Tim Lewis, an active lifelong resident of Morris, town councillor, and local historian, was awarded the 2024 Morris & District Museum Achievement Recognition Award at the Museum’s annual Canada Day Tea last month.
Museum board member Linda Sommer acknowledged Lewis as a “generous, wonderful, helpful and knowledgeable man.”
The museum has nominated Lewis for a Lieutenant Governor General Award for Historical Preservation and Promotion twice without success, most recently this spring.
“He was not awarded due to many factors but [the museum board] wanted to recognize him because he is special to us.”
Lewis’ passion for local history and genealogy began as a close bond with his paternal grandfather.
He has been instrumental in several historical preservation activities, namely a complete index of the Morris Cemetery, genealogical reviews dating from the 1800s, and documentation of old censuses and river lots.
Residents of the area since the early 20th century, the Lewis family is prominent in the displays of the Morris Museum, having donated items ranging from antique sporting equipment to the Second World War medals, uniforms, and expedition maps.
“I’ve always been very interested in history,” Lewis said. “What started as a bunch of notes about the history of the area turned into somewhat of a book to make it easier to find things.”
Publication of Lewis’ book In the Beginning of Scratching River: An Early History of Morris, Manitoba came about when a Manitoba 150 Project committee was doing research for the Morris Heritage Walking Trails.
“I knew the answers were in my notes,” Lewis said. The museum approached Lewis to formally publish the book in 2022.
“Tim drove back and forth to the Legislative Library when it was hard to access and wrote a massive genealogy of the history of Morris,” Sommer shared. “We gave him this recognition award and some roasting for fun.”
“I was quite surprised and pleased that they would recognize me for my efforts,” Lewis said of the honour. “I always help out when [the museum] has queries.”
A post to the Museum’s Facebook page shone a spotlight on “Lewis’ meticulous research, acquiring and recording of Morris history, as well as his own family genealogies. He is one of the Museum’s ‘go to’ persons when folks have historical research inquiries.”
In the Beginning of Scratching River is available for purchase at the Morris Museum.
