Biography of John H. Lewis, Dr.

Nez Perce is to be congratulated in securing as a permanent resident the subject of this article, who has shown himself in his large and ever increasing practice in dentistry to be a master in his profession, a noble and upright man, and a keen and discriminating student of deep erudition, not only in the technical departments of dentistry but in general information.

John H. Lewis was born in Blackhawk County, Iowa, on February 11, 1875, being the son of Ezra J. and Anna M. (Harris) Lewis. The father was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and came with his parents to Carroll County, Illinois, where he was married, his wife being a native of that County. Later they removed to the birthplace of our subject and in 1885 they came to Cheyenne County, Nebraska, whence, in 1889, they journeyed to Marion County, Oregon.

Dr. Lewis attended public school in the east and the high school at Newport, Oregon, gaining the money for his expenses in the latter by teaching school. We may also remark that Dr. Lewis is a self-made man in every respect, for his own efforts have contributed solely to the fund that gave him his training in his profession. He possessed the requisite courage, ambition and tenacity of purpose to accomplish this worthy achievement and it is greatly to his credit in his life that he has so done, for it has given him an independence, a self reliance and freedom of thought that have contributed much to his excellent success in professional life. Succeeding the high school course, Dr. Lewis studied at the University of Oregon in Eugene, then took a dental course at Albany. During the latter part of this extended study he spent one and one-half years in Lewiston in the prosecution of his profession with Dr. W. F. Galbraith.

In November, 1899, the Doctor located permanently in Nez Perce and has from the first done a good business and at this time he is thinly established in the confidence and esteem of the entire populace. He took an extended post graduate course in prosthetic dentistry in Portland, in 1900, and now he is in charge of one of the finest dental parlors in the state. The Doctor owns the office building where he operates and also is contemplating in the near future to erect a beautiful residence on the lots which, he also owns.

On July 15, 1901, the Doctor had the happy privilege of taking to himself a wife, the charming lady being Miss Dora B. Laird, a native of Lane County, Oregon. He and his wife are devout members of the Church of Christ and he is an acting elder in this congregation at Nez Perce. Dr. Lewis is a member of the W. W. and the M. W. A.

Back to: Nez Perce Biographies

Source: An Illustrated History of Northern Idaho, Embracing Nez Perce, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone Counties, Western Historical Publishing Company, 1903

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