LEWIS, Ellis, jurist, born in Lewisberry, Pennsylvania, 16 May, 1798; died in Philadelphia, 19 March, 1871. His ancestor, Ellis, came to this country from Wales in 1708 and settled in Haverford, Pennsylvania, and his father, Eli Lewis, bought large tracts of land in York county, and founded the town of Lewisberry. The son's inheritance was dissipated through mismanagement during a long minority, and he was thrown on his own resources. He became a printer, and followed the business while studying law. At the age of twenty-four he was admitted to the bar, and soon rose in his profession. In 1824 he was appointed deputy attorney-general of the state, and in 1832 elected a member of the legislature. He was active in advancing measures for the internal improvement of the state, and framed a bill relating to imprisonment for debt which became a law, and was the first step toward the abolition of the debtor's prison. In 1833 he was appointed attorney-general, and in October of the same year president judge of the 8th judicial district. In January, 1843, he was made president judge of the 2d district, in 1851 he was elected a justice of the state supreme court, and in 1854-'7 was chief justice. He was unanimously renominated by the Democratic state convention, but declined and retired to private life. Judge Lewis was one of the commissioners to revise the criminal code of the state. His acquaintance with medical jurisprudence gained him the honorary degree of M. D. from the Philadelphia college of medicine, and he also received the degree of LL.D. from Jefferson college and from Transylvania university. His decisions and opinions are cited with approval by the most eminent authorities on jurisprudence. He published "Abridgment of the Criminal Law of the United States" (Philadelphia, 1848).