CRAWFORD Elizabeth

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alt. Burial: Unknown
• Will: Will proved in Louisa, but may have died in Albemarle

Notes:

. Her family is said to be descendents of Sir Roland Crawford, the grandfather of Sir William Wallace (the subject of Mel Gibson's 1994 epic movie Braveheart.) (Anderson, 1984) Together, they had nine children. Their oldest, Jane Meriwether married Colonel Robert Lewis; they became Meriwether Lewis' paternal great-grandparents. The second oldest, Nicholas Meriwether III married Mildred Thornton. The other children were William, Thomas, Colonel David Meriwether, Elizabeth, Ann, Sarah, and Mary.

Alt. Burial:
Burial place unknown, though some state "Clover Fields." May also have been with Nicholas on the Rivanna River.

Elizabeth married Col MERIWETHER Nicholas, Jr. on 26 Oct 1665 in New Kent County, VA (Saint Peter's Parish). Nicholas (son of MERIWETHER Nicholas, Sr. and WOODHOUSE Elizabeth) was born on 26 Oct 1667 in Dendron, Surry, Virginia, United States; died on 12 Dec 1743 in North Garden, Albemarle, Virginia, USA; was buried in Albermarle County, Va. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Elizabeth married Col MERIWETHER Nicholas, Jr. in 1687 in Buckingham, Buckingham, Virginia, USA. Nicholas (son of MERIWETHER Nicholas, Sr. and WOODHOUSE Elizabeth) was born on 26 Oct 1667 in Dendron, Surry, Virginia, United States; died on 12 Dec 1743 in North Garden, Albemarle, Virginia, USA; was buried in Albermarle County, Va. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Nicholas married THORNTON Mildred in 1738. Mildred was born in 1721; died in 1778. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Jane married Col. LEWIS Robert, III in 1725 in Greenville, Augusta, Virginia, USA. Robert (son of LEWIS John, II and WARNER Elizabeth) was born about 1701-1704 in Gloucester County, VA ("Warner Hall"); was christened in Aug 1704 in Abingdon, Washington, Virginia, USA; died before Dec 1765 in Greenville, Augusta, Virginia, USA; was buried in Cismont, Albemarle County, VA ("Belvoir"). [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

When David Meriwether was born in 1690 in Goochland, Virginia, his father, Nicholas, was 25 and his mother, Elizabeth, was 24. He married his first wife in 1711 in New Kent, Virginia. In 1713 he married his second wife in Virginia. He died on December 25, 1744, in Louisa, Virginia, at the age of 54.

Birth: Probably James City County, maybe Surry County
Burial: Buried beside his father on the east side of the Rivanna River. Site has been lost.


Children
Thomas MERIWETHER b: ABT 1713 in New Kent County, Virginia
David MERIWETHER b: 5 OCT 1716 in Hanover County, Virginia
Nicholas MERIWETHER b: 11 Feb 1719/20 in New Kent County, Virginia
Anne MERIWETHER b: 11 NOV 1721 in Hanover County, Virginia
Sarah MERIWETHER b: 12 Feb 1724/5 in Hanover County, Virginia
Francis MERIWETHER b: ABT 1726 in Virginia
James MERIWETHER b: 1 JUN 1729 in Hanover County, Virginia
William MERIWETHER b: 25 DEC 1730 in Goochland County, Virginia

Col. David Meriwether married Ann Holmes and had a son, Thomas. This Thomas Meriwether married Elizabeth Thornton, and had 11 children, including Lucy Meriwether , the mother of Meriwether Lewis. Ann also gave birth to Colonel Nicholas Meriwether (the first Meriwether to live at Cloverfields with his wife, Margaret Douglas) (Anderson, 1984) , Francis, David, Mary, Elizabeth, Sarah, Ann, Mildred, Thomas, and Jane. You will notice by now that the Meriwether family tended to recycle the same name every generation, and occasionally more than once a generation. This has become very confusing to genealogists. Many have confused which Nicholas married who, and who exactly was Meriwether Lewis' grandfather. This presentation streamlines the family to list those who directly pertain to the explorers to clarify the connections.

David married HOLMES Anne in 1713 in New Kent County, VA. Anne (daughter of HOLMES George, Esq.) was born on 19 Dec 1695 in King and Queen Court House, King and Queen, Virginia, USA; died on 11 Mar 1735 in Gwathmey, Hanover, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Anne married LEWIS John about 1745 in Greenville, Augusta, Virginia, USA. John was born on 19 Oct 1729 in Spotsylvania County, VA; was christened on 23 Nov 1729; died on 12 Sep 1780. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Military: Revolutionary War

Notes:

William Lewis was born about 1735, in Albemarle County, Virginia, the child of Robert and Jane. He married Lucy Meriwether about 1769. They had one child during their marriage. He died on November 17, 1779, in Albemarle County, Virginia, at the age of 44.

