My Genealogy Hound

Hugh S. Lewers, postmaster of Alma, was born in South Carolina, in Lawrence District, in 1841, and is a son of Thomas and Theresa (Sims) Lewers, natives of the same State, and born in 1817 and 1820, respectively. In 1845 they removed to De Soto County, Miss., where the father died in 1865 and the mother in 1849. Mr. Lewers was twice married. From August, 1861, until the close of the war, he was with Col. Wirt Adams’ regiment of cavalry, and after commanding Company B two years, was made major. In 1864 he was made lieutenant-colonel, which position he held until the close of the war, being actively engaged, with the exception of thirty days. Among the important battles in which he participated were Shiloh, Nashville and Bowling Green. He was a stanch Douglas Democrat, and at first opposed secession, but afterward yielded. His grandfather came to America from Ireland before the Revolution. His father, Rev. Samuel B., was a Presbyterian minister, who lived in South Carolina until 1851, when he removed to Mississippi and died. He was a soldier in the War of 1812, and his widow is now living in Mississippi, aged ninety-four. Hugh S. Lewers was reared upon a farm, and in 1861 joined Company K of Col. J. G. Ballantine’s regiment, Confederate States Army. Early in 1863 he joined his father and served with him until the close of the war, operating in Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama. He was in active service the entire time, and surrendered at Gainesville, Ala., in May, 1865. In December, 1862, he was captured near Holly Springs, Miss., but paroled a few days later, at which time he joined his father. In 1861 he married Martha Atkins, a native of Alabama, who died in 1865, leaving one child. In 1869 he wedded Lizzie Liles, a native of South Carolina, who bore him one child, now deceased. In 1881 Mr. Lewers came to Crawford County, and until 1885 engaged in farming, but was that year made postmaster of Alma, and has since retained that position, although he still owns a fine farm of sixty-five acres of bottom land. Himself and wife belong to the Presbyterian Church, and he is a member of the Masonic fraternity. He has always been a Democrat, and cast his first presidential vote for Greeley in 1872.