John Henry Lewis Jr. (1888 - bef. 1941)

Born 8 May 1888 in Bewdley, Worcestershire, England, United Kingdom

Husband of Katherine (Diamondstone) Lewis — married 12 Aug 1912 in London, England, United Kingdom

Descendants

Died before 1941 before age 52 in Ft. Collins, Larimer County, Colorado, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Mark Shernick [send private message]

Biography

John Henry Lewis, Jr was born at Bewdley, England on 8 May 1888. He was christened 20 May 1888, at St Mary, Birkenhead, Cheshire, England. His birth record indicates he was the son of John Henry Lewis Sr. and his wife Mary Emma Lewis.

Geni.com has a listing for John Henry Lewis Jr. born 8 May 1888, but it indicates that John died as an infant on 11 January 1889. This statement is false.

John H. Lewis Jr. appears clearly on the 1891 census for England. We may therefore conclude that John H. Lewis Jr. did not die as an infant.

On the 1891 census, his parents are listed as Henry Lewis and Emma Lewis. The census indicates they are now living at Mile End Old Town in London -- a ghetto neighborhood in the East End. Jack London refers to the notorious poverty of this neighborhood in his 1902 novel The People of the Abyss.

it appears John had an older brother named Richard and a little sister named Jane.

When one searches Wikipedia for the name John Lewis, one discovers that there were more than a dozen men of that name living in England ca. 1900, notably John Spedan Lewis (b. 22 September 1885), a founder of the John Lewis department store chain in London.

One must emphasize that John H. Lewis Jr. and John Speddan Lewis were not the same person. Both were named John Lewis, both were self-made millionaires, both lived in London at the same time, but their birth years were three years apart and they had different wives. John Spedan Lewis married in 1923 to Sarah Beatrice Hunter, not Catherine Diamondstone.

Further Disambiguation: John Henry Lewis Jr. was certainly not the son of Sir John Herbert Lewis (1855 - 1930) MP who lived in London during the same period and who served for many years as a Welsh Member of Parliament.

Sir John H. Lewis Sr., MP, was a close friend to Prime Minister David Lloyd George. He was extremely well respected in London Society.

The John H. Lewis of this profile was a Cockney East Ender who became a "dog food" millionaire. According to a short interview with his daughter Lucille (Lewis) Shernick, printed by a Montana newspaper in 2010, Lucille's father made himself a small fortune by cleverly re-packing leftover scraps from some of London's best restaurants, and re-selling the tasty morsels as luxury dog food.

He did indeed become a millionaire and the "dog food king," of the East End, but he was hardly welcome among London's upper crust and he was not the founder of the giant John Lewis department store chain. John H. Lewis Jr. was disdained by London's High Society as nouveau riche.

In 1912, John Henry Lewis married to Catheine "Kitty" Diamondstone, a wealthy American heiress whose nickname "Kitty Lewis" may be easily confused with that of Alice Catherine "KItty" Lewis (1898 - 1984), the much-loved daughter of the well-respected Welsh MP.

John's wife, Catherine "Kitty" (Diamondstone) Lewis was an American heiress from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, whose father was then living in London.

In 1917, as World War I and a wolf-pack of German U-Boats began to close in on London, John and Kitty Lewis decided to move to New York City. Indeed, in 1917 they are clearly listed on the passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, sailing from Liverpool on 31 December 1916 and arriving NYC January 1917.

John, 28, lists himself as a manufacturer from London, and Kitty, 27, lists herself as his wife. Their daughter, Lucille Evelyn Lewis, born at London on 30 September 1913, is age 3.

When he moved to New York in 1917, John H. Lewis presented a business card on which he described himself as a "consulting engineer." For at least a decade he made a very good living in New York.

There is no record indicating he volunteered for the army or served in any army, American or British.

The 1920 U.S. census for New York confirms that John H. Lewis Jr. and family immigrated to New York in 1917. The census shows John Lewis, 31, and his wife Kitty Lewis, 27, living on 69th Street in Manhattan with their daughter Lucille, 6. They list their nearest relative in London as "Father, Mark Diamondstone, 48th Avenue, Blondesbury Pk, London."

From this we infer that John Lewis was born 1889 and that his wife, Kitty Diamondstone, was born ca. 1893. This matches the London records nicely. We also infer that he was not terribly patriotic, and this had a great deal to do with why his family were disdained and rejected by the Lewis family in London.

After the war, they chose to return to London. A 1920 application for U.S. passport (cited below) indicates very clearly that John H. Lewis was born 8 May 1888 at Bewdley, England and he was residing at Bridgeport, Connect (a suburb of New York City) in late 1920.

After receiving a cold welcome when they returned to London, the Lewis family spent the remainder of the 1910s and 1920s hobnobbing with the "Moderns" in Paris and Nice.

John Henry Lewis Jr. was certainly not moving in the same social circles as the family of John Herbert Lewis MP, but one thing they did share in common: They were doing big business in Paris, New York and London.

