William David Lewis (1792-1881) was a 19th-century banker, merchant, and railroad executive based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
[1][2] In 1832, Lewis hired future locomotive titan Matthias Baldwin to assemble a locomotive kit for the New Castle and Frenchtown Railroad; Baldwin completed the engine, named Delaware, later in the year.
This experience allows Baldwin to build Old Ironsides, his first locomotive from scratch, later in the year.
[3] Later in the 1830s, Lewis was a director of the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad,[4] which forged the first rail link between the cities.
[5] Founded by famed painter Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827), it was one of America's first museums.