Thomas Lewis was a tobacconist and a cigar manufacturer. He was born in Hamilton in 1832. He married Elizabeth Arthur who had been born in Ireland and moved to Canada in 1832. In his lifetime, Thomas had four sons and nine daughters.

Several of his children achieved fame in their own right. One of his daughters, Jeanette Lewis, was a promoter who brought many celebrities to Hamilton. She secured a lot of money for a children’s hospital. Jeanette was born in 1877 and died on November 21, 1942.

Two of his daughters, Eleanor Letitia Lewis and Ida Lewis became famous actresses. Eleanor was born in 1877 and usually went by her stage name, Eleanor Dorel. She was a child prodigy and had a lot of acting talent. She married young to a millionaire named Frederick Charles Pardridge. The marriage did not last. Eleanor divorced Frederick and received a succession of substantially large alimony payments. Ida Lewis was a world-renowned actress who went by her stage name of Julia Arthur. She took the last name from her mother. Julia played Hamlet and is considered one of the best stage actresses that Hamilton has ever produced. She married Benjamin Pierce Cheney, a yachtsman-financier and a millionaire, on February 23, 1898. Julia died on March 29, 1950. A Hamilton cigar factory named a cigar after her.