San
Joaquin County
Biographies
THOMAS DAVID LEWIS
Widely and favorably known among
successful contractors throughout San Joaquin County, Thomas David Lewis, now
one of the oldest in his line of business, is kept steadily busy as a builder,
never wanting for the next commission in up-to-date constructing and designing
work. He was born in Bachellor
Valley, Stanislaus County, on November 23, 1864 the son of William Lewis, a
native of Ireland who came around the Horn in pioneer days and located in
Stanislaus County, where he took up farming.
He married Lucy Peachey, born in England, who came to California via
Panama. When a boy,
Thomas Lewis attended the district schools, starting to work on the home ranch
when he was a lad of thirteen.
In 1883 at the age of nineteen, he
came to Stockton, and the following year he became an apprentice to the
carpenter’s trade under the pioneer contractor, R. R. Reibenstein. In 1896 he established himself as a
contractor in building and this line of work he is still following with success. His product has always been of the highest
order, and in recent years he has specialized in the installation of new
storefronts in the business districts.
Among notable undertakings, for example, he erected the Elks Building,
the Ruhl-Goodell Block, the Branch Block, the Flat-Iron Building, and the
Gummer Building, as well as the first Fair Oaks School, the Wilhoit Block, the
Wonder Store, the Philson Hotel, and other edifices which have helped to enrich
and to adorn the city. He has also built
many fine private residences, including the homes of George F. Hudson, Harry
King, A. E. Gianelli, George Dickerson, Albert Morath, and two for Carl Ortman.
Mr. Lewis married Miss Carrie Case,
at Stockton, in 1885, and they have been blessed in the birth of five
children. Lottie, Mrs. Vilhauer of Stockton, is the eldest; William is a clerk in
the Stockton Savings & Loan Bank; Annie is the third-born; Olive is the
wife of N. Stockwell, and they have one child, Thomas; and Everett is with
Humphreys & Mathews. For over twenty
years Mr. Lewis lived at No. 1320 South San Joaquin Street, but has just
completed a new residence on the corner of Acacia and Edison streets, where he
resides with his family.
Mr. Lewis is a member of Charity
Lodge of Odd Fellows, Stockton Lodge, No. 218, B. P. O. E., and Woodmen of the
World, as well as the Stockton Chamber of Commerce, and leaves no stone
unturned to help boost the city which he is helping to build up.
Transcribed by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
1614-1615. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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