Addison Storrs Lewis
Among the residents of Miami Township, Greene County, none are more worthy of representation by the biographical writer than Storrs Lewis and his wife, a view of whose beautiful homestead appears on another page. The farm which they own and occupy is one of the finest in the locality, comprising one hundred and eighty-eight acres of highly cultivated land. A visitor would find upon it every necessary and convenient structure and would at once observe that the fences are well kept, the buildings in good repair, and that fruit and shade trees beautify the premises, the whole giving an impression of prosperity, comfort, and good taste, highly attractive. The dwelling, which was erected in 1876 at a cost of $3,000, is a brick structure of an attractive architectural design, and fitted up in a style becoming the circumstances of those who dwell within.
The ancestors of both Mr. and Mrs. Lewis are such as their descendants can refer to with pride, the various families with which they are connected furnishing men and women of ripe intelligence, moral force, and ability. The father of Mr. Lewis was Bennet Lewis, a native of Connecticut, who for some time made his home in the Empire State. There, in 1823, he was united in marriage with Miss. Eliza Boughton, who was born in North Carolina, August 15, 1803. Seven years later the couple removed to Ohio, settling where Clifton now stands, that village being laid out by Mr. Lewis. He has been a merchant and continued the business after coming here, also operating a cotton and woolen mill which he built. He was successful in both enterprises and became the owner of about five hundred acres of real estate, securing a competence which enabled him to thoroughly equip his children for the battle of life by bestowing upon them excellent educations and giving them a financial start. The mill which he had built was operated until 1868, when it was washed away by a flood. He was also a contractor on the Ohio and Miami Canals. He served as County Commissioner and was a prominent member of the Presbyterian Church, holding the office of Elder. His wife also belonged to that denomination.
Going back another generation in the maternal line, we find Jared Boughton, a native of Connecticut, born February 19, 1766, who adopted the occupation of farming. He married Olive Stone, who was born in Stockbridge, Mass., January 2, 1770, their wedding ceremony taking place in Columbia County, N. Y., in 1787. They reared a family of twelve children, the mother of our subject being next to the youngest. The mother of Jared Boughton belonged to the French family of Pennoyers, who own a scholarship in Harvard College.
The subject of this sketch is one of nine children born to his parents and the youngest of the four now living. Harriet has been a missionary in China for the seven years past; Ezra B. is a merchant in San Jose, Cal.; Charles B. is in the real-estate business at Santa Ana, Cal. The mother breathed her last January 24, 1873, and the father October 10, 1876. The latter belonged to a long lived family, his father having reached the advanced age of ninety-six years, and his brother, Isaac, having lived to be eighty-five years of age. The latter attended the lock on the Erie Canal when the first boat passed through to the ocean carrying a barrel of Lake Erie water. He was also there when Gen. Lafayette visited America and passed through the canal.
The natal day of Storrs Lewis was March 13, 1846, his birthplace being the old home of the family in this township. After acquiring a fundamental education, he entered Miami University, at Oxford, from which he was graduated in 1869, afterward taking a special course of civil engineering at Lafayette College in Easton, Pa. Completing the course in 1870, he went to Boston, where for a year he was engaged on the State map survey as an assistant engineer. During the next three years he was in the employ of the Baltimore & Ohio and Pennsylvania Central Railroads.
The next step in the life of Mr. Lewis was one of great importance, it being his marriage, November 19, 1874, to Miss. Margaretta G. McLean. The young lady had been schooled in the Ladies Seminary, at Beaver Pa., where she had taken a full course of instruction, and she had also received excellent instruction in music, for which she had a decided talent, and in which she is a fine performer. Not only is she finely educated and accomplished, but she possesses easy, graceful manners, is a capable housewife and a consistent Christian. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Lewis settled where they now live, the estate having been given to them by the father of Mr. Lewis. The land has been devoted to general farming and stock-raising, and is still operated by the owner, who for so many years has successfully prosecuted his labors there. The stock kept is of excellent-grade and every means is taken to insure good crops.
Mr. and Mrs. Lewis are parents of one child, Nellie B., who was born October 17, 1880, and who is receiving every advantage which is suited to her years. Mr. Lewis was Trustee of Miami Township from 1883 to 1886, and has frequently been a delegate to county and congressional conventions, always voting the Republican ticket. He is a member of Clifton School Board, and has been Treasurer three years. He belongs to the Presbyterian Church, in which he has been a Trustee, and Treasurer two years, while Mrs. Lewis is identified with the United Presbyterian Church. They are numbered among the best citizens, holding a place in the highest society and being looked upon with respect for their personal attainments, activity and uprightness.
Mrs. Lewis is the youngest of five children born to the Rev. D. H. A. and Elizabeth (Patterson) McLean. The others of the family circle are: E. P., a physician in Virginia; he served in the Union army during the late war in the Sixty second Pennsylvania Regiment for two years; Mary, Mrs. Libby, whose home is in Pittsburg, Pa.; D. B. and Ella, who live in Rochester, Pa. The latter city is now the home of the parents, who are spending their declining years in quiet repose. The Rev. Mr. McLean was licensed to preach June 23, 1840. He was for many years prominent in the ministerial work of the United Presbyterian Church, but is now retired. His father, Daniel McLean, was also a minister, being identified with the Associate Presbyterian Church. The family is of Scotch origin, and traced to a prominent clan across the water. The parents of Mrs. Lewis were born April 5, 1816 and in December, 1821, respectively, their marriage taking place May 12, 1812. Another of the ancestors of Mrs. Lewis was James Glover, her great-grandfather, who was one of the men appointed to keep the watch fires burning while Washington crossed the Delaware, and who also passed through the hard winter at Valley Forge. He lived to the extreme old age of ninety-six years, while his wife died at the age of ninety-four. Grandfather Patterson was a merchant of Mercer County, Pa., during all the years of his business life and was a member of the Presbyterian Church.
