Leon Lewis

Julius Warren Lewis (April 8, 1833 – October 28, 1920) was an American writer of popular fiction. He used the name Leon Lewis and wrote under that name among others.[1]

Lewis was born in Southington, Connecticut.[1] He began his writing career in Boston, which led him to become editor of the flash paper Life in Boston.

Once Lewis was a summer guest at a boarding house owned by Thomas Nickerson, a retired sailor who had survived the whale-ship Essex as a cabin boy.[2] (The captain's 1821 account of that episode inspired Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby Dick.) Lewis encouraged Nickerson to write down his story and in 1876 received from Nickerson a manuscript with additional accounts of his life.[2] Lewis did nothing with the material, but a friend of his secured it during a crisis with creditors, and it was discovered by the friend's family in 1960.[3]

In 1860 Lewis married Harriet Newell O'Brien of Penn Yan, New York.[4] The couple began writing serials for the New York Weekly and the New York Ledger. Harriet Lewis died on May 20, 1878.[5]

In January 1879, Lewis disappeared from Penn Yan owing more than $50,000. He sailed with a 15-year-old niece, Julia Wheelock, and married her in Brazil. During the 1880s he wrote boys' stories in England.[5]

Lewis and Julia were divorced in 1913. Living with his sister in Bakersville, Connecticut, he died October 28, 1920, in a Winsted, Connecticut, hospital.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 ""Leon" LEWIS". The Beadle and Adams Dime Novel Digitization Project. Northern Illinois University Libraries (ulib.niu.edu). Retrieved 2016-05-21.
  2. 1 2 "Thomas Nickerson". Encyclopedia. Kids.Net.Au. Retrieved 2016-05-21.
  3. ↑ "The original story of Moby-Dick: A mere 108 years between manuscript and publication". Lost Manuscripts (lostmanuscripts.com). Retrieved 2016-05-21.
      Concerning The Loss of the Ship Essex Sunk by a Whale and the Ordeal of the Crew in Open Boats by Thomas Nickerson.
  4. ↑ "MARRIED". The New York Times. July 27, 1860. Retrieved 2016-05-21.
      Yesterday's Papers states that Lewis and O'Brien were married in 1856 when she was 15 years old, presumably by confusion with his taking a 15-year-old second wife.
  5. 1 2 "Leon Lewis (1833–1920)". Yesterday's Papers (blog). John-adcock.blogspot.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-05-21.

External links

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