A “start towards fame:” Isaac N. Lewis’ Harvey County Connections

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The Archives is full of fun tidbits of information including this clipping discovered by Archivist Jane Jones highlighting a little known fact.

Clipping, n.d. Found in"Early Settlers" file, HCHM Archives, Newton, Ks

Clipping, ca. November 1931,  found in”Early Settlers” file, HCHM Archives, Newton, Ks

The 1931 newspaper clipping explains that the death of Col. Isaac Lewis

“is of interest to Harvey county people as he is a former resident and received his start towards fame from here and thru a local man.”

Isaac N. Lewis was born in New Salem, PA, 12 October 1858.  Although most of his life was spent in the eastern part of the U.S., for a time Lewis lived in Kansas.  The 1880 census lists Lewis, age 21, living in the household of his sister and brother-in-law, Hiram and Sarah Hackney, in Highland Township, Harvey County, Kansas.  His occupation is school teacher, probably at  one room school No. 64, known as Highland School.  The Highland School was located in Section 12, Highland Township on ground owned by H.H. Hackney, Lewis’ brother-in-law.

A second Harvey County connection was noted in the article.  Lewis received his appointment to the U.S. Military Academy from Samuel R. Peters Kansas congressman and Newton lawyer.

Lewis entered the U.S. Military Academy in June 1880 as a cadet from Kansas. He graduated from the Academy in 1884. Shortly after graduation, he married Mary Wheatley and they had four children.

While at the Academy, his skill with inventing was noted. Following his graduation he was able to put these skills to work. Lewis, a Second Lieutenant of Artillery,  was at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas from 1888-1890. During this time, he developed “the first successful artillery range and position finder” used by the War Department. Over the years, he continued to create improved models of the range and position finder.  He also was the inventor of numerous other instruments related to artillery.

Lewis Machine Gun

He is most famous for his “automatic air-cooled machine gun”  developed in 1911-1912. The first machine gun to be successfully fired with accuracy from an airplane.  A demonstration of the gun was given in June 1912 at College Park, in Maryland.  Although the United States failed, at first, to realize the potential, the British government was “quick to utilize Colonel Lewis’ s machine gun.”  More than 100,000 of the guns were used by the Allied armies during the Great War.  As result, Lewis received millions of dollars in royalties from the British government. The Lewis Machine Gun was used from 1914 until 1953.

He retired due to a physical disability with the rank of Colonel in 1913. He made his home in Montclair, New Jersey.

Isaac N. Lewis

Isaac N. Lewis

Lewis died suddenly from a massive heart attack on November 9, 1931 while waiting in the Hoboken, New Jersey train terminal. He was 73 years old.

by Kristine Schmucker, HCHM Curator

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Sources:

  • “Inventor of Lewis Machine Gun Dead: Former Harvey County Man Passed Away Very Suddenly,” Newspaper Clipping, ca. November 1931, found in “Early Settlers” File HCHM Archives, Newton, Ks
  • U.S. Census, 1880
  • Historical Map of Harvey County, Philadelphia, J.P. Edwards, 1882.
  • http://www.firstworldwar.com/atoz/mgun_lewis.htm
  • http://www.oldmagazinearticles.com/pdf/LEWIS-GUN,-P.-A.PDF
  • http://www.allworldwars.com/Lewis-Automatic-Machine-Gun-1916.html
  • http://replicaplans.com/LewisGun.html

Behind the Scenes: HCHM Archives

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aam_c_0 by Kristine Schmucker, HCHM Curator

 “Upon these pages pure and white

are recorded those who fail to 

Do Right.” -Judge C.H. Stewart, 1937

Much of the work done by archival volunteers and staff is time consuming and tedious.  Once a document collection is donated to the Archives, the work begins to make it accessible to researchers.

Finding aides and indexes are created by entering key pieces of information into a database.  Without these finding aids, it would be almost impossible to find specific information.

Recently, HCHM volunteer, Ellen Schneider, began creating a database of the Justice of the Peace Dockets for Harvey County.

Harvey County Justice of the Peace Docket, HCHM Archives, Newton, Ks.

Harvey County Justice of the Peace Docket, HCHM Archives, Newton, Ks.

These huge books contain the day to day workings of the court, written out in long hand.  The dockets include civil and criminal cases from 1872 through the 1940s.

Ellen created a searchable database so that researchers could more easily find information on cases relevant to their project.

Charles H. & Mary Ann Showalter Stewart with Elizabeth, 1915

Charles H. & Mary Ann Showalter Stewart with Elizabeth, 1915.

While creating a database of the Justice Dockets, Ellen discovered that Judge Charles H. Stewart often included poetry in the extra pages.

Just another volume filled

with grief and Trouble . . . 

Where honest men

Have stepped aside . . .

While others let the

“Old Serpent” (SIN)

Quietly step in . . . 

