David W. Lewis (1815-1885) was an American lawyer, civil servant and lecturer. born in 1815 in

Hancock County, Georgia Hancock County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,735. The county seat is Sparta. The county was created on December 17, 1793, and named for John Hancock, a Founding Father of the Amer ...

. After graduating from the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

in 1837 he pursued careers as a lawyer, an agricultural reformer, and a planter. One of his first roles in public service began in 1839 as secretary to Georgia governor George N. Gilmer. He is also known for his service in the

Congress of the Confederate States The Confederate States Congress was both the provisional and permanent legislative assembly of the Confederate States of America that existed from 1861 to 1865. Its actions were for the most part concerned with measures to establish a new nat ...

during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. In 1873 Lewis became the first president of North Georgia Agricultural College, an institution now formally known as the

University of North Georgia The University of North Georgia (UNG) is a public senior military college with multiple campuses in Georgia. It is part of the University System of Georgia. The university was established on January 8, 2013 by a merger of North Georgia College ...

. In addition to his service as president at the college, Lewis was also one of the two professors at the school in its early years, teaching Greek and English literature. Lewis fell ill in the during the fall of 1885. In his final days he relocated to the house of his daughter, H. H. Perry, in

Gainesville, Georgia The city of Gainesville is the county seat of Hall County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 42,296. Because of its large number of poultry processing plants, it is often called the "Poultry Capital of t ...

. He died on December 18, 1885, and was buried at Mount Hope Cemetery in

Dahlonega The city of Dahlonega () is the county seat of Lumpkin County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 5,242, and in 2018 the population was estimated to be 6,884. Dahlonega is located at the north end of ...

References

1815 births Members of the Confederate House of Representatives from Georgia (U.S. state) 19th-century American politicians 1885 deaths People from Lumpkin County, Georgia People from Hancock County, Georgia University of Georgia alumni {{GeorgiaUS-politician-stub