Abraham Lincoln Lewis Historical Marker and Mausoleum

Abraham Lincoln Lewis, known as A.L. Lewis, was born to freed slaves in Madison County in 1865, eventually becoming the first Black millionaire in Florida. After dropping out of school after sixth grade to financially support his family, Lewis moved to Jacksonville in 1880, where he took a job at a sawmill as a water boy. Soon, he was the highest-paid Black person working at the mill, after being promoted to foreman, and saved enough money to invest in Jacksonville’s first Black-owned-and-operated shoe store. In 1901, Lewis sought out other business ventures. Due to segregation, many white-owned companies would not insure Blacks, so Lewis, along with six other prominent Black people, founded the Afro-American Industrial Benefit Association, which later became the Afro-American Life Insurance Company, the oldest African American insurance company in Florida. The same year, he helped Booker T. Washington found the National Negro Business League. In 1919, Lewis was named as president of the Afro-American Life Insurance Company.

Lewis, with assistance from the Pension Bureau of the Afro-American Life Insurance Company, was also responsible for opening three Black cemeteries in Northwest Jacksonville, as many Black people were not permitted burials in white cemeteries at the time. In 1909, Lewis served as the secretary and manager of the Memorial Cemetery Association, which operated out of the life insurance building. Plans for Memorial Cemetery were completed by October that year on land owned by Leo K. Benedict. By 1911, those 18.5 acres were transferred to the Memorial Cemetery Association, by which time Lewis had become president. In 1913, the company purchased the land for Sunset Cemetery, and in 1928, plans were laid out for Pinehurst Cemetery.

In 1921, Lewis then became a founder of the National Negro Insurance Association. Five years later, he opened the only Black country club in Jacksonville at that time. The Lincoln Golf and Country Club, founded in 1926, was home to visits by famous people, such as heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis. Almost 10 years later, in 1935, the Pension Bureau, under Lewis’s leadership, purchased beachfront property in Nassau County. Named American Beach, the spot was not intended to be segregated, but was heavily visited by Black people, since many other public beaches were closed to them. It became a thriving tourist spot, with hotels, restaurants, and nightclubs such as Evan’s Rendevouz opening in the area. Famous people would also visit American Beach and host performances in the club, such as Cab Calloway, Ray Charles, James Brown, and Billie Daniels.

Lewis also had many other endeavors, opening Florida’s first Black-owned-and-operated bottling company, and using his insurance company to secure land for Stanton School and the Masonic temple, serving as a leader in the 33rd Masonic Order. He was a large financial supporter of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and contributed to several colleges, such as Edward Waters College, Florida A&M University, Florida Memorial College, and Bethune-Cookman College. Lewis also spent 54 years volunteering in various positions at Mt. Olive A.M.E. Church. He died in 1947 and was buried in his family’s Art Deco-style mausoleum, designed by Leeroy Sheftall, at Memorial Cemetery. It was designed in 1939, with Lewis’s immediate family and first wife, Mary Sammis Lewis, also interred there. Mary was the great-granddaughter of Anna and Zephaniah Kingsley, who were prominent plantation owners during their life. The mausoleum was registered in 1997, and today, the A.L. Lewis Community Center is dedicated in his name for his various contributions to Florida. In 2001, the A.L. Lewis Historical Society and Florida Department of State erected a historical marker near his mausoleum.

1. Stroud, Mike. Abraham Lincoln Lewis Mausoleum, Historical Marker Database. October 9th 2020. Accessed October 9th 2020. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=58382.
2. Taylor, Jr., George Lansing. Lewis Mausoleum Marker, Jacksonville, FL, University of North Florida. January 17th 2009. Accessed October 9th 2020. https://digitalcommons.unf.edu/historical_architecture_main/185/.
3. Card, Michael. Guest column: A.L. Lewis was a giant in Jacksonville history, Herald Tribune. February 16th 2020. Accessed October 9th 2020. https://www.heraldtribune.com/opinion/20200216/al-lewis-was-giant-in-jacksonville.
4. Abraham Lincoln Lewis, Find A Grave. May 19th 2012. Accessed October 9th 2020. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/90415750/abraham-lincoln-lewis.
5. Davis, Ennis. Photo Tour: Mayor’s Budget Calls For $10.9 Million Restoration Of Jacksonville’s African-American Cemeteries, WJCT Public Media. Accessed October 9th 2020. https://www.wjct.org/2018/07/photo-tour-jacksonville-african-american-cemeteries-scheduled-for-10-9-million-restoration/.
6. National Negro Business League, Library of Congress. Accessed October 9th 2020. http://memory.loc.gov:8081/ammem/amrlhtml/dtnegbus.html.