Ellis Lewis was born on May 16, 1798 at Lewisberry, Pennsylvania, United States, the youngest of eight children of Maj. Eli and Pamela (Webster) Lewis. He was descended from Ellis Lewis, originally from Wales, who emigrated to Pennsylvania from Ireland in 1708. Though orphaned at the age of nine, he was well cared for by his brothers, sisters, and guardian.
At twelve he was apprenticed for seven years to John Wyeth in Harrisburg to learn "the art and mystery of a Printer. " There his work and the library facilities provided him an excellent chance to learn. After five years he tired of this life and ran away to New York City. He received honorary degree of M. D. from the Philadelphia College of Medicine. He also received the degree of L. L. D. from Transylvania University, Lexington, Kentucky, and Jefferson College, Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania.
Lewis started to work as a printer at New York City. In 1818 he returned to Pennsylvania to the town of Williamsport and engaged in the newspaper business, which brought him favorably before the public. In 1821 he began the study of law with Espy Van Horne and was admitted to the bar the following year at the age of twenty-four.
In 1824 he was appointed deputy attorney-general of Lycoming and Tioga counties and in 1832 he was sent as a delegate to the state Democratic convention. His work showed his legal ability and judicial temperament, and in 1833 Governor Wolf appointed him attorney-general of the state. He retained at the same time his seat in the legislature, to which he had been elected previously. After but a few months as attorney-general he succeeded to the office of president judge of the eighth judicial district.
In 1843 he became president judge of the second district. In 1848 he published An Abridgment of the Criminal Law of the United States. Elected in 1851 to the supreme bench for the six-year term, he devoted himself to his duties with tremendous energy. In 1854 he automatically became chief justice. All his expositions were exact, direct, and luminous; and his technical mastery, his wide learning, and his conciliatory spirit had a great influence in the court's decisions. At the end of his term on December 7, 1857, he retired to private life, after declining a unanimous renomination for the chief justiceship. His last years he spent in quiet retirement.
Lewis was a stanch Democrat throughout his career.
Quotes from others about the person
"No man within our Commonwealth has had the judicial experience of the present Chief Justice, and no Judge has labored more zealously to free the docket of the Supreme Court of the accumulated litigation of ages. . We doubt much whether Judge Lewis has ever been equalled in industry on the Bench. "
On November 21, 1822, Lewis was married to Josephine Wallis.
