This honored veteran of the Civil war and the well known fruit farmer and grain dealer of Brownville, is numbered among the early pioneers of Nemaha county, for here he has made his home since the 1st of June, 1857. He came here from Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, his native place, his birth there occurring on the 4th of August, 1844. He is of Welsh ancestry, for in that country his father, George B. Lewis, was born in 1789, but when a young man came to this country and was here married to Mary Jones, a lady of Welsh descent. He was a coal miner, and they early went to Pennsylvania, where he was engaged in mining anthracite coal and for many years also served as overseer of the mines of Colonel Lee. From that place they came by rail and water to Nemaha county, Nebraska, in 1856, where the elder Mr. Lewis purchased a half section of land two miles southeast of Auburn, paying four hundred dollars for the pre-emption right of Joseph Council. He made many improvements on this place, and at his death left a valuable homestead to his seven surviving children. He passed away in 1859, and one year previously he had buried his wife. They were worthy members of the Baptist church, in which he served as a deacon in Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania. He was also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Their seven children were as follows: David, who died in the Civil war, when twenty years of age, leaving a wife; Elizabeth, the widow of H. O. Minnick and a resident of Nemaha City; George B.; Washington J., who went to California; Daniel D., who died in Brownville in the prime of life, leaving one son; and Charles, who died in his boyhood.
George B. Lewis enjoyed but limited educational privileges in his youth, being permitted to attend school only until his twelfth year, and previous to that time he also worked in the mines. At the first call for volunteers to assist in the suppression of the rebellion he enlisted in a six months' Missouri Infantry, later entering the Fifth Missouri Cavalry, in which he served two years, on the expiration of which period he was mustered out. He then became a member of the First Nebraska Cavalry, with which he served from 1864 until 1866 on the frontier of Nebraska, and on the 30th of June, 1866, received an honorable discharge at Omaha as a first sergeant. Returning thence to Atchison county, Missouri, he was there married on the 6th of December following to Mrs. Mary Stout, the widow of W. C. Stout and a daughter of H. S. and Charlotte (Harmon) Hill, natives respectively of Kentucky and Tennessee. Their marriage was celebrated in Bond county, Illinois, she being then fifteen years old and he twenty, and in that state they became well known farming people. In 1850 they left the Prairie state for Missouri, but one year later returned to their old home farm in Atchison county, where they remained for about a year. Mr. and Mrs. Hill reared three sons and three daughters, as follows: Mrs. Lewis; William, who died in Missouri when twenty-one years of age; George, who was a printer, died at St. Joe, Missouri, leaving a wife and one daughter; Nancy Jane, who became the wife of Lewis Keel, died in middle life, leaving two children; Drucilla, the wife of Dr. Jones, of Watson, Missouri, and they have one son; and Benjamin F. is a printer in St. Joe, and has two daughters. Mrs. Hill was called from this earth at the age of sixty-eight years, in 1894, and Mr. Hill was an octogenarian at the time of his death, which also occurred in 1894. They were members of the Christian church, and for a number of years he served as a county judge. By her first marriage Mrs. Lewis became the mother of the following children: Henry Clay Stout, who died at the age of twenty-two years, leaving one son; Clara Bell, who died at the age of six years; Elmer Ellsworth Stout, a resident of St. Louis, Missouri; Carrie Bell, who died at the age of ten months.
The following children have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Lewis: Nevada Idona, who was born in Missouri, October 18, 1867, became the wife of Thomas fisher, and died at Liberty, Nebraska, in 1894. For several years she was a teacher in Auburn. John B. was born in Missouri in 1869, and is now serving as a station agent at Brownsville. He is married and has three daughters. Libbie is the wife of R. Setzer, of Nebraska City, and they have one son, Morris. She also has one son by a former marriage, Lewis Heaton, a bright little lad of twelve years, who makes his home with his grandparents. Malcolm was drowned at Brownville when sixteen years of age. Mr. Lewis is numbered among the leading business men of Brownville, where he is a well known fruit farmer and grain dealer, and on his thirty city lots he is raising many varieties of fruit. His home is a sightly one and was erected by Mr. Wheeler, who was our subject's guardian in his youth. Both Mr. and Mrs. Lewis are worthy members of the Christian church.
© 1999, Lori L. Laird, NEGenWeb Project