Mrs. Elizabeth (Patterson) McLean was born December 9, 1821. Her father, Andrew Patterson, was married in Mercer, Pa., in 1818, to Eliza, daughter of Judge Alexander Brown, who died in 1869, aged seventy-seven years. His wife died in 1840.
Grandfather Daniel McLean was licensed to preach in the Associate Presbyterian Church, in 1799, and was pastor of the Chenango Congregation in Crawford County, Pa., from January 1, 1802, until January 1, 1855, a period of fifty-three years. He died in June of the latter year when in the eighty-fifth year of his age. His wife, Mary, was the daughter of James and Margaretta Glover. She died in 1860, in her seventy-ninth year.
From Portrait and Biographical Album of Clark and Greene Counties, Chapman Bros., Chicago, published 1890
From the very beginning of things at Clifton, the name Lewis has been associated with the place, for it was Bennett Lewis, father of the subject of this biographical review, who laid out the townsite, the same covering a part of the considerable tract of land he had purchased there upon coming to Greene county in 1828, and the farm on which Addison Storrs Lewis is still living, just at the edge of Clifton, is a part of that original tract.
Bennett Lewis was one of the influential figures in the earlier development of that section of Miami township surrounding the village of Clifton and was a member of the board of county commissioners when the county's second court house was erected at Xenia in 1846, that fine old edifice which, according to "Howe's Collections" of 1847. was "the most elegant, as yet built, in Ohio." Before coming here Bennett Lewis had been a contractor on the Miami & Erie canal and while thus engaged had erected the locks that still are standing at Lockland. Upon coming here he bought land in Miami township and on that place, at the site of the present village of Clifton, built a cotton and woolen-mill, opened a country store, platted a townsite and around that mill and store the village of Clifton presently began to take form. He was for years an elder in the Presbyterian church at Clifton. The mill which he erected upon coming here was washed away by a flood in 1868, but he continued engaged in his mercantile pursuits at Clifton and was thus engaged at the time of his death, on October 10, 1876. His wife had preceded him to the grave more than three years, her death having occurred on January 24, 1873. She was born, Eliza Boughton, at Victor, in Ontario county, New York, August 15, 1803, daughter of Jared and Olive (Stone) Boughton, the former of whom was born in Connecticut on February 19, 1766, and the latter, in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, January 2, 1770. Jared Boughton's mother was a Pennoyer, a member of the French family of Pennoyers which took an influential part in Massachusetts colonial life and were among the founders of Harvard University. Eliza Boughton and Bennett Lewis were united in marriage in 1828 and it was five years later when they settled in Greene county. Bennett Lewis was born in Connecticut and was of a long-lived family, his father having attained the great age of ninety-six years, and his brother, Isaac, the age of eighty-five. The latter attended the lock on the Erie canal when the first vessel passed through to the ocean and was also there when General Lafayette revisited America and passed through the canal. Of the nine children born to Bennett and Eliza (Boughton) Lewis the subject of this sketch was the last-born. Of the five children of this family who grew to maturity but two are now living, Mr. Lewis having a sister. Miss Harriet Lewis, who has for many years been a missionary at Canton, China, connected with the Presbyterian Board of Missions. Two brothers of Mr. Lewis, Ezra B. and Charles B. Lewis, went to California many years ago and there spent their last days, the former a merchant at San Jose and the latter, in the real-estate business at San Ana.
Addison Storrs Lewis was reared at Clifton, the place of his birth, and there received his early schooling, later entering Miami University at Oxford, this state, and was graduated from that institution in 1869. Meanwhile he had been giving his attention to the study of civil engineering and upon leaving the university took a special course in Lafayette College at Easton, Pennsylvania, and was graduated from that institution in 1870 as a civil engineer. For a year thereafter he was engaged as assistant engineer in the work of making a map survey of the state of Massachusetts, his headquarters being at Boston, and he then became engaged in railway work, doing engineering work for both the Pennsyhania Lines and the Baltimore & Ohio Railway Company, and was thus engaged for three venrs or more, or until the death of his father in 1876, after which he returned to Clifton to look after his interests there and has ever since resided at that place, owner of the farm and home just at the edge of the village. Mr. Lewis is a member of the Presbyterian church, and has served the local congregation as elder and as trustee and treasurer. During his college days he was a member of the college fraternity, Phi Delta Theta. He for some time served as trustee of Miami township, has also at various times rendered service on the local school board, and for some years was treasurer of the same. He is a Republican and has frequently served his party as a delegate to county and congressional conventions.
From History of Greene County Ohio, Its People, Industries and Institutions, vol. 2. M.A.Broadstone, editor. B.F.Bowen & Co., Indianapolis. 1918