DIXON HALL LEWIS

In a number of respects the Honorable Dixon Hall Lewis was a very remarkable man.  He was precocious, though, in his early years, not studious.  Still, he held his own in his classes in South Carolina College, as the university of that state was then called, with decided merit.  Possessed from the beginning with a popular turn, he was a great favorite in college circles, and was counted an all-round good fellow. 

  Lewis was a student at the South Carolina College during the time that nullification was a dominant issue, and readily imbibed the principles advocated by Mr. Calhoun, who was then the ideal of most young South Carolinians.  The more mature and thoughtful among the students shared in the political issues of the time, especially when they were as exciting as nullification then was.  In subsequent years the great South Carolina statesman never had a more ardent admirer and supporter than Dixon H. Lewis. 

  One of the most remarkable facts connected with Mr. Lewis was his unusual size.  His weight was excessive even in boyhood, and it continued to increase so long as he lived.  His death was doubtless due to his excessive adiposity, and he was cut down at an age when he should have been most useful. 

  Graduating from South Carolina College he removed to Alabama in 1822.  At that time Lewis was just twenty years old.  Admitted to the bar, he began the practice of law in Montgomery.  His ability in the court room was at once recognized, and had he continued, would doubtless have achieved distinction at the bar; but his pronounced fondness for politics led him early into that arena in which he spent the remainder of his life.  His career as a public servant began in the Alabama legislature.  During the years 1825-26-27, he represented Montgomery County in the general assembly of the state.  At that time he weighed about three hundred and eighty pounds. 

  By dint of ability Mr. Lewis took a foremost position among the Alabama legislators.  When scarcely eligible by reason of age, he was chosen for Congress from his district, and continued in the lower house of the National Congress from 1829 to 1844, when he was transferred to the Federal Senate. 

  Mr. Lewis belongs to the states’ rights school of politicians, and never had a cause a more fervid advocate.  In Congress his influence was pronounced, and for years he was the acknowledged leader of the Alabama delegation in the lower branch of that body.  He was unalterably opposed to a protective tariff, and never let an opportunity slip to oppose its fallacy and injustice.  His principles were embodied in the platform resolutions adopted by the national democratic convention which met in Baltimore in 1840. 

  Ponderous as he was, Mr. Lewis was not impaired in his activity either as a state legislator or as a congressman.  His interest in all matters public enabled him to overcome the hindrance encountered in his enormous weight.  It was one of his controlling principles never to be absent from an important committee meeting, where he was always pronounced and firm in the expression of his convictions.  When in 1844 he resigned from the House of Representatives to take his seat in the Senate, he was chairman of the committee of ways and means, and the ability shown by him in the lower branch led to his appointment to the chairmanship of the committee on finance when he entered the upper chamber. 

  His life was a perpetual struggle against the difficulty encountered by his weight.  He could walk but little, and he could enter but few vehicles.  His private carriage had to be specially constructed with respect to strength, and its entrance was of unusual width.  In his home a special chair or chairs had to be manufactured adapted to his size, and his bedstead was of far more than ordinary strength.  He moved from place to place with exceeding difficulty, but in the constant warfare of the spirit against the flesh the former predominated, for impelled by a gigantic will, he declined to hesitate because of his immense weight and size. 

  In his trips to Washington and returning, in the days before railroads became so great a convenience, Mr. Lewis had to travel in an old fashioned stage coach, and always paid for two seats.  A chair of unusual size was made for him to occupy in the House of  Representatives, and when he entered the Senate it was transferred to that chamber.  Yet, as has already been said, Lewis was an orator of unusual power.  His freedom of utterance, pleasing manner, jovial disposition, and his ability to present with clearness and power the issues discussed, with a reliance on well arranged and thoroughly digested facts, made him formidable in debate, and quite popular before a promiscuous audience. 

  In this memorable contest against Mr. King for the National Senate in 1841, the labors of Lewis were Herculean.  Weighing at this time about five hundred pounds, he had to be helped to the platform, and on one occasion when the weather was excessively hot, two devoted country constituents, one on each side of the sweltering orator, relieved the situation by the swaying of two large palm fans, which they employed with vigor while he spoke with ardor.  The contrast between Mr. Lewis and Mr. King was most striking—the one ponderous and bulky, while the other was tall, thin, lithe and sinewy. 

  Mr. Lewis declined to be jested about his size and was sensitive to the faintest allusion to it.  But his genuine chivalry forbade his taking the slightest advantage of anyone, or of subjecting any to the least inconvenience because of his condition.  On one occasion while returning from Washington, the steamer on which he was, was wrecked.  The small boat was ordered out for the relief of the excited and distressed passengers, but he declined to enter it, for fear that his huge weight would imperil the safety of the others.  Remaining alone in extreme peril till the others could be safely rescued, he was subsequently reached by the small boat and saved. 

  Elected to the Senate in 1844, Mr. Lewis died in 1848.  In the interest of his health he went to New York during the later part of 1848, was treated as was supposed successfully and, animated by the prospect of a speedy resumption oh his public duties at Washington, he spent some time in visiting the objects of interest about and within the city of New York.  But his special trouble returned with suddenness and he soon died.  At the time of his death Mr. Lewis was forty-six years old. 

  So nation-wide had become the reputation of this remarkable man that his body lay in state for some time in the city hall of New York before its interment in Greenwood cemetery.  The funeral procession was one that did honor to his career, for at its head, were the mayor of New York, the governor of the state, and every congressman who was able to reach the metropolis in time.  He died just as he was emerging into the full exercise of his splendid powers. 

SOURCE:   "Makers and Romance of Alabama History, embracing sketches of the men who have been largely instrumental in shaping the policies and in molding the conditions in the rapid growth of Alabama--together with the thrilling and romantic scenes with which our history is resplendent."

Author:  Riley, B. F. 1849-1925.

Publication:  Birmingham, Ala., 1914. pp. 28-32.