They settled along the Broad River in the Goosepond Community within the Broad River Valley in Wilkes County (now Oglethorpe County). He also initially made arrangements to publish the Corp of Discovery journals but for some unknown reason never hired an editor or provided any text for the promised publications. His father was of Welsh descent and his mother was of . Cookie Policy As a member of Virginian high society, the Lewis family could claim ties to both Thomas Jefferson and George Washington. More than 400 descendants have been documented so far, and about 100 have applications pending. Purchased for $20 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Seaman accompanied Lewis during the expedition and afterward. [citation needed] Yet his contributions to science, the exploration of the Western U.S., and the lore of great world explorers, are considered incalculable. {Benson}) They settled in the Goose Pond community in the Broad River area of northeast Georgia, where the boys enjoyed plentiful hunting and fishing. Clark and Lewis were both relatively young and adventurous and had shared experience as woodsmen-frontiersmen and Army officers. Lewis and Clark did follow through with this promise. Descendants of Slaveholder . Obviously, Theodesia's pleas fell on deaf ears. Anyone closer than 14 degrees from Meriwether Lewis? So Richard Ashcraft's mother was a Great aunt to Meriwether Lewis. He was related to George Washington by marriage: his first cousin once removed was Fielding Lewis, Washington's brother-in-law. He was also a second cousin once removed of Washington's on his father's side. [10] He also faced financial issues after a personal outlay for a trip that the War Department refused to reimburse. Besides being the mother of the famed . The exact details of his death have never been learned because the early morning events were not directly witnessed by anyone. There were five colonels in the RevolutionColonel Nicholas, Colonel Fielding, Colonel William, Colonel Charles and Colonel Joeland quite a number of majors and captains. 10664People12Records12Sources Meriwether Lewisfound in 40 treesView all Meriwether Lewisfrom tree Railey and Allied Families Record information. Originally, he was to provide information on the politics of the United States Army, which had seen an influx of Federalist officers as a result of John Adams's "midnight appointments." Meriwether Lewis was the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition that was commissioned by President Jefferson to explore the Louisiana Territory. Gary Stella. His wound hampered him for the rest of the journey. Home > Forum > Surnames > Woodson. Categories: This Day In History October 11 | This Day In History August 18 | Pioneer Cemetery, Hohenwald, Tennessee | Explorers | Whiskey Rebellion | American Heroes | Missouri Territory Governors | Namesakes US Counties | Example Profiles of the Week | Lewis and Clark Expedition | Albemarle County, Virginia | Virginia, Notables | Notables, WIKITREE HOME | ABOUT | G2G FORUM | HELP | SEARCH. Yet even now, precious little is known about the events of October 10, 1809, after Lewis armed with several pistols, a rifle and a tomahawk stopped at a log cabin lodging house known as Grinders Stand. She later said she saw a wounded Lewis crawling around, begging for water, but was too afraid to help him. 44 in Albemarle, Virginia, between 1796 and 1797. Descendants and relatives lived in Virginia and elsewhere. Please note: The ancestor reports on this website have been compiled from thousands of different sources, many over 100 years old. The expedition took almost three years and solidified the United States claims to land across the continent, and acquainted the world with new species, new people, and new territory. Despite warnings that they would all be drowned, the men of the Lewis and Clark expedition paddled toward the ferocious rapids. They could also potentially learn about his nutritional health, what drugs he was using and if he was suffering from syphilis. Create a FREE Account. Lucy Meriwether gave birth to Jane Meriwether Anderson, Meriwether Lewis, Lucinda Lewis (who died in childhood) and Dr. Reuben Lewis while married to William Lewis and John Marks and Mary Garland Marks while married to Captain John Marks. Captain Meriwether Lewis was born August 18, 1774, at the Lewis family estate, Locust Hill, in Albemarle County, Va. His family had many decorated soldiers, including his father, William Lewis, who served in the Continental Army as a lieutenant. Robert Lewis and 5 . He was given a powerful position in the new territory he had helped to explore, but tragedy would soon strike. People want ownership of the story, and then they feel a part of it.. It was during this time in the Army that he met William Clark (1770-1838) for the first time. On October 10, 1809 he stopped at an inn on the Natchez Trace called Grinder's Stand, about 