In fact it is quite possible that John Henry Lewis was a distant cousin to the Welsh-American descendants of Sir John Herbert Lewis (1855 - 1933) MP. They were a group of busy London industrialists actively moving back and forth across the Atlantic during and after the war years.

One may speculate that their financial interests in Welsh shipping through the port of Cardiff overlapped very neatly with the steel, railway and shipping interests of Catherine Diamondstone's family in Pittsburgh and New York. But the Lewis family of London considered it beneath their dignity to marry a brash American heirress for money, or flaunt the wealth acquired by doing so.

That's why they frowned on John and Kitty.

We are given a useful overview of the American branch of the Lewis family by Derald Johnson. who has posted a series of Find A Grave memorials indicating that a branch of Sir John Herbert Lewis Sr.'s family (wealthy Welsh farmers) immigrated to America after World War I: Herbert M. Lewis (1843 - 1908) and his two sons,

1) Stephen Goodwin Lewis (1877 - 1946) and

2) John Herbert Lewis (1882 - 1958)

One may deduce that John H. Lewis Jr. was not entirely out of tune with the interests of the Lewis family in London: What they disliked in him was the fact that his sudden rise in fortune depended largely upon the money provided by his Jewish wife, Catherine.

Her paternal line, the family of Diamondstone, may be reconstructed with the help of a Diamondstone family tree posted at Geni.com here.

Considerable effort needs to be devoted to documenting this Diamondstone tree more thoroughly.

Sadly, John H. Lewis Jr. seems to have ended his life by suicide during the mid-1930s, after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and continued business failures during the Great Depression.

Luckily for his wife Kitty and their daughter Lucille, John managed to keep the house in Nice and to stash some money in New York bank accounts. When the Nazis occupied Paris and Nice in 1941, Kitty managed to get out. She made it to Lisbon, Portugal, in time to catch one of the last boats to New York.

Kitty lists herself as a widow in her 1946 Naturalization papers in New York. After many years living abroad in Britain and France, she had apparently lost her American papers and passport. She was therefore forced to re-apply for American citizenship, and from a genealogists perspective this is very fortunate, because the Naturalization papers tell a great deal about her, and also about John.

In her biography, John's daughter Lucille blamed the family's business failure on Max Aitken, Lord Beaverbrook, a Canadian newspaper baron who served as Winston Churchill's First Air Minister during World War II.

This is a fascinating claim that certainly deserves more research. One would think that John's obituary (if not the details surrounding his suicide) might be found in London newspapers, sometime between 1930 and 1941, but so far the obituary has not been located.

The place of his death and burial also remain unknown. Strangely, there is more than one record online that suggests he may never have committed suicide at all. He is listed Find-a-Grave as having died in 1958 at Ft. Collins, Colorado.

Sources

1888 Birth Record for John Henry Lewis

This birth and christening record is confirmed by a ship's passenger list showing a trip made by John, Kitty and Lucille Lewis to New York in 1917. It indicates that John Lewis is 28 years old in 1917 -- an age that suggests birth ca. 1889..

• Name John Lewis
• Event Type Christening
• Event Date 20 May 1888
• Event Place St Mary, Birkenhead, Cheshire, England
• Gender Male
• Father's Name John Henry Lewis
• Mother's Name Mary

Citing this Record

"England, Cheshire Parish Registers, 1538-2000," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F3PH-XZ7 : accessed 8 November 2015), John Henry Lewis in entry for John Lewis, 20 May 1888, Christening; citing item 1 p 408, St Mary, Birkenhead, Cheshire, England, Record Office, Chester; FHL microfilm 2,104,175.

England, Cheshire Parish Registers, 1538-2000 GS Film number 2104175 Digital Folder Number 004018955 Image Number 00061

1891 England Census [London]

John Lewis in the 1891 England Census

• Name: John Lewis
• Age: 3
• Estimated birth year: abt 1888
• Relation: Son
• Father's name: Henry Lewis
• Mother's name: Emma Lewis
• Gender: Male
• Where born: Mile End Old Town, London, England
• Civil Parish: Mile End Old Town
• Ecclesiastical parish: Stepney St Phillips
• Town: London
• County/Island: London
• Country: England

Registration district: Mile End Old Town Sub registration district: Mile End Old Town, Western ED, institution, or vessel: 2 Neighbors: View others on page Piece: 300 Folio: 33 Page Number: 18

Household Members:

• Henry Lewis 26
• Emma Lewis 26
• Richard Lewis 5
• John Lewis 3
• Jane Lewis 3/12

Source Citation Class: RG12; Piece: 300; Folio: 33; Page: 18; GSU roll: 6095410

Source Information Ancestry.com. 1891 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.

Original data: Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1891.

Data imaged from The National Archives, London, England. 2,131 rolls. The National Archives gives no warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or fitness for the purpose of the information provided. Images may be used only for purposes of research, private study or education. Applications for any other use should be made to The National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 4DU.