Clover Fields Cemetery Albemarle Co., VA
Lieut William Lewis Birth: 1748 VA Death: Nov. 14, 1779 Albemarle Co., VA William Lewis was the father of Capt. Meriwether Lewis of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. NOTE: The dates on his gravestone, erected by the DAR many years after his burial, are questionable. He probably was born between 1734 and 1738. His wife Lucy (Meriwether) stated that he died in 14 Nov 1779 and she remarried in 1780. The existence of the 1780 inventory of his estate, tends to confirm the 1779 [death] date. Family links: Parents: Robert Lewis (1702 - 1765) Jane Meriwether Lewis (1705 - 1757) Spouse: Lucy Meriwether Marks (1752 - 1837)* Children: Jane Meriwether Lewis Anderson (1770 - 1845)* Lucinda Lewis (1772 - ____)* Meriwether Lewis (1774 - 1809)* Reuben Lewis (1777 - 1844)* Siblings: Anne Lewis* Nicholas Lewis (1734 - 1808)* Mary Lewis (Cobbs) Thomson (1735 - 1812)* William Lewis (1748 - 1779) William Lewis (1748 - 1779)* *Calculated relationship Note: TMSI [659] Burial: Clover Fields Cemetery Albemarle Co., VA Maintained by: The Meriwether Society, ... Originally Created by: Sharon Sabel Pike Record added: Feb 15, 2003 Find A Grave Memorial# 7188221 NOTE INCORRECT DATES ON GRAVESTONE SOURCE: Online @http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi

(Medical):In November of 1779, William Lewis died of Pneumonia.

Military:
Lt.

Family/Spouse: MERIWETHER Lucy. Lucy (daughter of MERIWETHER Thomas and THORNTON Elizabeth) was born on 4 Feb 1752 in North Garden, Albemarle, Virginia, USA; died in 1837 in North Garden, Albemarle, Virginia, USA; was buried in North Garden, Albemarle, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

I am looking over some of the documents I have on my ancestors, who served in the Revolutionary War, and took note of the signatures. For some reason they just jumped out at me, and I thought they would be of interest to the list.

The Document I have is from Ambrose Lewis, who is the brother of my direct ancestor Charles Lewis. Ambrose and Charles served in the Revolutionary War as Seamen and Foot Soldiers. The document I have is a certification that Ambrose Lewis, is entitled to the proportion of land allowed a Sailor of the State Navy for three years service, and it is signed (it looks like December, or September), 21st 1783. There are two signatures, one is Thomas Meriwether, and the other is Benjamin Harrison. I believe this is the Thomas Meriwether who married his cousin Jane Meriwether.

Benjamin Harrison was the governor of Virginia at that time. Ambrose Lewis went to Washington DC after his pension was suspended. It was there that he petitioned the senate to have his military service at the Battle of Camden SC added to the record. He finally won, but his land bounty certificate was used by his heirs.

This short document has quite a bit of historical information on it.

Anita


Col. David Meriwether married Ann Holmes and had a son, Thomas. This Thomas Meriwether married Elizabeth Thornton, and had 11 children, including Lucy Meriwether , the mother of Meriwether Lewis. Ann also gave birth to Colonel Nicholas Meriwether (the first Meriwether to live at Cloverfields with his wife, Margaret Douglas) (Anderson, 1984) , Francis, David, Mary, Elizabeth, Sarah, Ann, Mildred, Thomas, and Jane. You will notice by now that the Meriwether family tended to recycle the same name every generation, and occasionally more than once a generation. This has become very confusing to genealogists. Many have confused which Nicholas married who, and who exactly was Meriwether Lewis' grandfather. This presentation streamlines the family to list those who directly pertain to the explorers to clarify the connections.

