, and later by himself
at West Concord. During more than twenty-five years he was the leading
surveyor of the town of Concord, and is still engaged in that line. He
was also a director and a large owner in the West Concord woolen mills.
W.C. LEWIS married Miss Mehetable B. FRYE of West Concord, who died
in 1878, and his second wife was Mrs. Annette A. FRYE BURROUGHS, also of
West Concord. In 1882 he moved to St. Johnsbury and bought his present
residence and adjoining lands in the village of Summerville, from which
he has sold off building lots for more than his original purchase cost.
Meanwhile he has conducted extensive farming on his pretty homestead, and
also the business of fire insurance. For nearly thirty years he has been
a trusted agent of the Vermont Mutual Fire Insurance company, and for nine
years a director. Mr. LEWIS has been a Free Mason for more than forty years.
He is esteemed as a man of kindly impulses and exemplary life, and has
been financially succcessful.
Source: Successful Vermonters,
William H. Jeffrey, E. Burke, Vermont, The Historical Publishing Company,
1904, page 33-34.
Prepared
by Tom Dunn January 2003
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