From ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE HISTORY OF MO. VOL 4 1901 f550 C743
Amanda Barton was his first wife.He was the eldest of six children and his widowed mother moved to Mo. in 1831. In 1837 he went to Glasgow and entered the tobacco business as Swinney and Lewis. Later Benjamin and two brothers established J.B.Lewis and Bros in Glasgow and Lewis and Bros in St.Louis. They prospered. In the Glasgow operation they alone owned 125 slaves. they were Union men and freed their slaves a year before President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclomation. This Union sympathy causes Bill Anderson’s Raiders to destroy much of his property and hastened his death at the age of 54.. He left one of the largest estates in Mo at about 800,000. dollars. He left the Lewis Library, Lewis College and was a contribtor to the Methodist Church. ( I saw the buildings in fall of 1998 and 1999 ) He was a friend of President Lincoln and went to Washington to plea for protection of Union citizens in Mo. He was invited to dine with Pres. Lincoln and ate at his table the night Lincoln was killed. He accompanied the body to Springfield, Ill. He accompanied Lincoln’s funeral cortege from Washington to Springfield.
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From ILLISTRATED ATLAS MAPS OF HOWARD CO compiled in 1876
Benjamin Lewis's father, Thomas Lewis, had a big estate in Virginia but helping others and court settlements at his death left his family destitute. In 1831 the family moved to Mo. He and his brother went to Linn Co, and cleared land for 18 months and then went to Glasgow, Howard Co.Benjamin got work in a tobacco factory. In 1837 he formed a partnwership with William D. Seeney. The business was great till the factory burned in 1845The factory belonged to lewis and was loss of 25,000 dollars. A larger factory was built in 1850 and Swinney withdrew from the partnership.Benjamin formed a partership with two of his
brothers who also were in the tobacco They produced four million pounds of plug tobacco and fine cut tobacco a year and exported large quantity of leaf to London and Europe, They employed 400 to 500 employees, 150 of them being slaves belonging to Benamin. He favored the Union and one year before the Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves and those who wished remained at a fair wage. The factory was again destroyed by fire in 1862 and General Price of the Confederace and troops advanced so they moved their interests to STLouis and New York. All this cost him between 150,000 and 200.000 dollars. James L. Lewis, his brother, rebuilt the factory and was a partner till 1866 when Benjamin died and then was sole owner.Among his many civic contribution, he built the Lewis Public Library, was one of the major contribitors to the build ing of the Methodist Church and gave a large building for a Lewis College.On the21 of October, the noted guerrilla leader, Bill Anderson, came to the Lewis residenceas Lewis was a Northern supporter and had offered an award of 6000 dollars for the capture of Anderson. Anderson came to collect the award himself, took what small amount of cash Lewis had. They then proceeded to submit him to a course of the most brutal torture. Among other things was the firing of a pistol close to his ears, stand ing up on one side of the room and firing towards him so as to just miss,Putting the barrel of a pistol down his throat and making him think they were going to fire, drawing a knife across his throat. Standing him on his head and letting him down heavily crushing his skull. Besides these numerous other outrages were perpetuated in the presence of Mrs Lewis and another lady who were forced to witness. After this he was taken down to the bank to g et 10,000 dollars but the bank had been alerted and no money was there. Mrs Thompson, the wife of the banker, gave them 7000 dollars which she had on her person. The next night Benjamin went to St Louis for treatment He never fully recovered and died at the age of 54..