Dixon Lewis was an influential member of the U.S. Senate when he died in October 1848 at the relatively young age of 46. Having married into the politically powerful Elmore family, Lewis had a very successful legislative career.

As we saw previously, the patriarch of the Elmore clan, Revolutionary War General John Archer Elmore, served several years in the Alabama state house of representatives. Another Elmore in-law, Benjamin Fitzpatrick, was governor of the state and then a U.S. senator.

One of General Elmore’s numerous sons, Franklin Harper Elmore, was both a U.S. House and Senate member from South Carolina. Four others served in lesser – but nevertheless important – political offices.

William Augustus was attorney general of Louisiana; Albert Stanhope became one of Alabama’s secretaries of state; Physick Rush was a judge in Kansas; and John Archer Jr. followed his father into the Alabama legislature.

But it was son-in-law Dixon Lewis who received the most attention, and that was primarily because in his nearly two decades in both the U.S. House and the Senate he had been a big man in Congress.

“Big” as in important and powerful and “big” as in enormous in size! At the time of his death, Lewis weighed well over 400 pounds, with some sources saying more than 500! Either way, Lewis remains today the largest person ever to serve in Congress.

As his weight increased over the years, Lewis experienced numerous health problems related to his size. Moreover, he had to make accommodations in order to function. He rode in a carriage with a steel reinforced frame, and he had huge chairs made especially for him.

At one time, Lewis was accepting of what was presumably good-natured kidding about his weight. One common comment was that Alabama – of all the states – had the largest representation in Congress!

But as his health began to deteriorate, Lewis failed to see the humor in such remarks and refused to check his weight. He was definitely a big man in Congress but we do not know exactly how big!