Family/Spouse: THORNTON Elizabeth. Elizabeth and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Nickname: Frank
• Occupation: Indications he was a mill owner and planter
• Marriage Contract: 1749, Spotsylvania County, VA
• Alt. Death: 7 Jun 1793, Greenwood, Abbeville County, Sc

Notes:

Children
John MERIWETHER b: 12 Mar 1751/2 in Spotsylvania County, Virginia
Zachary MERIWETHER b: 4 MAY 1754 in Spotsylvania County, Virginia
Nicholas MERIWETHER b: ABT 1755 in Spotsylvania County, Virginia
Ann MERIWETHER b: in Spotsylvania County, Virginia
Elizabeth MERIWETHER b: 1760 in Spotsylvania County, Virginia
Joseph MERIWETHER b: ABT 1762 in Spotsylvania County, Virginia
Mary MERIWETHER b: in Spotsylvania County, Virginia


Publication: The Meriwether Society, Inc.
URL: http://MeriwetherSociety.org
Text: Information about this individual has been collected by The Meriweither Society from many sources. As the Society is in the process of verifying the information, it should be treated as unconfirmed at this time. Please do not assume the information is correct.
If you have information about this individual, please contact the Society. PLEASE DO NOT USE THE INFORMATION SHOWN WITHOUT VERIFYING IT YOURSELF!
Type: Book
Periodical: The Meriwethers and Their Connections
Author: Nelson Heath Meriwether
Publication: Artcraft Press
Date: 1964
Detail: Reprinted in 1991 by The Meriwether Society, Gateway Press
Type: Periodical
Detail: The Meriwether Society Source: S309
Type: Book
Detail: The Meriwether Society Source: S316
Type: Gedcom File
Detail: The Meriwether Society Source: S88
Type: Web Site
URL: http://www.payne.org/surnames.shtml
Type: Periodical
Detail: The Meriwether Society Source: S223
Text: p. 296
Type: Periodical
Detail: The Meriwether Society Source: S311
Text: p. 199

Francis married LEWIS Mary Waller on 16 Jan 1749 in Spotsylvania County, VA. Mary (daughter of LEWIS Zachary, Jr. and WALLER Mary) was born on 30 Jan 1727 in Spotsylvania County, VA; was christened on 29 Feb 1728; died on 19 Jun 1807 in Greenwood, Abbeville County, Sc; was buried in Jun 1807 in Greenwood, Abbeville County, Sc. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Dr. MERIWETHER Zachary, Sr.. Zachary (son of MERIWETHER Francis and LEWIS Mary Waller) was born on 4 May 1754 in Spotsylvania County, VA; died on 14 Jan 1836 in Greene County, AL. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Jane Meriwether Anderson
Jane Meriwether Lewis Anderson "Jane M." (1770-1845) was the last surviviving of William Lewis's children. She stayed with her mother, Lucy Meriwether Lewis Marks for the majority of her life, remaining with her in Georgia after Meriwether had returned to Virginia, and returning to live with her mother at Locust Hill after her husband, Edmund Anderson died in 1810. (Go to Edmund Anderson's grave).
She and Edmund Anderson parented nine children- Dr. Meriwether Lewis, Edmond, Jane, Anne, Sarah, Lucy Elizabeth Thornton, David, and William Lewis. McAllister, 1906

Family/Spouse: ANDERSON Edmund. Edmund was born in Apr 1765; died in Apr 1810. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Living In: Abt 1760, North Garden, Albemarle, Virginia, USA; Locust Hill

Notes:

Meriwether Lewis was born on August 18, 1774, the child of William and Lucy. He lost his father when he was only 5. He died on October 11, 1809, at the age of 35.

Lewis & Clark

Meriwether Lewis was born in Virginia during 1774 to William and Lucy Lewis. In November of 1779, William Lewis died of Pneumonia. Less than six months later on May 13, 1780, Lucy married Capt. John Marks.
When Meriwether was eight or nine years old, Capt. Marks and his family migrated to Wilkes County (now Oglethorpe), Georgia and settled on the Broad River in a colony developed by General John Mathews.
Meriwether lived in Georgia for about three to four years. During this time he first learned to hunt, becoming an excellent marksman. A family friend commented, " He acquired in youth hardy habits and a firm construction. He possessed in the highest degree self-possession in danger." [1]
Also while in Georgia, Meriwether learned about the trees, bushes, shrubs, and grasses; of the fish, animals, birds, and insects.[2] He always asked why, as he wanted more knowledge.
Meriwether also learned to read and write while in Georgia, but the education he desired could not be found in this wild frontier. Sometime at about age 14, Meriwether left Georgia for Virginia in his quest for higher education.
He came back to Georgia several times to visit his family, but in fall of 1792 he made his last. Capt. Marks died leaving Lucy and the family with no means of income. "Meriwether organized the move of his mother and her children, the slaves, animals, and equipment, and brought the whole back to Virginia." [3]
It might be said that Meriwether Lewis obtained his sound foundation in Georgia, which enabled him to become the greatest of all American explorers. In 1813, Thomas Jefferson wrote of Meriwether Lewis. " Of courage undaunted, possessing a firmness and perseverance of purpose which nothing but impossibilities could divert from it's direction, careful as a father of those committed to his charge, yet steady in the maintenance of order and discipline, intimate with the Indian character, customs and principles, habituated to the hunting life, guarded by exact observation of the vegetables and animals of his own country, against losing time in the description of objects already possessed, 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."