70 miles (110 km) from Nashville, Tennessee. She started the Locust Hill Graveyard in 1810, probably on the hopes that she could have Meriwether's body re-interred there from Tennessee, and because her son-in-law Edmund Anderson and a neighbor died that year and needed to be buried. (Davis, 1951). Lewis was born in Albemarle County, Virginia, to Lt. William Lewis of Locust Hill (1733 November 17, 1779),[1] who was of Welsh ancestry, and Lucy Meriwether (February 4, 1752 September 8, 1837), daughter of Thomas Meriwether and wife Elizabeth Thornton, in turn daughter of Francis Thornton and wife Mary Taliaferro. Viva tuos (I died young: but thou, O Good Republic, live out my years for me with better fortune.) After resigning from his post at Mount Vernon for financial reasons, Lewis managed his own land holdings in Virginia until he passed away in 1822. She married William Lewis of Locust Hill; he died in 1779 and she married Captain John Marks six months later. More information is available at her website: abigailtucker.com, 2023 Smithsonian Magazine At that young age, he hunted alone at night in the mountains and dark woods of Albemarle County. During his time in Georgia, Lewis enhanced his skills as a hunter and outdoorsman. Meriwether Lewis (August 18, 1774 October 11, 1809) was an American explorer, soldier, and public administrator, best known for his role as the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition also known as the Corps of Discovery, with William Clark, whose mission was to explore the territory of the Louisiana Purchase. This was the apex of a heros career. Miller, Robert J. Meriwether moved to Georgia with his mother and her second husband, Capt. Yet his contributions to science, the exploration of the Western U.S., and the lore of great world explorers are considered incalculable. Includes index of interrelated names at bottom of pedigree chart. When Meriwether Lewis Sr. was born on 11 September 1802, in Buckingham, Virginia, United States, his father, Edward Lewis, was 31 and his mother, Mary Freeland, was 31. Meriwether Lewis died on his way to Washington, DC in October, 1809. After he excused himself from dinner, he went to his bedroom. Thanks so much for sharing! Everyone in the Lewis DNA project told you this before started spamming the group with advertisements for your books and became so abusive that you were banned from the Lewis DNA project, I know you create the false find a grave memorials to give credence to the narrative in the books you try to sell on Facebook. They had nine children. He died in 1862, leaving the home to his children Charles and Mary Anderson. At home in Albemarle County, he pursued his studies with Dr. Charles Everitt, a physician, and then Rev. The US Navy Polaris nuclear submarine USS Lewis and Clark was named for him and William Clark. . After his father died of pneumonia in November 1779, he moved with his mother and stepfather Captain John Marks to Georgia. . He gave the Grinders money to maintain Lewiss grave and visited the site himself. Lewis, Meriwether, 1774-1809 Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804-1806) Clark, William, 1770-1838 Clark was a devoted family man and a valued friend. Retail Stores ; Book Vault ; Merchandise ; Login; $0.00 (0 Items) View Cart. Lewis never married. After returning from the expedition, Lewis received a reward of 1,400 acres (5.7 km) of land. The Lewis and Clark families, along with representatives of St. Louis Lodge #1, past presidents of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, and the Daughters of the American Revolution carried wreaths and led a formal procession to Lewis' grave. 111 on September 16, 1808. Historians would hold such details dear, Starrs says: Nobody even knows how tall Meriwether Lewis was. Allrightsreserved. [3] When Jefferson began to formulate and to plan for an expedition across the continent, he chose Lewis to lead the expedition. The group he was with was called the Corps of Discovery. When his father died in 1779, he inherited his Locust Hill estate. Without her help, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark might not have been successful on their expedition. Meriwether Lewis was born August 18, 1774, on Locust Hill Plantation in Albemarle County, Colony of Virginia, in the present-day community of Ivy. Of courage undaunted, possessing a firmness and perseverance of purpose which nothing but impossibilities could divert from its direction, honest, disinterested, liberal, of sound understanding and a fidelity to truth so scrupulous that whatever he should report would be as certain as if seen by ourselves, with all these qualifications as if selected and implanted by nature in one body for this express purpose, I could have no hesitation in confiding the enterprise to him. John and Elizabeth Lewis were parents of Elizabeth (mother of Captain Richard Ashcraft) and Colonel Robert (father of