Finding a Grandson Named Harry, Part Two: Harry Spearman Lewis, 1894

 

When I was writing Part One of this blog post, I had no idea how appropriate the title would turn out to be. As I wrote about Richard Lewis' photograph from "Finding a Grandson Named Harry," I had no plan to write a Part Two. Part Two developed because I discovered, as I was in the process of selecting my next blog subject, that I purchased a second photograph at the same time as the Richard Lewis photo which I suspect features Harry Spearman Lewis, who was the recipient of the Richard Lewis photograph. (If you're confused by this, please see my previous post, Finding a Grandson Named Harry)

 

I will cut to the chase on this one, since we've looked at the Lewis family previously. There's an image of a mature Harry Spearman Lewis on the FamilySearch Tree. It is easy to see that my younger Harry S. Lewis is the same fellow. And just to be sure, I located his signature as an adult on a passport application, and while some of the letter formations have refined over the years, he still concluded his signature with the same distinct flourish as on this portrait.

The photograph was taken at Hartley Studios, formerly Brands Studios, on Wabash Avenue in Chicago. When we last left Harry in the previous blog post, he was living in Wisconsin. But now, in 1894, he is sitting for a photographer in Chicago, which makes perfect sense since his family moved there. 

If you ever wish to research an interesting character, I recommend looking into the life of Harry Spearman Lewis. He was a WWI war correspondent (as was his wife, Camille) for the Chicago Tribune and a publicist for the Chicago Opera Company. He lost his considerable wealth, went bankrupt, and then, in a major stroke of luck, gambled his way back at the dog races and invested his winnings in profitable enterprises. His first wife Camille has the distinction of being the first woman to fly over Chicago in a dirigible. And during World War II, he and his second wife Virginia owned one of two air raid shelters in the city. Harry may also be the Spearman Lewis elected as the first mayor of Surfside, Florida in 1935. Earlier, Harry operated a resort complex called, "The Treasure Trove," in Miami Beach.  Sometime, when I have a good chunk of time to kill, I will delve into researching his fascinating life more fully. 

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SOURCES:

Chicago photographers, 1847 through 1900 : as listed in Chicago city directories by Chicago Historical Society. Print Dept, 1958. Digitized.https://archive.org/details/chicagophotograp00chic/page/52/mode/2up

"United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QYQX-H4MM : 29 December 2021), Harry Spearman Lewis, 1917-1918.

"United States Passport Applications, 1795-1925," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV5B-FSZ8 : 16 March 2018), Harry Spearman Lewis, 1918; citing Passport Application, Illinois, United States, source certificate #38046, Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 - March 31, 1925, 599, NARA microfilm publications M1490 and M1372 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

"Illinois, County Marriages, 1810-1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X2R1-PKG : 19 February 2021), Harry S Lewis and Camille Hincher, 1906; citing Bond, Illinois, United States, county offices, Illinois; FHL microfilm 1,688,495.

The Way-bill. (Magazine). United States, 1932: page 10. https://www.google.ca/books/edition/The_Way_bill/5JknAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22spearman%20lewis%22%20treasure%20trove

Salem News (Salem, Ohio), 1937-04-12, Page two. “O.M. McIntyre, New York Day By Day” column. Digitized, on Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/salem-news-1937-04-12/page/n1/mode/2up?q=%22spearman+lewis%22

The Chicago Daily Tribune 1914-07-02: Volume 73, Issue 156. Page 4. “Women Take Dirigible Cruise:  Mrs. H. Spearman Lewis and Mrs. Knabenshue First to Fly Over Chicago in Balloon.”

"United States Census, 1920", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MJ7M-HT7 : Thu Jul 20 22:03:20 UTC 2023), Entry for Spearman H Lewis and Camille H Lewis, 1920.

"United States Census, 1940", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VTH8-ZL1 : Sun Jul 30 22:00:13 UTC 2023), Entry for Spearman Lewis and Virginia Lewis, 1940.