Daniel Webster Lewis, Sr. (1851-1932) was born into slavery in Frankfort, Kentucky. His parents purchased their family's freedom and moved to Columbus, Ohio, where Daniel received his education. In 1871, Daniel moved to Marion, Crittenden County, Arkansas, where he obtained employment as a schoolteacher and began his career in public service. Lewis served as superintendent of Public Instruction, 1873 Clerk of the Crittenden County Circuit Court, 1873 Representative, Arkansas General Assembly, 1880 Crittenden County Judge, 1882. He left Arkansas in the late 1880s, stopping first in Memphis, Tennessee, and then migrating to Oklahoma Territory in 1891. Lewis settled in Kingfisher, Oklahoma, where he worked as an attorney. Daniel W. Lewis Jr. was a son born to Lewis and his second wife, Mary Nancy Capers Lewis of Birmingham, Alabama. Daniel Jr. became an educator in Kansas City, Kansas and gathered the materials in this collection.