Description This database is an index to individuals enumerated in the 1891 Census for England. The census contains detailed information on each individual who spent the night in each household including name, relationship to the head of the family, marital status, age at last birthday, gender, occupation, and birthplace. Additional information about the dwelling and property was collected. Each name in this index is linked to actual images of the 1891 England Census

John T Lewis in the 1891 England Census

• Name: John T Lewis
• Age: 3
• Estimated birth year: abt 1888
• Relation: Son
• Father's name: John L Lewis
• Mother's name: Ada E Lewis
• Gender: Male
• Where born: Walworth, London, England
• Civil Parish: Newington
• Ecclesiastical parish: St Pauls
• Town: London City
• County/Island: London
• Country: England

Registration district: St Saviour Southwark Sub registration district: St Mary Newington ED, institution, or vessel: 7 Neighbors: View others on page Piece: 365 Folio: 44 Page Number: 30

Household Members:

• John L Lewis 28
• Ada E Lewis 26
• John T Lewis 3
• Alice L Lewis 1

Source Citation Class: RG12; Piece: 365; Folio: 44; Page: 30; GSU roll: 6095475

Source Information Ancestry.com. 1891 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.

Original data: Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1891.

Data imaged from The National Archives, London, England. 2,131 rolls. The National Archives gives no warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or fitness for the purpose of the information provided. Images may be used only for purposes of research, private study or education. Applications for any other use should be made to The National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 4DU.

Description This database is an index to individuals enumerated in the 1891 Census for England. The census contains detailed information on each individual who spent the night in each household including name, relationship to the head of the family, marital status, age at last birthday, gender, occupation, and birthplace. Additional information about the dwelling and property was collected. Each name in this index is linked to actual images of the 1891 England Census

1920 U.S. Census [Manhattan, New York]

• Name: Lucille E Lewis
• Age: 6
• Birth Year: abt 1914
• Birthplace: England
• Home in 1920: Manhattan Assembly District 7, New York, New York
• Street: 69th St
• Race: White
• Gender: Female
• Immigration Year: 1917
• Relation to Head of House: Daughter
• Marital Status: Single
• Father's name: John Lewis
• Father's Birthplace: England
• Mother's name: Kitty Lewis
• Mother's Birthplace: England
• Native Tongue: English
• Able to Speak English: Yes
• Naturalization Status: Alien
• Attended School: Yes
• Neighbors: View others on page

Household Members:

• John Lewis 31 [b. 1889]
• Kitty Lewis 27 [b. 1893]
• Lucille E Lewis 6 [b. 1913]

Source Citation:

Year: 1920; Census Place: Manhattan Assembly District 7, New York, New York; Roll: T625_1197; Page: 11A; Enumeration District: 543; Image: 409

Source Information Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.

Original data:

Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920. (NARA microfilm publication T625, 2076 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C. For details on the contents of the film numbers, visit the following NARA web page: NARA. Note: Enumeration Districts 819-839 are on roll 323 (Chicago City).

1920 U.S. Passport Application

• John Lewis
• Birth Date: 8 May 1888
• Birth Place: Bewdley, England
• Age: 31
• Passport Issue Date: 30 Mar 1920
• Passport Includes a Photo: Yes
• Residence: Bridgeport, Connecticut
• Father Name: Christopher Lewis
• Father's Birth Location: England
• Father's Residence: England

Source Citation:

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; NARA Series: Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 - March 31, 1925; Roll #: 1127; Volume #: Roll 1127 - Certificates: 4126-4499, 29 Mar 1920-30 Mar 1920

Source Information: Ancestry.com. U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2007. Original data: Selected Passports. National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Possible Death Record - 1938, Manhattan

John L. Lewis New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949

• Name: John L. Lewis
• Event Type: Death
• Event Date: 5 Apr 1938
• Event Place: Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States
• Event Place (Original): Manhattan, New York, New York, United States
• Address: 300 West 86th St.
• Residence Place: Manhattan
• Gender: Male
• Age: 67
• Marital Status: Married
• Race: White
• Occupation: Salesman
• Birth Date: 16 Jun 1870
• Birthplace: U.S.A.
• Burial Date: 7 Apr 1938
• Burial Place: N.Y.
• Cemetery: Holy Cross
• Father's Name: Alfred
• Father's Birthplace: France
• Mother's Name: Hannah White
• Mother's Birthplace: U.S.A.
• Spouse's Name: Catherine Lewis
• Note: or Kathryn
• Certificate Number: cn 7657

Record Collection: New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949

Document Information:

GS Film Number 2107786 Digital Folder Number 004007664 Image Number 00266 Indexing Project (Batch) Number B04508-3 Record Number 64

Citing this Record:

"New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2W2S-P3W : 2 June 2020), John L. Lewis, 5 Apr 1938; citing Death, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States, New York Municipal Archives, New York; FHL microfilm 2,107,786.