TOMBSTONE TUESDAY: DAVID LEWIS

TOMBSTONE TUESDAY: DAVID LEWIS (1824 – 1886) 

The story of David Lewis is closely intertwined with the rise, struggles, and ultimate destruction of the Gulf Coast town of Indianola, Texas. Over the decades he served the town in many capacities—postmaster, merchant, civic leader, and eventually physician—while operating a drug store that became a fixture of local life. His career reflected the opportunities and challenges of a developing frontier port, from epidemics and fires to political upheaval during the Civil War. Through perseverance and public service, Lewis became one of Indianola’s most recognizable and respected citizens.

David Lewis was born August 20, 1824 in East Falmouth, Massachusetts to Thomas and Rebecca Lewis. His tombstone gives his birth year as 1825 which is not accurate. His mother gave birth to a younger brother in fall of 1825. David was the oldest of ten children. His father Thomas supported the family as a farmer.

By 1850, David had found his way to Indianola. His name appears in the The Texian Advocate in May 1850 as Constable of Calhoun County. He was named Postmaster on August 5, 1850. Indianola had only had a Post Office since September 7, 1847. At that time, mail was delivered to Indianola by boat where it was sorted and sent to its next location via boat, stage coach or horse rider. The railroad to Indianola would not be completed for some time and wasn’t chartered until the late 1850s. Lewis received some negative press in 1851 after a small storm capsized the sloop carrying mail to Victoria, San Antonio, and Western Texas, dumping its contents into the bay. After this event, all mail headed inland was routed through the Saltmarsh Stage via land to parts north. Any mail destined for Lavaca (later called Port Lavaca) and points east would be delivered to Lavaca by boat. Lewis would remain the Postmaster of Indianola until the next Postmaster was named on November 11, 1864. The only census where Lewis lists his occupation as Postmaster is in 1850.

David’s life would change after he met Dr. Frederick Edward (F. E.) Hughes. Dr. Hughes was originally from Kentucky and trained in medicine at the medical college in St. Louis. He moved to Texas in 1850 and soon settled in Indianola. By 1852, David Lewis and Dr. F. E. Hughes had opened Lewis & Hughes Drug Store. The name of their business was included in a list of local merchants who were offering prizes for the best cotton, pecans, sugar, hides and pelts brought to be sold in Indianola. On July 27, 1853 their drug store was destroyed by fire along with the residence of Dr. Hughes which was above the store. By October, 1853 the men were advertising a temporary location and had vowed to rebuild. In the summer of 1853 there was also a yellow fever outbreak in the town. A local hospital was created with Dr. Hughes appointed as physician. Later David Lewis would be called Dr. Lewis, likely trained and mentored by Dr. Hughes. Hughes would serve as doctor in the Civil War and eventually turn the business over to Lewis by the late 1860s and move his family to the Dallas area.

Throughout the 1850s & 1860s, David Lewis was often mentioned in the local newspapers. He posted mail schedules and deliveries as part of his role as Postmaster. Advertisements for Lewis & Hughes, and then David Lewis Drugs, appeared in the paper. Postings for debtors being summoned due to debts owed to his businesses were published. He was mentioned in leadership roles for the local Independent Order of Odd Fellows lodge. David Lewis, Esq, appeared in newspapers as he executed wills for deceased clients and their families. He ran for several political offices during this time including as Calhoun County Treasurer in February 1866. Despite his different vocations, he listed himself as druggist in the 1860 census and retired druggist in the 1870 and 1880 censuses.

David Lewis was one of the signers of the petition to secede from the Union in November 1860. He enlisted first in the Indianola Guards on June 27, 1861 as a Private. Lewis took the post of Postmaster of Indianola for the Confederate States of America on July 12, 1861. He later became part of Company E, Waller’s Battalion, Captain Woodward’s company on May 14, 1862. During the war he mainly served in the medical field with some sources claiming he was an Acting Assistant Surgeon. By the 1860s, he was commonly referred to as Dr. Lewis. His military records show he was missing from Muster several times in January and February 1864 with the notation that he was “detailed in attendance of sick on train.” When the war ended, Lewis was granted a Pardon by Amnesty in May 1867 from President Andrew Johnson for his participation in the War.

In January 1867, a fire broke out in Indianola that led to extensive damage to the downtown area. With the main building material still being wood, fires were devastating. The Indianola Post Office and David Lewis Drug Store were destroyed. At this time, the town had a volunteer fire department, but the most common way to fight fire was by making an assembly line of people with buckets that passed the water from the source to the location of the fire. This was not a very efficient means for fire fighting. With plenty of bay water to use, the problem was lack of equipment not water. This event led to public financial support for the volunteer fire department for the purchase of pumps to utilize the natural water resources available.

On February 17, 1870, a 45 year old David Lewis married a 24 year old Amelia Wasserman. Amelia was born in Saxony, Germany and brought to Texas in 1852 as a child. The couple would have five children with only four living to adulthood. Emma was born in 1871, Mary in 1873, Amelia in 1875, George in 1876 and David in 1878. Amelia lived for only a year and is buried in the same cemetery as her father.

The Lewis family was living in Indianola with their three daughters when the Hurricane of 1875 caused major damage to the town and port of Indianola. In inventories of damage from the storm, the Lewis Drug warehouse was destroyed while the Lewis home received some damage. Including the fires of 1853 and 1867 plus the Hurricane of 1875, David Lewis rebuilt his drug business at least three times due to destruction by natural disaster.

David Lewis was last seen entering his drug store on August 20, 1886. Within minutes, the building had collapsed and most of downtown was engulfed in flames from an exploded lamp with the winds of the hurricane fanning the flames. He was buried at the Old Town Cemetery with a symbol and two inscriptions on his tombstone. The top of the stone contains the three link chain with letter FLT that stands for “Friendship, Love and Truth” and symbolized his involvement in the Independent Order of Old Fellows. One inscription reads ”Departed this life by drowning in the great cyclone.” The other inscription reads “Farewell O husband dear, Farewell thoust left me lonely in this world of pain. O may we meet in heaven to dwell at God’s right hand no more to part again.” 

After David’s death, Amelia relocated to Cuero and raised their four children in that location. Amelia shows up in court records in 1914 trying to collect a widow’s pension for her husband’s service during the Civil War. The Thirty-Third Legislature of Texas in 1913 had expanded pensions for Confederate Soldiers as there was a large aging population of men who had served. At that time she claimed to be a resident of Cuero and had never remarried. She outlived her two sons who died within ten days of each other in 1930. Her daughter Mary took care of her final wishes after Amelia passed away on February 12, 1939.

David Lewis’s life illustrates both the promise and fragility of nineteenth-century Gulf Coast communities. For more than three decades he helped shape Indianola’s civic and commercial life, rebuilding his business after repeated disasters and serving his neighbors in times of crisis as a druggist and medical practitioner. His death during the devastating hurricane of 1886 symbolically mirrored the fate of the town itself, which never fully recovered from that storm. Yet Lewis’s legacy endured through his family and the historical record of his many roles in the community. From postmaster and merchant to soldier and physician, his life offers a vivid glimpse into the resilience, service, and hardships that defined life along the Texas coast in the nineteenth century.

Written by Jennifer Shafer Wyatt

Texas Portal

The Indianolian

The Indianola Courier

The Indianola Bulletin

The Texian Advocate

Indianola: The Mother of Western Texas