William Lewis, the blacksmith at Chattanooga in its pioneer days, was "a man of great force of character, who had the esteem of the whole community.'' Chattanoogans marveled at how
"Uncle Bill'' Lewis had bought his own way out of slavery and also redeemed many family members. He was among the hundreds of residents of Chattanooga's old West Side.
Lewis was born about 1815 at Winchester on the plantation of a man who had fought in the principal battles of the Revolution and who oversaw the business affairs of James Madison when he was minister to France. This was Col. James Lewis, who was the father of William Lewis - apparently by a black slave woman. James Lewis fought at Brandywine, Trenton, Princeton, White Plains and Germantown, where he was taken prisoner and placed in a dungeon for nine months. At Yorktown, he witnessed the surrender of Cornwallis. While living in Albemarle County, he was a contractor, a land appraiser and the proprietor of the Stone Tavern. He was the agent for James Monroe. Col. Lewis was granted several thousand acres in the future Tennessee for his war service, and he built a fine brick house in 1808 at the section that became Franklin County. He also had the area's first race track. James Lewis was a friend of Andrew Jackson, and he often visited at the Hermitage. Jackson presented Lewis a walking cane on which was mounted a deer horn.
William Lewis grew up on the Lewis farm and went swimming in the river with a neighbor, Peter Turney. For a time he was the personal attendant for the future Tennessee governor. While yet a slave, he was allowed to move to Chattanooga and begin working off his freedom with his blacksmithing skills. He soon became a popular member of the community, and he made the clapper for the bell at the first church house. He attended the Methodist church at a time when whites and blacks worshiped together there.
William Lewis was married at Chattanooga in the early 1840s to a slave named Jane. She was apparently part black and part Cherokee. The enterprising blacksmith, with his Market Street shop, proceeded to buy from his father, Col. Lewis, his liberty for $1,000. He bought his wife's freedom at the same price after 10 white men went security on her bond. Later, he bought his young son, Eldridge G. Lewis, for $400, his mother and aunt for $150 each, two brothers for $1,000 each, and his sister for $400.
An observer said that after Williams Lewis redeemed all his family he "paid for his house and laid up a large amount of money besides. Such a man is a genuine hero. He was not able to do business in his own name, under the black laws, and was obliged to pay a white man largely to legalize his transactions. When he saw that the ruin of the Confederacy was inevitable, he purchased tobacco with his disposable funds, and, storing it, was able to sell at a handsome profit. He has since lived with the esteem of all men, and presents an example of triumphing over difficulties seldom equaled.'' Another acquaintance termed William Lewis "a rugged man of much intelligence. He voted independent, often Democrat.''
William Lewis listed a worth of $1,500 in 1850 and this had grown to $7,000 by 1860. He was able to pay William Crutchfield $2,000 for a lot at Seventh and Market just before the start of the war.
In addition to the son, Eldridge G., his other children were Marion Isabel, Hugh N., Mary M., Jennie S., Willianna, Elizabeth M., James T., Hickman B. and Sueda D.
During the early part of the Civil War, William Lewis sent over lettuce to the Andrews Raiders in their dark hole at Swaim's Jail on Lookout Street. The Lewis family then lived in a large two-story frame house near the jail. One of his workmen was called into the dungeon to rivet a pair of heavy iron fetters around the ankles of James Andrews just before he was hanged. After Federal soldiers took over the town, the Lewis blacksmith shop was seized and some Lewis family members were sent to Ohio. William Lewis then had a large supply of tobacco, which he moved to the storehouse of T.K. Wornacut. Lewis was then selling tobacco at $3 a pound or $1 a plug. Hugh Lewis enlisted in May of 1864 in a regiment of U.S. Colored Troops. He died of a fever in a hospital in Wilmington, N.C., the following year.
By the time of the war, William Lewis, due to a hernia, was no longer able to do the heavy work
at his shop. However, he hired a crew and oversaw their labors. It was a familiar sight to see him "sitting in his splint-bottom chair with his sturdy staff between his knees directing his workmen.'' His fortunes had declined to $300 by 1870. His wife later filed a pension request, stating that her husband was afflicted with rheumatism and they needed the government allotment.
The Lewis family lived in the College Hill section at 125 Burch St. This was at the corner of Gillespie St. (11th Street).
In 1879 in the Chattanooga Commercial, there was an advertisement for "W.T. Lewis, the old reliable blacksmith, corner Market and Ninth, horseshoeing a specialty.'' Apparently, he moved his blacksmith shop several times over the years, and the last one was on Cherry at the intersection with Georgia Avenue. Family members said his anvil that he had used since the Ross's Landing days was given to a family in Hixson. The Lewis family prized the invitation
they received in 1892 to the wedding of Booker T. Washington.
William Lewis and his wife could not read and write, but they urged their children to get a good education. Three of the daughters were sent north to be educated. The eldest daughter, Marion Isabel, went away to Oberlin College, graduating in 1865. She married attorney John H. Cook, and they resided at Washington, D.C. John Cook taught at Howard University and was dean of the law school. After his death, she married Dr. James Howard. Marion Isabel Lewis Cook
Howard taught for many years in the industrial department of Howard University.
Mary Lewis married Larkin Fralix, a house mover at Chattanooga. Willianna Lewis married Edward Taylor, who in 1900 was operating a saloon here. Eldridge Lewis long worked with his father in his blacksmith shop. He and his wife, Mary, had no children. James Lewis did some blacksmithing and worked at other jobs. His wife was Kate. Hickman Lewis, who married schoolteacher Mary Symington, was a mail carrier. His children were William, Charles and Leo. Jennie Lewis, who married a Cook, moved away. They had a son Oscar Cook. Sueda Lewis was a teacher in Washington, D.C., and Chattanooga. Elizabeth Lewis was unmarried and occupied the old homeplace at 125 Burch St. for many years. Mary Lewis and her husband, Larkin Fralix, previously lived there.
A historical marker was erected at Seventh and Market at the site of one of William Lewis' blacksmith shops.