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Melvin Albert Lewis was born on December 14, 1869, in the Metcalfe Township of Middlesex, Ontario, Canada. He was the son of George Sylvester Roe Lewis and Emma Elizabeth Mann. Both of Albert's parents were born in Southern Ontario, Canada. Albert's family was of German descent and they belonged to the Church of England.[1]
Albert grew up learning to play the violin, which he played until the day he died.
M. Albert Lewis, Violinist. [2] |
In 1880, Albert (age 11) migrated with his family from his home in Middlesex, Ontario, Canada, to the town of Humbug, in Stanton County, Nebraska, United States. [3] . Albert's new home was just north of the Platte River, on the banks of Humbug Creek. An exciting time for a young boy, and It was the year that the town of Humbug finally got connected to the railroad.[4]
Stanton County offered great farming land for grain crops and the farmers, like Albert's father, could get their agricultural products to market easily. Workers were in demand and many German settlers made their home in Stanton County, just like Albert's family. [4]Albert, as he liked to be called, was the oldest of six siblings:
The year 1885 found Albert's family living in the village of Pierce, Pierce County, Nebraska, not more than 25 miles northeast of his home in Stanton County. He was helping his father at home, on their farm. Pierce was formed in 1859, but it was not until ten years later in 1869 when a colony of Germans made their home there. The population of Pierce was rapidly growing when Albert (age 15) moved there. A new creamery had just opened up and a flour mill had been operating for a few years. Pierce also had an ice-house. The Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley Railroad came right through town. The population in 1880 was a total of 73 people. In 1910 the town recorded 1,200 folks. [5]
On September 23, 1890, in Franklin, Kansas, United States, Albert (age 20), married Jennie Mary Hibbard (age 21) [6]
Albert and Jennie's Marriage License |
Jennie was from Crawford, Pennsylvania, and she came to Kansas with her family. Her father was a carpenter and he had found a lot of work, building new homes in Kansas.
Two years later, in 1892, Albert and Jennie had their first child. They called him Warren Ray Lewis. In 1894, Jennie delivered another child, named Vera L. Lewis Griggs.
At the time of the 1895 Kansas State Census, Albert (age 25) and Jennie (age 25) were living in Osage, Kansas, with their two children, Ray (age 3), and Vera (age 1). Albert was working as a Jeweler.[7]
That same year, in 1895, Albert's mother, Emma, a widow, was living on her own in Melvern, Kansas, with five of her children. She is listed as a merchant, and her son George (age 21), is a Jeweler in the store. Albert’s father must have died sometime after the 1885 Nebraska census. [8]
Two years later, in 1897, Jennie gave birth to their third child, a daughter, who they named Alva Lewis.
Jennie and Albert's last child, Alberta Lewis Lee, was born on August 8, 1898, in Carbondale, Kansas.
During the 1900 U.S. Census, Albert (age 31) and Jennie (age 31) were living in Carbondale, Ridgeway, Osage, Kansas, with their four children, Ray, Vera, Alva and Alberta. Albert was working as a watchmaker. [9] Albert's mother, Emma Mann Lewis was living next door, with two of her children, Maud (age 19) and Harvey (age 16), who were still in school. Emma (age 51) was widowed and she was running a rooming house. Living with her was a boarder by the name of William Watson, who was a barber in town.[10]
Sometime after the birth Alberta, Albert and Jennie (age 35) separated, with Albert leaving before the date of March 1, 1905. [11]
On December 22, 1909, Albert married Susan E. Johnson , in Kansas City, Jackson County, Missouri.
M.Albert and Susan C. Lewis Marriage License |
Susan was five years younger than Albert, born in July of 1874, in Washington County, Tennessee, living at home with her mother. Albert moved in after they married.[13] [14]
By 1910, Albert's first wife, Jennie Hibbard, (age 44), had moved from Kansas, to the town of Colton, San Bernardino County, California, where her father, John Henry Hibbard, was living. In Colton, she rented a house near her father, and was living there with her four children. [15] Jennie is listed as 'widowed' on this census.
Albert's mother, Emma E. Lewis (age 60), had moved to Colorado by the time of the 1910 census, to live with her daughter, Maud and her husband John W. Watson. [16] (Could this be the young William Watson that was a boarder at Emma's Rooming House while living in Carbondale, Kansas, during the 1900 census?)
In 1920, Albert (age 49) is making watches in his own retail store, in Bonner Springs, Wyandotte County, Kansas, just outside of Kansas City, and he has a mortgage on his home.[17]
Sometime after 1925, [18] Albert and Susan left Kansas and headed southwest to San Diego, California. Albert died in 1928, at 59 years old and is buried at the Mount Hope. Cemetery.[19]
Jennie Hibbard lived with their daughter, Alberta and her husband Orie Finiae Lee until she passed away on August 3, 1949, in Los Angeles, California.
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Albert is 25 degrees from Herbert Adair, 20 degrees from Richard Adams, 20 degrees from Mel Blanc, 22 degrees from Dick Bruna, 20 degrees from Bunny DeBarge, 32 degrees from Peter Dinklage, 19 degrees from Sam Edwards, 17 degrees from Ginnifer Goodwin, 20 degrees from Marty Krofft, 18 degrees from Junius Matthews, 17 degrees from Rachel Mellon and 19 degrees from Harold Warstler on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.
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Categories: Violinists