Lewis Dewart Apsley (September 29, 1852 – April 11, 1925) was a businessman and U.S. Representative from

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

Biography

Born in

Northumberland, Pennsylvania Northumberland is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,911 at the 2020 census. History A brewer named Reuben Haines, a native of Philadelphia, founded the town of Northumb ...

, Apsley moved with his parents to

Lock Haven, Pennsylvania Lock Haven is a city in, and the county seat of, Clinton County, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Located near the confluence of the West Branch Susquehanna River and Bald Eagle Creek, it is the principal city of the Lock Haven Micropolitan ...

, in 1861. He attended public and private schools. He moved to

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

and engaged in business, particularly the rubber goods trade. He moved to

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

in 1877 and became a manufacturer of rubber clothing in

Hudson, Massachusetts Hudson is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, with a total population of 20,092 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Before its incorporation as a town in 1866, Hudson was a ne ...

, in 1885, founding and serving as president of the Apsley Rubber Company (later the Firestone-Apsley Rubber Company). Apsley served as president of the Hudson Board of Trade and a director of the Hudson National Bank.

Apsley married Laura Marguerite Remington, a native Philadelphian, in 1873. She was the youngest daughter of Captain John S. Remington, a descendant of an old Philadelphia family. Laura Remington spent her early life in Philadelphia. She was much loved by a large coterie of friends and many admirers, among whom was Lewis Dewart Apsley, then an active young businessman of Philadelphia. The newlyweds resided in Philadelphia for a few years before moving to Boston, Massachusetts, in 1877 and finally to Hudson, Massachusetts, in 1883. Their only son Willie George Apsley died in 1880. Apsley was elected as a Republican to the Fifty-third and Fifty-fourth Congresses, serving between March 4, 1893 and March 3, 1897. He served as chairman of the Committee on Manufactures during the Fifty-fourth Congress and two terms as vice chairman of the

National Republican Congressional Committee The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is the United States Republican Party, Republican Hill committee which works to elect Republicans to the United States House of Representatives. The NRCC was formed in 1866, when the Repub ...

. He declined to run for renomination in 1896, instead resuming his business pursuits in Hudson. When Laura Apsley died in 1914 her companion Abigail (Abbie) Fobes Aldrich Black—widow of a favorite cousin, Victor F. Black—had run the Apsley household for nearly 20 years. Due to the morals of the time, Abigail had to move out or marry Lewis Apsley to keep her place. They married on May 1, 1915.New England Historic Genealogical Society; Boston, Massachusetts; Massachusetts Vital Records, 1911–1915; Volume: 632 Abigail and Lewis traveled to Europe together several times and enjoyed his remaining years together. Apsley died in

Colón, Panama Colón () is a city and Port#Seaport, seaport in Panama, beside the Caribbean Sea, lying near the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal. It is the capital of Panama's Colón Province and has traditionally been known as Panama's se ...

, on April 11, 1925, and was buried in Forestvale Cemetery in Hudson.

References

;Specific {{DEFAULTSORT:Apsley, Lewis Dewart 1852 births 1925 deaths People from Northumberland, Pennsylvania People from Hudson, Massachusetts Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives