Researching Henry Lewis

Lewis wrote in the style of "Old Southwest Humor" for his only work, Odd Leaves from the Life of a Louisiana Swamp Doctor, which is a collection of skits he wrote and then organized under the pseudonym Madison Tensas. His book depicted humorous clashes between polite and primitive cultures while using dialect for comic effects. The subject matter of Lewis's work was derived from encounters with planters, farmers, slaves, swamp dwellers, and hunters in the region.

Lewis was born in Cornwall, Litchfield County, Connecticut, on September 9, 1820, the youngest child of William and Sarah A. (Calhoun) Lewis, who removed their residence to New Haven in 1832. Lewis graduated from Yale Law School in 1844. He remained in New Haven after his admission to the bar, and from 1847 to 1850 served as clerk of the courts. In 1853 he abandoned the practice of law for mercantile life, being elected at that date secretary and treasurer of the New Haven Wheel Company. In 1866 he became president of the company and remained in that position for many years. In 1866 he was elected a member of the New Haven Common Council, and in 1868 was sent as a Representative to the Connecticut State Legislature. He was elected Mayor of New Haven in 1870 and was twice re-elected, serving until 1876. He was again re-elected in 1882. He died in New Haven, after a few days' illness from pneumonia, on December 25, 1891, in his 72nd year.

He was married, on October 5, 1858, Julia W., second daughter of John H. Coley of New York City. She was in feeble health at the time of her husband's death, and died six days later. Of their three children, two daughters survived them, the younger of whom, Josephine Miles Lewis, graduated at the Yale School of the Fine Arts in 1891.