James was born in November 1850 in Illinois according to the 1900 census and was the son of William Lewis and Elizabeth Duval. He married Annie L. Grass on 4 May 1873 in Knox County, Illinois with the ceremony performed by a justice of the peace. Annie was probably born about October 1853 in Missouri as cited on the 1900 census for her. That year appears to be fairly correct. Family lore states she lied about her age later in life and was presumed younger than she was and indeed, she says she is age 65 on the 1930 census, when she was probably 75. Her parents are not known, but a Lewis family record cites her mother as Virginia Caroline Wooley. No further info can be found for that name as her mother. Annie's maiden name may have been Cress or Kress as used on some of her children's documents. The Lewis family bible says she changed her name during World War I to Grass. However, she was using the Grass surname well before 1918, including on her marriage record to James in 1873. She did speak fluent German, so it is presumed her parents were of German or Austrian descent. James and Annie had 6 children, but even though we know when all 6 were born from the 1900 census and that they lived into adulthood, we only know when 2 of them died, Floyd and Ira.
The couple started their life together living in Knox County, Illinois, in the lower northwest corner of the state and where James was a laborer. In about 1882, they moved to Nebraska, where they lived in a sod hut. By May 1891, they had moved further west and were now living in Leadville, Lake County, Colorado, right in the center of the state and where their 5th child was born. But by September 1895, they were in the Renton area of King County, Washington, southeast of Seattle, and they are still found there on the 1900 census; James is listed as a farmer, owning his own farm. Ten years later they were still in King County, but in the township of Elliott; James is still a farmer, owning his own farm. James wrote his will in November 1919 in King County. However, he died a few years later in February 1923, at age 72, in the Centropolis Hotel in Kansas City, Jackson County, Missouri of respiratory disease. It is believed that he was visiting his brother, Benjamin Lewis, who lived in Kansas City and was the informant for his death certificate. James' will was probated in Jackson County in May and June 1923 and consisted of 43 pages because it was written in Washington state and had to be transferred to Missouri. James was buried in Mount Washington Cemetery in Independence, Jackson County, Missouri, probably for the sake of convenience. James is still listed as married in the probate records and his children are named as well.
Annie, now a widow, is found on the 1920 census still in King County. She is listed as age 64, making her birth year still within a correct range. Some time in the next 10 years, she married again to Harry Clarence Engdahl and they are found on the 1930 census on Benson Road in Cedar Creek Precinct in King County. He was listed as age 51, while she is listed here incorrectly as 65, rather than 75. She died on 16 January 1940 at probably age 86 in King County and is buried in Greenwood Memorial Park in Renton, King County, Washington. Harry lived until 15 May 1952 and died in Tacoma, Pierce County, Washington at age 73 and is buried in the same cemetery next to Annie.