Capt. Meriwether Lewis, along with William Clark and the Corps of Discovery, were the first United States citizens to:
First to cross the continental United States from east to west.
First to experience the Great Plains.
First to see the daunting peaks of the Rocky Mountains.
First to cross the Rocky Mountains and the Continental Divide.
First, only after encountering cold, hunger, danger, and wonders beyond belief, to reach the Pacific Ocean by land.
First comprehensive description and collection of flora and fauna in the Western United States.
First detailed maps from the Mississippi to the Pacific.

It was the greatest adventure of their lives!



Meriwether Lewis was born August 18, 1774, near Charlottesville, VA, and was a boyhood neighbor of Thomas Jefferson. In 1794, Lewis joined the militia and was commanded by Lieutenant William Clark. In sharing the experiences of the Northwest Campaign against the British and the Indians, Lewis and Clark fashioned the bonds of an enduring friendship.
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson in 1803 to find an 'all-water Northwest Passage to the Pacific Ocean' - a perilous journey through lands previously unexplored by white men and territory of several Nations of American Indians.

Growing Up in Albemarle
The Lewis family motto:
Omne Solum Forti Patria Est
"To the Brave Man, Everything He Does Is For His Country"
Meriwether Lewis was a man born and raised in Albemarle, a close neighbor of Thomas Jefferson. He was a gentleman farmer, well-educated in the healing abilities of roots and plants, and served in the military. His affinity for the outdoors and his natural ability to survive in many climates made him the perfect candidate for Jefferson's Corps of Discovery.

Meriwether Lewis died on his way to Washington, DC in October, 1809. Historians still dispute whether the explorer and then-governor of Louisiana committed suicide or was murdered. He was never married, but family legend shares that he courted Theodesia Burr, the daughter of Aaron Burr. Around the time that the expedition commenced, they had arrived at the point in the relationship where Lewis either had to marry Theodesia or find a respectable way to exit the relationship. 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. Supposedly, Theodesia pleaded with Meriwether to decline the journey and marry her, heavily encouraged by her father. Obviously, Theodesia's pleas fell on deaf ears. Descendents of the family point to this legend as a reason why Meriwether men take a long time to get married. (Davis, 1951)

Published: July 12, 2009
One can only imagine what would happen today if someone of the stature of Meriwether Lewis were to meet a violent end in a small-town inn. Congress would demand an investigation. The media would camp out in the town for weeks. Forensics experts would be called in from across the country, well-equipped with the latest technology to answer the ultimate question: Was it murder, or was it suicide?
In 1809, just three years removed from his journey from the Mississippi to the Pacific to explore the Louisiana Purchase, Lewis was the 19th century equivalent of Neil Armstrong. Yet when he was found dead in his room at a roadside inn in Grinder's Switch, Tenn., whatever authorities presided over the case quickly accepted a verdict of suicide - despite the fact that Lewis was shot twice - and gave him an unceremonious burial.
Now, Lewis' family wants to reopen the investigation. "This has been going on a long time," said Lynchburg resident Anderson (Andy) Sale, a retired Presbyterian minister and "collateral descendant" of Lewis, "but it really picked up during the Bicentennial of the Lewis & Clark expedition."
Moreover, Oct. 11 will be the 200th anniversary of Lewis' demise. The family (all collateral descendants, since Lewis never married or had children) wants to have Hugh Berryman, a forensic scientist at Middle Tennessee State University, examine Lewis' remains. The problem is, his body is buried on the Natchez Trace Parkway, which is federal land. Approval from the National Park Service is required, and negotiations have dragged on through 10 years and three presidential administrations.

