Dixon Hall Lewis

Dixon Hall Lewis
United States Senator from Alabama
In office April 22, 1844 – October 25, 1848
Preceded by	William R. King
Succeeded by	Benjamin Fitzpatrick
Personal details
Born	August 10, 1802(1802-08-10) Dinwiddie County, Virginia
Died	October 25, 1848(1848-10-25) (aged 46) New York, New York
Political party	Democratic
Alma mater	South Carolina College

Dixon Hall Lewis (August 10, 1802—October 25, 1848) was an American politician who served as a Representative and a Senator from Alabama.

Biography

Lewis was born on Bothwick plantation, Dinwiddie County, Virginia, and moved to Hancock County, Georgia, with his parents in 1806. He graduated from Mount Zion Academy and from South Carolina College at Columbia in 1820. He moved to Autauga County, Alabama, the same year, where he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1823. That same year he constructed a house ("Old Homestead") in the town of Lowndesboro, Alabama, twenty miles west of the state capitol in Montgomery. He began to practice law in Montgomery and was elected a member of the Alabama House of Representatives in 1826, serving until 1828. He was elected as a States Rights Democrat to the twenty-first and to the seven succeeding Congresses and served from March 4, 1829, to April 22, 1844, when he resigned the House to join the Senate. He served as chairman of the United States House Committee on Indian Affairs from 1831 to 1835.

Dixon H. Lewis's house in Lowndesboro, Alabama, 1935

In 1844 Lewis was appointed by his brother-in-law Governor Benjamin Fitzpatrick to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of William R. King in 1844. He was reelected as the Democratic candidate in 1847 and served from April 22, 1844, until his death in New York City on October 25, 1848. In the Senate he served as chairman of the Finance Committee from 1845 to 1847.

A strikingly obese figure, Lewis was known to weigh as much as 500 pounds (227 kg), making him the heaviest member of Congress ever. A specially-constructed seat was provided in the Senate chambers for him, and his carriage was fitted with unusually heavy suspension springs. According to the WPA Federal Writers' Project publication Alabama: A Guide to the Deep South, a popular witticism among Lewis's colleagues was the observation that Alabama had the largest representation of any state.

References

• Alabama State Planning Commission. (1941) Alabama: A Guide to the Deep South. American Guide Series. Compiled by Workers of the Writer's Project of the Works Projects Administration in the State of Alabama.
• Dixon Hall Lewis at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by George Washington Owen	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Alabama's 3rd congressional district March 4, 1829 – March 3, 1833	Succeeded by Samuel Wright Mardis
Preceded by (none)	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Alabama's 4th congressional district March 4, 1833 – March 3, 1841	Succeeded by William Winter Payne
Preceded by George Whitfield Crabb	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Alabama's 3rd congressional district March 4, 1841 – March 3, 1844	Succeeded by William Lowndes Yancey
United States Senate
Preceded by William R. King	United States Senator (Class 2) from Alabama April 22, 1844 – October 25, 1848 Served alongside: Arthur P. Bagby and William R. King	Succeeded by Benjamin Fitzpatrick
Political offices
Preceded by John C. Calhoun South Carolina	Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance 1846–1847	Succeeded by Charles Atherton New Hampshire

Persondata
Name	Lewis, Dixon Hall
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	August 10, 1802
Place of birth	Dinwiddie County, Virginia
Date of death	October 25, 1848
Place of death	New York, New York