Dixon Hall Lewis

Dixon Hall Lewis

Dixon Hall Lewis (born August 10, 1802 in Dinwiddie County , Virginia , † October 25, 1848 in New York City , New York ) was an American politician ( Democratic Party ) who represented the state of Alabama in both chambers of the US Congress represented.

Early life

Dixon Lewis was born on a plantation in Virginia, but grew up after moving his family from 1806 in Hancock County ( Georgia ) on. He attended the Mount Zion Academy and from 1820 the University of South Carolina in Columbia . Lewis began studying law and settled in Lowndesboro, Alabama in 1823 . He then practiced as a lawyer 20 miles east of Lowndesboro, in Montgomery .

politics

Lewis became a member of the Alabama House of Representatives in 1826 and remained there for two years. On March 4, 1829, he entered the United States House of Representatives as a representative of the third congressional electoral district of Alabama , where he succeeded George Washington Owen . Four years later, on March 4, 1833, he took over as a representative of the newly formed fourth congressional district. He held this mandate until March 4, 1841. Lewis last represented the third congressional district from March 4, 1841. He was elected US Senator in 1844 through the intervention of his brother-in-law Benjamin Fitzpatrick and succeeded William R. King on April 22, 1844 .

Private life and death

Dixon Hall Lewis was one of the most obese US politicians of all time. Due to his body weight of 227 kilograms, a special chair had to be made in the Senate. Lewis died in New York at the age of only 46, single and with no offspring. He is buried in Green-Wood Cemetery , Brooklyn .

Web links

• Dixon Hall Lewis in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Dixon Hall Lewis in the database of Find a Grave (English)