F. M. Lewis, one of the prominent citizens of Washington Township, was born in Franklin County, Indiana, September 23, 1846, the son of Samuel Lewis, who was born in the same county in 1812, and was a son of Daniel Lewis, a native of Pennsylvania, and of English descent. Our subject's mother was Martha (Richardson) Lewis, who was born in Ohio, and the daughter of Nathaniel Richardson, a native of Connecticut. In 1853, when the subject of this sketch was but seven years of age, the family moved to Marion County, Iowa, where the father lived until 1879, and then in Pottawattamie County till his death, which occurred in 1882, at the age of seventy years. He had been a farmer all his life; politically he was a Republican; and religiously a member of the Methodist Church. The mother now lives in Madison County, Nebraska. They had a family of twelve children, seven sons and five daughters, all of whom grew to maturity.

F. M. Lewis remained on the farm in Marion County until 1877, when he settled six miles from Council Bluffs, and later bought eighty acres of land, where he now lives. He was one of the early settlers in his neighborhood, and has been very successful in all his undertakings, being now the owner of 200 acres of well improved land.

He was married in Marion County, Iowa, February 1, 1877, to Miss Lizzie Devore, who was born in Bartholomew County, Indiana, the daughter of Levi and Rosetta ( Osborne) Devore, the former a native of Indiana, and the son of Ben Devore, and the latter was the daughter of Jonathan Osborne, a native of New England. Mrs. Lewis was but two years of age when her parents moved to Marion County, where she grew to maturity and was educated. Her mother died in 1881, in Pottawattamie County, and the father now lives six miles north of Council Bluffs, near Crescent.

Mr. and Mrs. Lewis have four children: Tonny Benton, Mary Elva, Charles Earl and Irvin. Politically Mr. Lewis is a Republican; and religiously both himself and wife are members of the Evangelical Church.