Family register
John Franklin Lewis
John Franklin Lewis (27 June 1854 – 2 December 1937) was born in near Clarksburg to David Lewis and Mary Jenkins Lewis. He married Mary Ellen Dawson. His children were Quillian Ivan Lewis and Flora May Lewis Pfister. He died in 1937, in Baldwin, Kans.
Early life
J. F. Lewis was born on June 27, 1854, near Clarksburg, West Virginia.[2][4] According to his obituary, he was a son of David Lewis and Mary Jenkins Lewis, and he grew to manhood in Harrison County, West Virginia.[4][8] The accessible archive text of the obituary has ambiguous punctuation at the point where his parents are named, so the identification of David and Mary Jenkins Lewis as his parents is probable rather than certain.[8]
Marriage and family
On October 29, 1874, he married Mary Ellen Dawson.[4][7] A compiled FamilySearch profile records that their son Quillian Ivan Lewis was born on February 9, 1876, in Johnstown, Harrison County, West Virginia, when John Franklin Lewis was 21 and Mary Ellen Dawson was 17.[1][5] His December 1937 obituary lists a Quillian I. Lewis of Powhattan among his named family members.[2] The OCR of that obituary appears to give a conflicting or unclear name for his wife, and the original image was not checked.[2]
Later life and death
According to his obituary, J. F. Lewis died at his home in Baldwin, Kansas, on December 2, 1937, following a stroke of apoplexy, at the age of 83 years, 5 months, and 5 days.[4] A Hiawatha Daily World item of December 2, 1937, reports that a J. F. Lewis died that morning at 2 o'clock.[3] That item is treated as likely referring to the same man because the obituary names Quillian I. Lewis of Powhattan, but the identification awaits confirmation from the original newspaper image.[2][3]