Until the Sheriff quickly led

Them to the Justice who has said,

“Guilty.” –Judge C.H. Stewart

His 1946 obituary described Stewart as a “well known Newton citizen and justice of the peace” who had lived in Newton since 1876. He married Mary Ann Schowalter on August 28, 1898 and they had one daughter, Elizabeth (Mrs. Dwight Eells).

Thank you to Jane Jones, HCHM Archivist and her team of volunteers who do the painstaking work of organizing and indexing  the historic documents from Harvey County.

Thank you to HCHM’s Archival Volunteers:  Ron Dietzel, Pam Navrat, Tom Sandwell, Marilyn Schmidt, Ellen Schneider.

Sources:

  • Evening Kansan Republican, 30 December 1946, p. 1
  • Evening Kansan Republican, 23 April 1951, p. 4 
  • Marriage License Collection, HCHM Archives, Newton, Ks
  • Harvey County Justice Dockets, indexed by Ellen Schneider, HCHM Archives, Newton, Ks

Stories Waiting to be Told: HCHM Archives

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by Kristine Schmucker, HCHM Curator

“During the Civil War I was a member of Co F. 143rd Reg’t Ill Vol Infty. . . I have moved around a great deal since I was discharged from the Army.  It is Impossible for me to find two persons who could testify as to my condition from the time I left the Army down to 1891.” -Henry Guyott, 14 June 1906, Civil War Pension Records, HCHM Archives

Note dictated by Henry Guyott, age 58, on 14 June 1906 regarding his pension.

Note dictated by Henry Guyott, age 58, on 14 June 1906 regarding his pension. J.C. Johnston Civil War Pensions, HCHM Archives.

Henry Guyot was one of 287 men or their widows living in Harvey County that sought help from attorney John C. Johnston to apply for a pension for their service during the Civil War.  The files include information on service in the army, activity and health issues.  Some even give a glimpse into family life after the war.

Born in 1848 in Switzerland, it appears that Henry immigrated to the U.S  with his mother, Emira, brother and several cousins and settled in Illinois.  During the Civil War, he served served several months with the 143rd Illinois Infantry. He was approximately 17 years old.

After the war, Henry noted that he “moved around a great deal.”  The 1870 census records find him in Illinois living with his mother.  Ten years later he is still single, living in Sedgwick County, Kansas with his mother and cousin.

Effie M. Lantis (15) marriage to Henry A. Guyot (34), 20 October 1884. Marriage License Collection, HCHM Archives.

Effie M. Lantis (15) marriage to Henry A. Guyot (34), 20 October 1884. Marriage License Collection, HCHM Archives.

However on October 20, 1884, 34 year old Henry married 15 year old Effie M. Lantis at her parental home in Harvey County, Ks.  The couple made their home near Walton, Kansas and started a family.  Between 1884 and 1908, they had at least nine children.  Henry settled down to farm and raise his family. In 1891, at age 58, Henry applied for a pension for his service during the Civil War.  He may have dictated the above statement to John C. Johnston describing his service and health issues.

Civil War Pensions were offered to Union soldiers or their widows and minor children. The pension records in the collection include information on what the soldier did during the war in addition to medical information in the years following.

For example, Henry Guyot  noted that Dr. J.H. Goddard, a physician in Sedgwick, “often treated me for cataracts, deafness, scurvy (?), diarrhea and rheumatism.”  The files from other men describe injuries received during battle.

To obtain a widow’s pension, the widow had to provide proof of marriage, such as a copy of the record kept by county officials, or by affidavit from the minister or some other person. Applications on behalf of the soldier’s minor children had to supply both proof of the soldier’s marriage and proof of the children’s birth. For those reasons, Civil War pensions are  fascinating, because of the wide array of things people submitted as evidence.

Henry died 23 January 1915, and Effie in 1921. Their son, Ben and daughter Edith continued to live on the family farm until the mid-1960s.

 

Henry, Effie and three of their children are buried in the Walton Cemetery, rural Harvey County, Ks.

The John C. Johnston Civil War Pension Collection is just one treasure that is part of the Archival Collections at HCHM. Throughout the month of October, we will  feature the Archival holdings at HCHM and the behind the scenes work that happens to make the collections accessible.

Unidentified man in uniform, ca. 1861.

Unidentified man in uniform, ca. 1861. Photo Archives, HCHM.

Sources:

  • US Census, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910.
  • Marriage License Collection, HCHM Archives, Newton, Ks
  • John C. Johnston Civil War Pension Collection, HCHM Archives, Newton, Ks.
  • Kansas Census, Harvey County, 1885, HCHM Archives, Newton Kansas.

All the information related to the Guyot family for this post was discovered in the archives at HCHM.  What stories might you find? For more information on our Archives and the services available

Visit: https://hchm.org/research-library/

Call: (316)283-2221

Or e-mail: info@hchm.org