Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1881-03-30
WEE JOHNNY.


WATERFOWL. Ma Oh 25.-To day.. in
the little cemetery at Ixonia, Jefferson
county, there was laid away, to it's final
rest, the body of John Lewis, the small
est man in America, and with scarcely
a rival in the world for diminutiveness.
As previously announced in these dis
patches, Lewis died on Monday, March
q, at the home of his parents in the
town of Ixonia, six miles east of this
city, of congestion of the stomach, after
a brief illness. John Lewis was born in
the town where he died, in the year 1867,
and was therefore "a years of age at the
time of his decease. His parents, Lewis
and Catharine Lewis, are natives of
Wales. Their union has been blessed
with seven children, three sons and four
daughters, the dwarf son being the oldest.
With the exception of John all their off
spring are of full average size, we'll form
ed and of good intellect. As a baby
John was of fair average size, but APP
pears not have grown much after his Sec
ond year. This wonderful little man was
only twenty-seven inches high, and his
average weight of late years only nine
teen pounds. Tom Thumb, considered
at one time so much of a prodigy, for
smallness of stature, is about forty inches
high and twice the weight of Lewis.
Even Commodore Mutt seemed tall by
the side of the Ixonia dwarf Lewis had
a round face with an intelligent look,
blue eyes, black bushY hair and fair COM
pleXion. He was perfectsand symmetric-
al in form except that his hands were
without thumbs and one foot was club
and slightly turned in at the ankle. He
was fond of dress His favorite coat was
the conven tional blue frock with brass
buttons. It. was invariably found i'm
possible to find hat small enough to fit
him, which made it necessary to make
one for him expressly. When dressed in
his best he looked like miniature
Broadway swell. He received common
school education such as his neighbor-
hood afforded, and was generally taken
to the school house, one and half miles
distant, in little wagon drawn by his
brothers and sisters. He was q bright
scholar, both in the English and Welsh
languages, especially noted for his reten-
tive memory, and could repeat most of
the New Testament by heart. He was
possessed of considerable religious zeal
attending church services as regularly as
possible, and was invariably able to re-
peat the text and tell the part of the
Bible it could be found in when he re-
turned home. In the Ixonia Welsh
Methodist church, of which he was
member, the privilege was generally ac-
corded him of giving out and reading the
hymns, which he did standing on the
pulpit, a small TO be sure, but no less
earnest specimen of the church militant.
But Notwithstanding his fervor as a relig-
ionist, the uugovernableness of his tenn
per often got the mastery of him. When
angry he was quite desperate and used
to make it very unpleasant for the mem
bers of the household, many time
chasing his brothers and sisters out of the
house, on such occasions using his club
foot as weapon to the best possible adj
vantage He ever maintained by his
conduct that though he had been out
stripped in size, he was complete master
at the hearthstone. He made study of
agricultural topics, and was greatly in
terested in all matters pertaining to the
work of the farm, remembering clearly
the different kinds of grain the fields in
previous years had been sown with. A
strange popularity he possessed of pull
ing off his coat at meals and keeping on
his hat. He was hearty eater, and
great tea drinker The disease of which
he died was no doubt the result of his
ravenous appetite.
Our dininutive friend had great ap-
titude for making money. When a pig
was given him by his father the circum-
stance did not by any manner of means
furnish an illustration Of the adage,
"boy's pig and daddy's Bacon" for the
progress in the growth of the animal was
closely watched, and when killed the
money obtained from the pork was in the
little mans pocket. So in the case of
hen. Her laying and incubations were
properly noted and the profits accruing
placed where they would do the most
good. In this way Lewis had accumu-
lated some $500 at the time of his DEATH
The farthest he ever was away from home
was when he attended a Welsh church
svnodical convention at Oshkosh few
years since. He never exhibited himself,
although numerous offers had been made
him to do so. Barnum had obtained his
photograph and wrote him on the subject
of making an engagement with him for
exhibiting. Other parties correspondent
with him, having the same object in
view, but to such he turned deaf ear.
Rev. T. r. Jones, of Randolph, Wis,
tried to persuade the little fellow to take
a trip with him to Wales, and from there
they would go to Australia, where large
number of Welsh people are settled, but
without avail Mrs. Lewis was very en-
phatic in her determination that her
dwarf son should never leave his home,
especially for the purpose Of showing
himself to the public. She always took
great care of him, and, OF course on &C
count of his misfortune, her feelings, per-
haps, were more tender for him than for
any of her other children. When Tom
Thumb and Commodore Mutt exhibited
here some eight years ago, John Lewis
came to see chem All three of these
mell midgets were greatly interested in
enc another. Mutt admitted he was beat,
but pointed to Lewis hands and foot as