Biography

11/14/1780 - 04/26/1852

Lewis Dewart, (D9) Northumberland and Union Counties 1822-1826 

Early Life:

Lewis Dewart, born November 14, 1780, Sunbury, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania; son of William and Eleanor Dewart; common school education; clerk, father's store; coal operator; engaged, banker; postmaster, Sunbury 1806-1816; elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1816-1821; elected, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1823-1826; one of the organizers and builders, director, Danville and Pottsville Railroad; elected, Jacksonian, United States House of Representatives, Twenty-second Congress, 1831-1833; elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1834-1838; elected, Speaker, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1836-1838; elected, Sunbury, school board, elected, treasurer, 1834-1837; elected, chief burgess, Sunbury, 1839; unsuccessful candidate, Democratic nomination, Governor of Pennsylvania, 1840; married, Elizabeth Liggitt Dewart, son,  William Lewis Dewart; died, April 26, 1852 (age 71 years, 164 days), Sunbury, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania; interment, family vault, Sunbury Cemetery, Sunbury, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania Politics:

Appointed, postmaster, Sunbury 1806-1816. 

Elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1816-1821. 

Elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State Senate, 9th district, Northumberland and Union Counties, 1822-1826. Special election, vacancy, death, Senator Andrew Albright, who died in office on November 26, 1822.

Elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1834-1838; elected, Speaker, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1836-1838; December 6, 1836, chosen, the 64th Speaker of the Pennsylvania House, and was reelected Speaker on December 5, 1837. While, Speaker, the House passed Resolution 19 of 1838, which called for the State Library to be open on all session days of the Legislature and Supreme Court, as well as called for set regular hours for the rest of the year.  The resolution also appropriated funds for the purchase of law books to be kept in the library.

Elected, Sunbury, school board, elected, treasurer, 1836; one of the “fathers of the Sunbury school system”, 1834-1837.

Elected, chief burgess, Sunbury, 1839. 

Unsuccessful candidate, Democratic nomination, Governor of Pennsylvania, 1840

Continued Government Service/National Politics:

Elected, Jacksonian, United States House of Representatives, Twenty-second Congress, 1831-1833. 

Pennsylvania Speaker of House of Representatives Biography:

Lewis Dewart - PA House of Representatives - PA House of Representatives (state.pa.us)

Legacy:

Father of William Lewis Dewart, United States House of Representatives, from Pennsylvania. 
Cited: 

Cox, Harold. "Senate Members D". Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

Lewis Dewart (1780-1852) - Find a Grave Memorial