Virgil A. Lewis

Virgil Anson Lewis (July 6, 1848, West Columbia, Virginia—December 5, 1912, Mason City, West Virginia) was a historian of the U.S. state of West Virginia. He was prominent in education and history writing in his home state, serving as the first State Historian and Archivist of West Virginia (1905-1912).

Biography

Lewis was born in a log cabin in Mason County, then part of Virginia, to George W. and Lucie Edwards Lewis. His pioneering ancestors were known for their military service on the frontier. Notably, his great-grandfather, Benjamin Lewis, was wounded in the Battle of Point Pleasant (1774) and settled in what became Mason County in 1792. Upon the death of his father in 1858, Virgil Lewis, the oldest child, was compelled to go to work to support the family. He continued his education, however, working as a printer’s assistant and later as a shipping clerk. Lewis taught for many years in county schools and, in 1878, he became the principal of the Buffalo Academy in neighboring Putnam County. He read law and was admitted to the bar in 1879. He became disenchanted, however, and soon returned to Mason County and to teaching. In 1886 he married Elizabeth Stone of Mason City.

History became Lewis’ main enthusiasm. In 1890 he became one of the organizers of the West Virginia Historical and Antiquarian Society, and in 1892 became editor of the Southern Historical Magazine. Lewis was elected State Superintendent of Free Schools in 1892 and was granted an A.M. in history from West Virginia University the following year. His 1896 textbook History and Government of West Virginia was utilized statewide in public schools for over fifty years. In 1905, Governor William M. O. Dawson appointed him first director of the Bureau of Archives and History, a post which he held until his death.

Legacy

Works

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