Henry Clay Lewis

Edwin T. Arnold (Appalachian State University)
Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Report an Error

Henry Clay Lewis was a frontier doctor who also made significant contributions to the development of early south and southwest humor. Under the pseudonym “Madison Tensas” (taken from the Louisiana parish in which he practiced and the Tensas River that ran through it), Lewis wrote a series of sketches that described Tensas’ life as an orphan, his apprenticeship and training as a medical student, and his experiences as a practicing physician in the swamps of Mississippi and Louisiana in the 1840s, when the region was still largely a wilderness.

Lewis was born on June 26, 1825, in Charleston, South Carolina, the seventh child of David and Rachel Salomon Lewis. The Lewises were Jewish, although Henry never mentioned this aspect of his background in his writings. His father, a merchant,

963 words

Citation: Arnold, Edwin T.. "Henry Clay Lewis". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 28 June 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=2719, accessed 19 March 2024.]

2719 Henry Clay Lewis 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.