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- !MARRIAGE LICENSE STATE OF MISSOURI... COUNTY OF IRON ...This License authorizes any Judge of a Court of Record or any Justice of the Peace, or any licensed or ordained Preacher of the Gospel, who is a Citizen of the United States, or who is a resident ofand a Pastor of any Church in this State to solemnize Marriage between Fred Lewis of Des Arc in the County of Iron and State of Missouri who is over the age of twenty one years, and Ethel M. Miller of Des Arc in the County of Iron and State of Missouri who is over the age of eighteen years. This is to certify that I did on the 27th day of May unite in marriage Fred Lewis and Ethel M. Miller.
Witness My Hand, as Circuit Clerk and ex Officio Recorder of Deeds with the Seal of Office hereto affixed at my Office in Ironton No this 23rd day of may 1916.
J.M. Hawkins, Circuit Clerk and ex Officio Recorder of Deeds
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STATE OF MISSOURI, COUNTY OF IRON ...This is to Certify, that the undersigned, Fred Lewis and Ethel M. Miller did, at Des Arc in said County, on the 27 day of May A. D. 1916 unite in Marriage the above named persons, and I further certify that I as legally qualified under the Laws of the State of Missouri to solemnize Marriages.
Eld. H. J. Wray.
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The foregoing Certificate of Marriage was filed for Record in my office on the
26 day of June A.D. 1916
J. M. Hawkins, Circuit Clerk and ex Officio Recorder of Deeds
(Copy of certificate obtained from Carolyn Keathley McBurney in June 1991)
!NEWSPAPER ARTICLES
DES ARC ITEMS
Mr. and Mrs. Fred Lewis called while at their old home last Sunday, and said they were all well contented with the new home over at the Cape. (IRON COUNTY REGISTER newspaper... Ironton, Missouri ...January 5, 1939)
!NEWSPAPER ARTICLES
Mr. and Mrs. Fred Lewis and son from Cape Girardeau were here last week to visit his brother, James Lewis and family. They had been to Ironton to visit his sister, Mrs. Tyler Keathley who is ill but we are glad to report her as improved. (DES ARC HARKENINSS column ...THE MOUNTAIN ECHO newspaper ...Ironton, Iron County, Missouri ...Thursday, May 12, 1955)
!OBITUARY
FRED LEWIS, 77, CAPE BUSINESSMAN, DIES, BORN AT ANNAPOLIS
Fred Lewis, 77 years old, president of the Wimpys Drive In and Market, 800 North Kingshighvay, Cape Girardeau, died Tuesday night, July 22, at 6:10 at a hospital there where he had been admitted Saturday from the family home at 819 West Cape Rock Drive. Mr. Lewis had been in failing health three months.
Funeral services were conducted last Thursday afternoon at 2 at First Presbyterian Church Cape Girardeau, by the pastor. Rev. C.E. Mount. Interment was in Memorial Park Cemetery.
Pallbearers, all nephews, were Buford Lewis, Howard Lewis, Darwin Lewis,Russell Lewis, Elvis Lewis and Orville Lewis.
Surviving relatives are his wife, Mrs. Ethel Lewis; four sons, Frank, Francis, Freeman and Billie J. Lewis, all of Cape; two daughters, Mrs. Truman Howard and Mrs. E. Lawrence Bahn of Cape Girardeau and 11 grandchildren.
Two brothers surviving are J.M. Lewis of Des Arc and W.W. Lewis of Flat River.
Born January 16, 1881, at Annapolis, he Married Miss Ethel Miller on May 27, 1916. Mr. Lewis engaged in farming until they moved to Cape Girardeau in 1938 from Des Arc. In 1943, he and two of the sons, Freeman and Billie opened the present place of business. The son, Frank, joined the firm in 1948.
Mr. Lewis was a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Cape Girardeau.
(Thursday, July 31, 1958...Copy of newspaper clipping was received in September 1992 from Mary Lu Politte. She obtained the article from Naomi Lewis Zager)
!NEWSPAPER ARTICLES
Mrs. James Lewis and Darwin Lewis, Mrs. Everett Seal, Mr. and Mrs. Buford Lewis attended the funeral of Fred Lewis at Cape Girardeau last week. Mr. Lewis was born and reared on a farm near Des Arc and had many friends here. His funeral was held from the Presbyterian Church at Cape Girardeau where he was an active member. He leaves his widow, Mrs. Ethel Lewis and a number of children and grandchildren. We sympathize with the bereaved ones.
(THE MOUNTAIN ECHO newspaper ...Ironton, Iron County, Missouri... July 31, 1958)
Research notes courtesy of Linda E. Lewis, George Lewis Descendants, published October 1992.
- Fred Lewis birthplace (1881) - GPS: 37.367836 -90.711768
Fred Lewis farm (1910-1938) - GPS: 37.301644. -90.609957
- In 1941, Fred Lewis was employed by a Florist, Ledru R. Johnson, whose flower shop and greenhouse was located at 730 N. Henderson in Cape Girardeau.
- On the Fred Lewis farm:
Susie is the blind mule
Kit is the mule
Charlie is the horse
- Written by oldest grandchild - Richard Lewis Howard in May 2023:
My mother’s father, my grandpa, Fred Lewis was born at Annapolis, Missouri on January 16, 1881 to William Lewis and Abigail Johnson the 12th of 13 children. Grandpa Fred was a thin, wiry, not strong man. He was very friendly and well liked by all who met him. He was the exact opposite of grandma. Grandpa loved to interact with people. He was always telling jokes. I’m still amazed at how he remembered all his jokes. I don’t have the ability to remember even one joke from one day to the next.
Grandpa Fred grew up on a farm and later owned his own farm. He got married when he was 35 years old. Grandma and grandpa Lewis had four boys and two girls. They raised their children in a two level, eight room farm house, with four rooms on each level. Mother told me the story of some of the children sleeping in the attic. In the winter time she said she would wake up sometimes with a sprinkling of snow on her covers. The kids helped their parents with the farm tasks from an early age. My mother tells the story of washing a drying dishes when she was so young that she had to stand on a stool to reach the sink. They stayed on the farm as long as they could, but when the children became young adults the burden became to much for grandma and grandpa and they sold the farm and moved to town.
My best memories of my grandpa Fred happened in and around Wimpy’s. My mother worked there in 1950 and 1951 when dad was recovering from tuberculosis. At other times, she often helped out when they were real busy. So as a youngster, I often found my self at Wimpy’s. I gravitated to the food market side of the building where I could find my grandpa. No matter the situation, he was always glad to see me. I know being the first grandchild worked in my favor here. Grandpa would ask me if I wanted to help him and for some reason I was always ready for the task he gave me. Many times we just worked together on whatever he was involved with at the time and he would teach me how to do whatever it was we were doing. They did not have an electric vacuum cleaner, so we were always sweeping the wooden floors in the grocery aisles.
in the basement underneath the restaurant were stacks and stacks of wooden crates filled with different brands of soda. Grandpa had a wooden slide that we used to slide the full soda crates down the stairs into the basement then we carried them to the appropriate stack. I was strong enough to carry the crates of empty bottles, but grandpa had to carry the ones with the full bottles. In the early days Wimpy’s sold cold bottles of soda. I don’t remember the year they switched to fountain drinks. But they had fountain drinks when I started high school in 1957.
I loved to watch grandpa make the hamburgers sold in the restaurant. There was a meat locker full of sides of beef that was located in the butcher shop by the meat counter. We would go inside the locker and get a slab of beef and he would grind it up into ground beef. Then he mixed it with the special ingredients that made the Wimpy burger unique, form it into a long 12 inch or so slab, then put it into the meat slicer and slice the slab into patties with a piece of wax paper inserted between each patty. Oh the memories, this was a special time for me. The family still makes the Wimpy’s hamburgers for family get-to-gathers and special events.
Grandpa was my favorite grandparent. He always wanted to know what was going on in my life. He was the most compassionate of all my grandparents. Every time he saw me he wanted to know how I was doing in school. I don’t know how much education he had received growing up, but my education was real important to him. I would show him my report card and he would give me a quarter for every excellent grade I received. I did like a lot getting the money, but that wasn’t my source of motivation. I just liked school and learning.
As I got older and my other cousins started showing up, grandpa Fred and I spent less time together. But those early childhood years with him were very special to me. I’ll always remember him for his love and kindness to me.
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