Marietta was born 10/25/1858 in a country neighborhood near Georgetown, Illinois. She was the middle one of the seven children of Henry and Mary Mills and early learned hard work in the family home. She had some high school (then Academy) education and taught school a few terms. She was anxious for a college education but in those days "women did not need an education."
She was married to Levi E. Lewis 8/31/1882 (see Levi Lewis
for a picture of Levi) and was always a most faithful
helpmate on their farm. Levi had the misfortune to have his right hand mangled
by being caught in a thresher's machinery just one week after their marriage. He
carried his arm in a sling for many months and his hand was always somewhat
crippled and stiff. They were thrifty and before long bought a farm in the
Elwood neighborhood, near Georgetown. Four children were born to them. The small
Friends Church was near and the one room school house not far.
In the autumn of 1903 the family moved to Oregon to join Marietta's parents and
several brothers. After a few years on a farm near Newberg they bought a 40 acre
fruit farm near Springbrook, OR where they had a comfortable home built and this
was their home until Levi's death in 1941.
The 1890's may have marked a decided change in the strict Quaker standards, as
to dress, prejudice against education for women, musical instruments, etc. And
Marietta's life bridges well the gap between old-fashioned Quakerism and life in
a modern world. She was eager for their children to have an adequate education,
always encouraging them by her ambition for them. She wanted musical training
for them, too, and there was always music in the home. She was a devoted wife
and mother, nursing her husband faithfully in his failing years.
Marietta was a tireless worker in the church and Sunday School of the
neighborhood church. She was secretary-treasurer of the Evangelistic Board of
Oregon Yearly Meetings of Friends for 25 years.
After her husband's death in 1941, she went to live with her daughter, Mary
Eunice, in Corvallis, where Mary was a member of the faculty of Oregon State
College. Near the age of 90 she began to lose her memory, and when she was 93
the daughter retired to nurse her mother, moving to Portland. There she passed
away 11/8/1953, aged 95.
By Kathy Merris Mills - Jun 30, 2000, from information written by Dr. Mary E.
Lewis, from The Henry Mills Family by Paul Mills)
Editor's note: Levi Lewis was the brother of Anna Lewis (their mother was Mary Haworth), who married M. Beriah Haworth). The picture was taken by Beriah Haworth, my great grandfather).