Captain William Lewis who fathered Meriwether Lewis). (Bakeless, 1947) A male acquaintance once described her as having a perfect person and complimented her on having "activity beyond her sex." They came inside and found Lewis on his pallet He had been [shot] in the side and once in the head. She observed his face to flush as if it had come on him in a fit. Lewis was introverted and moody while Clark was extroverted, even-tempered, and gregarious. But exactly what transpired at a remote inn 200 years ago this Saturday? She even scared away a crowd of rowdy British soldiers during the time that she lived at Locust Hill, her husband's family's home, with a rifle. A day use campground at Gates of the Mountains Wilderness, north of Helena, Meriwether Picnic site. Meriwether was drawn to army life and at the age of 20, he joined the Virginia Militia to help defeat the Whiskey Rebellion which began in Western Pennsylvania but spread through other western states. The National Park Service is currently reviewing the exhumation request. Meriwether Lewis dies along the Natchez Trace, Tennessee On October 11, 1809, the famous explorer Meriwether Lewis dies under mysterious circumstances in the early hours of the morning after. Now Lewiss descendants and some scholars are campaigning to exhume his body, which is buried on national parkland not far from Hohenwald, Tenn. This controversy has existed since his death, says Tom McSwain, Lewiss great-great-great-great nephew who helped start a Web site, Solve the Mystery, that lays out family members point of view. CONTENT MAY BE COPYRIGHTED BY WIKITREE COMMUNITY MEMBERS. What were his experiences? Cookie Settings, Kids Start Forgetting Early Childhood Around Age 7, Archaeologists Discover Wooden Spikes Described by Julius Caesar, 5,000-Year-Old Tavern With Food Still Inside Discovered in Iraq, Artificial Sweetener Tied to Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke, Study Finds, The Surprisingly Scientific Roots of Monkey Bars. More Replies: Re: Meriwether Lewis/Woodson Connection. Lucy Meriwether. One of his traveling companions, who arrived later, buried him nearby. View entire list of famous kin for Meriwether Lewis. Fielding Lewis (July 7, 1725 - December 7, 1781) was an American merchant, member of the House of Burgesses and a Colonel during the American Revolutionary War. The intrigue surrounding the famous explorers untimely death has spawned a cottage industry of books and articles, with experts from a variety of fields, including forensics and mental health, weighing in. In other accounts, the dog was never there at all. Describe the background of Meriwether Lewis. His wound hampered him for the rest of the journey. Anne Meriwether Lewisfound in 12 treesView all Anne Meriwether Lewisfrom tree Waring Family Tree 2013 Record information. [2] Lewis had known president Jefferson since he was a boy, "he had grown up on a plantation in virginia a few miles from Monticello, and they had went on to make a relationship working together in the White House." Connect to the World Family Tree to find out, Aug 18 1774 - Charlottesville, Albemarle County, Virgina, Oct 14 1809 - Natchez Trace, Breton County, Tennessee, Aug 18 1774 - Locust Hill, Ivy, Albemarle County, Colony of Virginia, Oct 11 1809 - Grinder's Stand, Lewis, Tennesssee, United States, Jane Meriwether Anderson, Lucinda Lewis, Reuben Lewis, Aug 18 1774 - Locust Hill, Charlottesville, Albemarle, Colony of Virginia, British Colonial America, Oct 11 1809 - Grinder's Stand, Natchez Trace, Lewis, Tennessee, United States, riwether Lewis, Jane Meriwether Anderson (born Lewis), Lucinda Lewis, Dr. Reuben Lewis, John Hastings Marks, Mary Garland Moore (born Marks), Aug 18 1774 - Locust Hill, Ivy, Albemarle, Virginia, United States, Aug 18 1774 - Locust Hill, Albemarle, VA, USA, Oct 11 1809 - Natchez Trace, Nashville, Davidson, Tennessee, United States, Aug 18 1774 - Albemarle County, Virginia, Verenigde Staten, Oct 11 1809 - Hohenwald, Lewis County, Tennessee, USA, Aug 18 1774 - Locust Hill,Near Charlottesville,Virginia, Oct 11 1809 - At Grinder's Inn in Lewis County,Tennessee, Aug 18 1774 - Charlottesville, United States, Oct 11 1809 - Natchez Trace, Tennessee-Murder Or Suicide, Locust Hill Plantation, Albemarle County, Virginia, British Colonial America, Natchez Trace Parkway, Mile Post 385.9, Lewis County, Tennessee, United States, Pioneer Cemetery, Hohenwald, Lewis County, Tennessee, United States, Navigation-Navigators/the Science of Navigation, http://lewis-clark.org/content/content-article.asp?ArticleID=2295. Theyve been coming out of the woodwork, Hargrove said. As a young boy Meriwether enjoyed hunting in the woods . Lewis resided in the White House, and frequently conversed with various prominent figures in politics, the arts, and other circles. To resolve these issues, Lewis began a trip to Washington City to plead his case to the administration in person. He