could not have been worse, coming at a time when Governor Brown was seeking reelection. Fearing that Lewis' resignation would be interpreted negatively, the governor requested that Lewis keep the resignation a secret. But the resignation letter was leaked to the press, causing a rift between the two old friends. Brown wrote to Lewis saying "I did not deserve this at your hands, and I confess I felt it keenly...I do not attribute improper motives, but only say the coincidence was an unfortunate one for me". The two friends eventually smoothed over the incident, and Govern Brown was subsequently re-elected. On April 7, 1862, months after Lewis left the railroad, Governor Brown appointed Lewis to a vacant seat in the Confederate Senate from Georgia in the 1st Confederate States Congress, 1862-1863. Robert Toombs, former Confederate States Secretary of State, had created the vacancy when he declined his election at the Congress's opening session on February 18. Death John Wood Lewis Sr. died on July 11, 1865, in Canton, Georgia, and was buried in Riverview Cemetery. See also List of Confederate States senators References Further reading External links John Wood Lewis Sr. at The Political Graveyard Images of the ruins of Dr. Lewis' Iron Furnace 1801 births 1865 deaths 19th-century American physicians 19th-century American politicians 19th-century Baptists Baptists from Georgia (U.S. state) Burials in Georgia (U.S. state) Confederate States of America senators Democratic Party Georgia (U.S. state) state senators People from Spartanburg County, South Carolina People of Georgia (U.S. state) in the American Civil War Physicians from South Carolina Baptists from South Carolina