Joseph E. N. Lewis

Candidate Biography:

Born: 1826 in Jefferson County, Virginia
Died: June 26, 1869 in Oroville, CA

1853: County Judge, Butte County
1869: Primary candidate for Judge, Second Judicial District (died before the election)

• "The apportionment of May 1, 1851, provided for 27 Senators, and did not contemplate for a hold-over Senator in place of Adams, resigned. January 6, 1852 [a State Senate committee] reported that he was entitled to a seat, vice Adams, and he was qualified, thus increasing the membership of the Senate from 27 to 28."
• There is some dispute about the date that Lewis died. The California Blue Book says that Lewis died on June 26th. The "Illustrated History of Plumas, Lassen & Sierra Counties, with California from 1513 to 1850" (published in 1882) gives the date of June 24th.
• "He died sitting in his chair, enjoying a beautiful summer eve, in front of the house, so quietly, so noiselessly, that a lady sitting near enough to touch him, continued her conversation to him for a few minutes after his death, until finding he did not answer some question, she touched him and discovered that life was extinct." (History of Butte County, California by Smith and Elliott, 1877)

Source: History of Political Conventions in California, 1849-1892 by Winfield J. Davis (1893)