established roads and was a strong proponent of the fur trade. Record information. A broken column, symbol of a life cut short, marks his grave. The Web site, www.SolvetheMystery.org , explains the Lewis family's more than decade-long quest to gain federal permission for the exhumation as well as a Christian reburial. His mother, Lucy Meriwether was his father's cousin. At the time of his death Lewiss depressive tendencies were compounded by other problems: he was having financial troubles and likely suffered from alcoholism and other illnesses, possibly syphilis or malaria, the latter of which was known to cause bouts of dementia. He was the governor of a huge territory. Lewis then chose his friend William Clark as his second in command. certify direct and collateral descendants of the Lewis and Clark Expedition 1803-1806. Her daughter and son-in-law put the house for sale on the market at $255,000 in 1982. By some accounts, Lewis arrived at the inn with servants; by others, he arrived alone. This page has been accessed 22,092 times. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_and_Clark_Expedition. For many years, Lewis' legacy was overlooked, inaccurately assessed, and even tarnished by his alleged suicide. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Missouri governor and corps of discovery expedition leader, William Clark of Lewis and Clark fame. He kept in touch with his mother and family through long, chatty letters (Anderson, p. 501, Bakeless). Lewis and Clark were accompanied on most of the trip by a young Shoshone woman named Sacagawea. She could not afford many books, but collected a small library throughout her life. The Web site is SolvetheMystery. Here his heavy drinking persisted.[6]. She advocated an assassination theory in Meriwether Lewis: A Historic Crime Scene Investigation (co-authored with James E. Starrs), . Among the families are direct descendants of William Clark and collateral descendants of Meriwether Lewis. Most historians agree that he committed suicide; others are convinced he was murdered. Even at his early age he was interested in natural history, which would develop into a lifelong passion. Jefferson believed the former, while his family continually maintained the latter. In some versions, Seaman, Lewiss loyal Newfoundland who guarded his master against bears on the long journey West, remained by his grave, refusing to eat or drink. Generally sharing leadership responsibilities with William Clark, although technically the leader, Lewis led the expedition safely across the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific and back, with the loss of just one man, Charles Floyd, who died of apparent appendicitis. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meriwether_Lewis. Meriwether Lewis was born on the family plantation in Virginia. His opportunity for the graceful exit arrived when Jefferson asked Lewis to command an expedition to find an all-water route to the Pacific Ocean, and study the land along that route. She claimed to be able to see Lewis through the slit in the door crawling back to his room. Greenwood Publishing Group. Item(s) successfully added to the cart! For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Ancestors of Meriwether Lewis Generation No. Lewis was introverted and moody while Clark was extroverted, even-tempered and gregarious. [9] He was related to George Washington by marriage: his first cousin once removed was Fielding Lewis, Washington's brother-in-law. In 1793, Lewis graduated from Liberty Hall (now Washington and Lee University), joined the Virginia militia, and in 1794 he was sent as part of a detachment involved in putting down the Whiskey Rebellion. The Cherokee lived in antagonistic proximity to the white settlers, but Lewis seems to have been a champion for them amongst his own people. Sucked into the tempest, their canoes pitched and rolled in the thrashing water and thumped over jagged rocks, but the men kept paddling. The US Navy Polaris nuclear submarine USS Lewis and Clark was named for him and William Clark. James Waddell, a blind parson, and Parson Matthew Maury. Lewis became intimately involved in planning the expedition and was sent by Jefferson to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for additional instruction in cartography and other skills for making scientific observations. Meriwether Lewis's death has been a source of speculation for many years, often with the mistaken notion that "great men" do not take their own lives, and that suicide blights the memory of a great life. Guice believes that bandits roaming the notoriously dangerous Natchez Trace killed Lewis. Meriwether Lewis, (born Aug. 18, 1774, near Charlottesville, Va. [U.S.]died Oct. 11, 1809, near Nashville, Tenn., U.S.), American explorer, who with William Clark led the Lewis and Clark Expedition through the uncharted American interior to the Pacific Northwest in 1804-06.