Born in Kentucky, Dr. Lewis had moved to Flint Hill with his family when he was 6 years old.  As  property values declined in Flint Hill,  Dr. Russell Lewis purchased most of the land and rented out the dwellings. Dr. Lewis also bought property in Wentzville.  One property in Wentzville was the building that would become know as the Chauncy Building.  The R.B. Lewis Addition and Lewis Street in Wentzville are named after the doctor and were developed on ground that Dr. Lewis owned and had been part of his estate at the time of his death in 1903.