Forty-niner Thomas Palmer bought Cephus Wood’s property, known as “Old Tucker’s Place,” in 1850, and in 1851 he built a ferry, a bridge, and numerous buildings. Palmer hired his adopted son, Benjamin Franklin Lewis, to run these enterprises, known to many as Lewis’ Bridge Estates and called Lewiston. After Palmer died in 1853, he left the entire 320 acres on the river, including improvements, to B.F. Lewis. Lewis lost a lawsuit in February 1855 to Palmer’s former associates and was forced to sell out. In 1856, Lewis married an English woman named Mary in Sacramento, CA, and they had three children: Elvira, Frank P., and Renania. The family lived in many locations. Mary died in 1878 in Lakeview, Ore. Benjamin Franklin Lewis, the man who gave Lewiston its name, was known to all as a solid citizen of upstanding character, and he died of natural causes Sept. 28, 1900, in The Dalles, Oregon.