Representative Abner Lewis

Abner Lewis (August 17, 1801 – October 12, 1879) was a U.S. Representative, judge, and attorney whose career spanned New York and Minnesota during a formative period in American political and legal history. He was born in Wells, Vermont, on August 17, 1801, and moved at a young age to western New York, where he was raised in Chautauqua County. There he came of age on the early American frontier, in a region that was rapidly developing economically and politically in the early nineteenth century.

Lewis pursued a legal education through the customary method of reading law, studying under Abner Hazeltine in Jamestown, New York. After completing his legal studies, he was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Panama, Chautauqua County. His growing legal reputation in the region led naturally into public life, and he became active in local affairs as both a lawyer and community leader.

Lewis entered elective office as a member of the New York State Assembly, representing Chautauqua County in the 61st and 62nd New York State Legislatures in 1838 and 1839. During his tenure in Albany he served alongside Thomas I. Allen and George A. French, participating in state-level legislative deliberations at a time when New York was one of the most influential states in the Union. His service in the Assembly helped establish him as a prominent Whig in western New York and laid the groundwork for his subsequent national career.

As a member of the Whig Party representing New York, Lewis was elected to the 29th United States Congress and served one term in the U.S. House of Representatives from March 4, 1845, to March 3, 1847. His service in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history, marked by debates over territorial expansion, the Mexican–American War, and the evolving balance between free and slave states. In this context, he contributed to the legislative process and participated in the democratic governance of the nation while representing the interests of his Chautauqua County constituents. Choosing not to run for reelection after his first term, he returned to New York to continue his judicial and legal career.

Following his congressional service, Lewis served as Chautauqua County Judge from June 1847 to November 1852, presiding over local judicial matters during a time of continued growth and legal development in western New York. In this capacity he combined his experience as a practicing attorney and former legislator, helping to administer justice in the county courts. After completing his term on the bench, he remained engaged in the law and in public affairs, and in 1856 he relocated westward, joining the wave of migration to the Upper Midwest.

In 1856 Lewis settled in Winona, Minnesota, where he resumed the practice of law and became active in the city’s emerging commercial life. He participated in several business ventures, including involvement with Winona’s transit railroad, reflecting the central role of transportation and infrastructure in the region’s economic development. He was also a key figure in civic initiatives, notably supporting the establishment and construction of the State Normal School in Winona, Minnesota’s academy for training teachers, which later became Winona State University. His interest in education extended further, and he served as a trustee of both the State Normal School and Hamline University, contributing to the institutional foundations of higher education in the young state.

During the American Civil War, Lewis continued his public service in a federal capacity as a Voting Commissioner. In this role he was responsible for enabling Union soldiers from western states to cast ballots while in the field, helping to preserve the franchise for servicemen and maintain the integrity of elections during wartime. In 1867 he was appointed U.S. Internal Revenue Assessor for the district that included Winona, administering federal tax laws in an era when the national revenue system was expanding and being consolidated in the postwar period.

Beyond his legal, political, and administrative work, Lewis was deeply involved in religious and reform movements. He was active in the Methodist church as a lay preacher, reflecting his prominence in local religious life. He also became a leading figure in the prohibition movement, advocating temperance as a moral and social reform. In 1870 he was the Prohibition Party’s nominee for governor of Minnesota, underscoring his stature within the movement and his continued engagement in electoral politics even after his earlier Whig and federal service.

Lewis remained active in professional, civic, religious, and reform causes until his health began to fail in the late 1870s. He then lived in retirement in Winona, Minnesota. Abner Lewis died in Winona on October 12, 1879, and was interred in Woodlawn Cemetery there, leaving a legacy that linked early nineteenth-century New York politics with the legal, educational, and reform institutions of a developing Minnesota.