The following was taken from a story of the life of W. H. Lewis published in the Church Section of the Deseret News of October 29, 1955, and also from the personal diary of W. H. Lewis as written by himself.

William Hendricks was a native of Illinois, the son of Neriah Lewis and Rebecca Hendricks. He was born on October 14, 1837, in Macoupin County, Illinois. His parents were raised in Simson County, Kentucky. His father was a descendant of a family of Welch brothers who emigrated from Wales to America at an early date and took part in the Revolutionary War. It is said that twenty-two men of the Lewis family fought in one battle under General George Washington. William's father and mother were married when quite young and moved to Illinois.

William was nine years old when his parents joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. A few weeks later they moved to Nauvoo. That same year (1846), they joined the Saints in the exodus to the west and crossed Iowa to the Missouri River. The Lewis family spent the winter of 1846-47 with Bishop Miller's Company at the camp of the Ponca Indians, northwest of Winter Quarters. After suffering hardships and attacks from the Indians while there, they moved to St. Joseph, Missouri, where they remained for four years in order to re-group and re-coup their finances and obtain means to cross the plains. They arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in October, 1851.

William's first home was in the 15th Ward of Salt Lake City. They farmed in this area the following season. In the fall of 1852, they moved to Centerville in Davis County but returned soon afterwards to Salt Lake City where his mother died in the fall of 1854.

In November,1856,William was married to Martha Petty, and the young couple obtained land and built a home at Fort Harriman, Salt Lake County. There they lived and prospered until the summer of 1859 when William traveled north to explore the possibilities of Cache Valley, which was being opened for settlement at the time. He came to Richmond with the first settlers and lived in a dugout at the Brower Spring where the first thirteen families settled. This spot was called the First Fort of this settlement.

Always active in the Church, William H. Lewis was ordained a High Priest when he was twenty-two years of age and was set apart as a member of the High Council of the Cache Yalley Stake.

He was ordained by Orson Hyde and Ezra Taft Benson. He held this position for about 12 years.

In 1864, he made a trip back to the Missouri River, at the call of President Brigham Young, to assist the immigrants who had arrived at that point without the means to proceed further on their journey to Salt Lake City. He spent five months in this unselfish labor.

On the west side of Cache Valley, to the west and north of Richmond, there was a large tract of land known as "Poverty Flat" before water for irrigation purposes was secured. In time this land became one of the most fertile sections of Utah. William H. Lewis settled there in 1872 and was called to act as "Presiding Elder" over the few families of the community. The next year, the town was given the name of Lewiston in his honor. In 1877, he was set apart as Bishop of the ward.

When Benson Stake was organized in April,1901, Bishop Lewis was called to serve as the first President of that Stake. He continued in this capacity until his death which occurred on September 5,1905. He was 67 years of age. At the time of his death, the Deseret News said of him: "He was cheerful without being frivolous; serious without being melancholy; religious without being pious. At his death, the Lewiston Ward has lost a model Bishop, Benson Stake an exemplary President, and the State of Utah one of her most energetic and persevering pioneers."