My Genealogy Hound

J. P. LEWIS, M. D.
J. P. Lewis, M. D., whose portrait accompanies this sketch, is recognized as one of the foremost physicians and surgeons of Eastern Kansas. He is a resident of Topeka, where he has practiced continuously since 1883. He is a broad-minded, well-educated man and has taken a deep concern in the welfare of his home city.

Dr. Lewis was born at Sulphur Springs, Ohio, December 20, 1848, and is a son of William and Caroline (Porter) Lewis. His paternal grandfather, Jacob Lewis, was a noted gunsmith, manufacturing all his guns by hand. Dr. William Lewis, father of our subject, was born in Ohio and there studied medicine under the direction of the ablest physician and surgeon in the community, there being few medical colleges and societies at that date. With several others he formed a class under this preceptor, using a sub-cellar as a dissecting room. He engaged in practice at Sulphur Springs until 1861, when he enlisted in the Union Army as a private in the 31st Regiment, Ohio Vol. Inf., under Capt. John Free. He later became surgeon in his regiment, and served as such until he was discharged because of disability. This sickness resulted in his death on April 18, 1863, at Sulphur Springs, Ohio, where he was buried. He was united in marriage with Caroline Porter, who was born in Baltimore, Maryland, a daughter of John Porter, who was a prominent man and a political power in that city. Mr. Porter fought in the War of the Revolution under General Washington. In late life he moved to Ohio and there engaged in agricultural pursuits. Five children were born of this union, namely: Sarah E, wife of Dr. William Stallsmith, of Logan, Ohio; Amanda, deceased wife of Dr. Raney, of Logan, Ohio; J. P., whose name heads this sketch; and two who died in early life.

J. P. Lewis attended the public and high schools of McConnellsville, Ohio, graduating from the high school in 1869, and then entered the Medical College of Ohio, at Cincinnati. Upon graduating from this institution, in 1873, he took the prize for surgical work in a class of 320 students and was heartily congratulated by the newspapers and his many friends. He located for practice at New Lexington, Ohio, and later at Pleasantville, Ohio, where he remained until 1883, in which year he came to Topeka, Kansas. He has been a constant student of his profession, and has taken a number of post-graduate courses in the institutions of this country and abroad. He attended the New York Polyclinic Hospital, and took a course in the General Hospital at Berlin, Germany. He went from there to Vienna and took up special work in gynecology. In returning home, he stopped in London long enough to complete a course in hospital and clinic work, and in Liverpool took a course in orthopedic surgery under the celebrated Dr. Hugh O. Thomas. He has met with remarkable success in his practice in Topeka, and has frequently been called upon to fill official positions. He was the first county health officer of Shawnee County, and at the same time was city physician, keeping the first record of the births and deaths the city ever had. He is on the medical staff of Christ’s Hospital and is an ex-professor of anatomy and gynecology at the Kansas Medical College, a department of Washburn University. Politically, he is a Republican.

In the fall of 1872, Dr. Lewis was joined in marriage with Sarah A. Brown, a daughter of Isaac and Mary Brown, her father being a farmer and stock-raiser of Sulphur Springs, Ohio. She died April 18, 1880, at New Lexington, Ohio, leaving two children: Florence, who is her father’s housekeeper and companion; and Olive, wife of Dr. Lawrence Chamberlin. Our subject formed a second union, in October, 1882, with Mattie A. Shoemaker, who died December 16, 1901, aged 41 years. One son was born to this union,— Charles W., who was formerly agent for the Provident Savings Life Assurance Company of New York, but is now engaged in the manufacture of the “Perfection” seed and grain cleaner, under the name of the Lewis-Tuttle Manufacturing Company, with headquarters at Topeka. He is one of the most active and energetic young business men of the city. Dr. Lewis is a member of Topeka Lodge, No. 204, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and served as its first treasurer.