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Allan Breden February 24, 2000 A working man's man John L. Lewis John L. Lewis started life in Lucas County, Iowa February 12, 1880 the son of Thomas Lewis, a coal miner and policeman. John was welsh born. In the 1880's and the 1890's their family lived in a compa ....

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.... to his claim to speak for the working class. In 1905 John returned to Lucas and in 1907 he ran for mayor however he was not elected and all the Lewises left Iowa and moved to southern mining town in Illinois. There the men in the family soon established themselves among the large labor force as hard workers. In 1910 John was elected president of the local mining union 1475, one of the largest in the state. Shortly before leaving Iowa, he had married Myrta Edith Bell, the daughter of a local physician. She provided a stable home life but she did not care for her husband's politics. They kept their personal life and his political life very separa ....