Lewis Dewart

Lewis Dewart, the son of Irish immigrants who first settled in Chester County, was born in Sunbury, PA, November 14, 1780, the son of William and Eleanor Dewart; he attended rural tuition schools; clerked in his father’s store; pursued the coal business as an operator and banker; appointed Sunbury postmaster, 1806-1816; elected a member of the state House of Representatives, 1816-1820; and 1834-1837 (Speaker of the House, 1837); served in the state Senate, 1822-1826; a founder and director of the Danville & Pottsville Railroad elected to the US House of Representatives, 1831-1833; chief burgess of Sunbury in 1837; member of the school board; died in Sunbury, Northumberland County on April 26, 1852; interred in Sunbury Cemetery.  His wife was Elizabeth Liggitt of Chester County.