Volume 14 , Issue 7

Dacoma (OK) Pioneer - Albert Wesley Lewis

Those living in the vicinity of Dacoma, Oklahoma might remember this pioneer lumber company business manager and treasurer, Albert Wesley Lewis. Albert was manager and treasurer of the Dacoma Lumber Company and of the Dacoma Grain Company, and was one of the most prominent.

Albert Wesley Lewis had been a resident of Dacoma since 1904, and since that time had participated in all movements that had made for its growth and development, at the same time contributing of his abilities in managing its civic affairs.

Mr. Lewis was born on a farm in Iowa county, Iowa, 19 July 1867, and was the son of William Wesley and Susan Jane (Rogers) Lewis. His father was born in the City of Cincinnati, Ohio, of Scotch ancestry, and had spent his entire career in agricultural pursuits. AS a young man he removed to Iowa, where he resided until 1877, when he removed to Kansas and located on Government land in Pratt County. There he served as postmaster of the Town of Naron for eight years, and during 1879 and 1880, in the turbulent period regarding the location of the county seat, was a member of the board of county commissioners. In 1888, with his family, he removed to "No Man's Land," a strip ceded to the United States by Texas in 1850, for many years without any government, and now constituting Beaver county, Oklahoma, where he handled cattle on the open range. In 1892 Mr. Lewis participated in the opening of the Sac and Fox Indian Reservation, taking claims with his four sons in what is now Lincoln County, where he continued to be engaged in farming for nine years.

At the end of that time he moved to Alva, where he was living in comfortable retirement. Mr. Lewis was married in 1850 to Miss Susan Jane Rogers, who was born March 13, 1837, in Pennsylvania, a daughter of Samuel Rogers, a native of the Keystone State. Five sons and four daughters were born to this union, as follows: Ida, who is the wife of henry Burns, of Prague, Oklahoma; Margaret, who was the wife of W. R. Dennison, of Alva, Oklahoma; Dewey, a resident of Meeker, Oklahoma; Austin, who lived at Carmen, Oklahoma; GEorge, who died in infancy; Columbus W., of Hardtner, Kansas; Albert Wesley, of this notice; Carrie, who married in 1893 John Godfrey, and died in 1911 at South Greenfield, Missouri; and Laura, who died in 1910 at Pawnee, Oklahoma, as the wife of Charles Stevens.

The public schools of Pratt County, Kansas, furnished Albert Wesley Lewis with his educational training,and he grew up in the atmosphere of the farm. He was 21 years of age when he accompanied his parents to "No Man's Land," so that he may be said to be something more than a pioneer of Oklahoma. Later he was one of the first settlers of what is now Lincoln County, Oklahoma, himself proving up land, and for a number of years thereafter divided his time between farming and teaching in the public schools.

In 1900 Mr. Lewis entered the employ of Crowell Brothers, at Alva, with whom he thoroughly initiated himself into the mysteries of the grain and lumber business, and in 1904 was sent by his employers to Dacoma, to open a branch lumber yard, this city (Dacoma) having since been his home.

In 1908 was established the Dacoma Grain Company, which, i 1914, handled almost 1,000,000 bushels of wheat, the officers of this large concern being: George W. Crowell, president; George Weaber, secretary, and Albert W. Lewis, manager and treasurer.

The Dacoma Lumber Company was organized in 1913, with main office at Dacoma and Branch yard at Hopeton, Oklahoma, the officers of this enterprise being the same as those of the Dacoma Grain Company. Mr. Lewis was recognized as an energetic, capable business man of shrewd foresight and excellent judgment. His management of the interests of the large firms which he resented had been progressive and efficient and his associates had every reason to place the utmost confidence in him. While his business interest have been heavy, entailing constant attention and heavy responsibility, he had found time to aid in civic government, and for eight years had served capably as mayor of Dacoma. He was a warm friend and supporter of education, and during twenty years had been a member of school boards at various places in Oklahoma.

Fraternally, Mr. Lewis was a Royal Arch Mason and a member of the Odd Fellows. He and the members of his family belonged to the United Brethren Church.

On 9 October 1888, at Englewood, Kansas, Mr. Lewis was married to Miss Mary B. Kees, who was born September 17, 1870, in Ohio, daughter of A. W. Kees, of Gate, Oklahoma. At the time of their marriage, the young couple were living in "No Man's Land," where there were no courts of record, nor clergy, and Mr. Lewis and his bride went to Englewood, Kansas, to have the ceremony officially and legally solemnized. They were the parents of four children: William R., born August 23, 1890, married December 25, 1910, Miss Josie B. Frye, born in Iowa, July 17, 1890, and they had two children - Albert William, born August 28, 1912, and Audrie, born January 20, 1915; Nettie, born December 8, 1892, married in 1911 W. F. Hiatt, and had two children - Eldora and Walter; Erdice, born February 25, 1894, died May 25, 1910; and Miss Alta Maud, born September 9, 1898, lived with her parents.   |  View or Add Comments (0 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

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