Dr. Lewis was born in Alfred, New York in 1846. He served in the Navy during the final year of the Civil War and studied medicine at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City. He became a surgeon in New York City and the Chair of Special Surgery at the New York Post-Graduate Medical School. Governor Levi Morton appointed Dr. Lewis president of the State Board of Health, which was created by the Governor to investigate public nuisance reports and address public health issues. The State Board of Health was later dismantled and replaced with the State Department of Health. Dr. Lewis was New York State's first Commissioner of Health and served under Governor Benjamin B. Odell, Jr.
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