| Notes |
- BIOGRAPHY:
b. September 12, 1869, at the Flathers Homestead, Rock Branch
d. August 16, 1940, Sioux City, Iowa
m. Judea Lillian Yockey (Lillian or Lillie), March 23, 1911 Onawa, Iowa (teacher)
b. April 15, 1873, Smithland, Iowa
d. July 19, 1957, Sioux City, Iowa
George Lewis was the oldest child and the oldest son of Benjamin (II) Lewis and Almira Frazier Flathers. He was born September 12, 1869, in the first house built on the Flathers Homestead in Woodbury County, rural Correctionville, Iowa at Rock Branch. The original home site was 3/4 mile west of the present home location. While he was a young man he went to Mexico for a time. On March 23, 1911, he married Judea (Lillian) Yockey at Onawa, Iowa. Lillian was a country school teacher for about 19 years. George was 42 years and Lillian was 38 years old when they married. They farmed and raised turkeys at Clear Lake, South Dakota for five years. During those five years George also had a butcher shop in Clear Lake and another one at Brandt, South Dakota. He lived in town during the week and returned home on weekends while Lillian lived on the farm. Bill Patterson also lived on the farm and helped Lillian with the farm chores and was good to help her in the house and with the children.
All three children were born in less than three years while they farmed at Clear Lake. Because of Lillian's age and the fact that her mother was a midwife and had helped deliver many babies, Lillian went back to Smithland, Iowa for the delivery of her first child, Martha Lois, born May 2, 1912, at the home of her grandparents. Lillian and the baby did not return to their home in Clear Lake, South Dakota until eleven weeks after the baby was born. When George met them at the train, his daughter was almost twelve weeks old and the first time he had seen her. Benjamin Lewis III and Max Gregory were born at their home in Clear Lake on September 27, 1913 and December 17, 1914, respectfully.
Later they moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota where George had a butcher shop. The family lived in Minneapolis one year above George's meat market which was located on Nicolide Avenue close to Minniehaha Falls. George, Lillian and the children returned to Woodbury County, Iowa in 1916. They lived in Sioux City where George worked for the Horse and Mule Company for awhile. In 1917, they moved to a farm southwest of Smithland, Iowa, where they farmed for one year. Later the family moved into Smithland where Lillian and the children lived for eight years, from 1918 to 1926, while George farmed with his father at the Flathers Homestead at Rock Branch. Occasionally, during the summer months, his son Max spent time with his father at the Homestead. During the farming season, George would walk the 22 miles to Smithland and back to see his family. Occasionally he would drive his horse "Allie" and buggy to Smithland. In the winter he would live in Smithland with the family and cut wood along the Little Sioux River, from very early in the morning until after dark, which he then delivered to various locations, going as far away and Sioux City with the deliveries.
In 1926, George built a smaller house for his own family on the Flathers Homestead just a few yards south of the large family home. He brought his family from Smithland and they moved into the house when it was finished. It was while the family was living in this home in 1931, that their older son, Benjamin (III) Lewis died of Cerebral Meningitis when he was 17 years old. He became ill on Friday evening and died Sunday night, February 24, 1931. When Benjamin (II) Lewis died in 1931, George and his family moved into the big house and his sister Dolly Flathers moved to the smaller home. George and Lillian lived in the family home on the Flathers Homestead until George's death on August 16, 1940.
Both George and Lillian are buried in the Rock Branch Cemetery.
George and Lillian's children: Martha (Lois)
Benjamin (III) Lewis
Max Gregory
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1869 - 1940 (~ 70 years)