"Part of the reason for exhuming him is to revisit the cause of death," Sale said, "but we also think it's important to give him a formal funeral and burial." When and if that happens, Sale will preside over the service. "It seems I'm the only member of the clergy among our lineage," he said. Sale is named for his uncle, Meriwether Lewis Anderson, who lived at Locust Hill in Charlottesville - Lewis' birthplace and boyhood home. The original Meriwether Lewis was on his way to see Thomas Jefferson in Virginia when he died. "In his book on Lewis, 'Undaunted Courage,' Stephen Ambrose made the case that he was suicidal at the time," Sale said. Perhaps this contributed to a certain degree of apathy on the part of the federal government. "Because of this, the family has decided to change tactics," Sale said, "and invite more publicity." Now, there is a Web site () and a campaign to contact the media across the country. Last week, two family members joined Hugh Berryman and a lawyer for a panel discussion at the prestigious National Press Club in Washington. "One of our main arguments," Sale said, "is that a person of Meriwether Lewis' stature deserves a proper burial, with benefit of clergy. That's an argument that seems to be carrying some weight."
Maybe he should start writing his sermon.

The Salt Lake Tribune (07/23/2009 07:48:58 PM MDT)
It was Jefferson who had sent Meriwether Lewis to lead the Corps of Discovery on its epic journey through the Louisiana Territory. Jefferson was not only Lewis' mentor, he acted very much as Lewis' surrogate father. Jefferson seemed to have a keen insight into the demons that Lewis struggled with, and in an age before psychiatric treatments, knew just how to nurture and support him, help him realize his talents and not become victim to his terrible adversity. Lewis, in turn, was fiercely loyal to Jefferson, risking his life again and again to do research that would please his mentor. Jefferson knew of Lewis' demons, but never equated them with who Lewis was as a person. He described Lewis: "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." After the expedition, Jefferson rewarded Lewis by appointing him governor of the Louisiana Territory. Then in March 1809, James Madison became president. Madison had none of Jefferson's skills of nurturing and bringing out the best in Lewis.
In fact when there was a mistaken perception that Lewis was shirking his gubernatorial duties, Madison summoned him to Washington in a curt and abrupt fashion that left no doubt that Madison was going to be very harsh with him. Stopping at an inn on his journey to Washington, Lewis was observed to be agitated, pacing, talking to himself "as one would speak to a lawyer," and then was found dead from gunshot wounds. Did Lewis commit suicide? Jefferson and William Clark, Lewis' co-commander, believed he did. Some of his descendants believe he didn't. Does it matter? It did not matter to Jefferson and it should not matter to us. Lewis was an amazingly brave, intelligent, adventurous man who triumphed in the greatest possible way through his life, before his disease finally killed him.

World-Herald News Service Jan. 2010 North Platt Telegraph (http://www.nptelegraph.com/articles/2010/01/23/news/state/60005345.txt)
World-Herald News Service
OMAHA - The 200th anniversary of the mysterious death of Meriwether Lewis stirred up dust on the coldest of cases.
Did the famous explorer die of a self-inflicted wound or was he assassinated?
Kira Gale of Omaha, a 68-year-old Lewis and Clark buff who co-authored a book about the issue, believes Lewis was slain by political enemies in 1809.
"I believe they'll find a large bullet hole in the back of his head," Gale said. "This is more than history. It's a history mystery."
Lewis was the 35-year-old governor of Louisiana Territory when he died on a moonless October night in 1809 at Grinder's Stand, a way station on the Natchez Trace in Tennessee.
It was three years after he and fellow Army officer William Clark completed the famed Lewis and Clark expedition to the Pacific Ocean.
The puzzling death of one of the young nation's heroes is one of America's oldest mysteries.
Lewis family descendants say they want to know how their famous ancestor died. They petitioned the National Park Service a year ago to allow experts to exhume and examine Lewis' remains, buried on federal land in Tennessee.
"We simply seek the truth," said retired Air Force Col. Thomas McSwain of Shepherdstown, W.Va , a Lewis descendant. "If I had to vote now, I'd vote it was murder, but the evidence is circumstantial on all sides. There is no real tangible evidence. That's why an exhumation and examination is so important."
McSwain, a great-great-great-great nephew of Lewis, served at Strategic Air Command headquarters at Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha three decades ago. Historian Larry Morris of Salt Lake City, author of "The Fate of the Corps," said most scholars believe Lewis died of self-inflicted wounds.
"To me, it's pretty convincing," he said. "There are a lot of inconsistencies in witness accounts, but it's a stretch to say it was murder. Where's the hard evidence?" Morris said a plausible theory suggests Lewis shot himself during feverish delusions caused by malaria. Still, he said, an exhumation could potentially provide important evidence that Lewis was slain. A century ago, Lewis and Clark scholars believed Lewis was slain. Today, however, leading historians and the leadership of the national Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation tilt toward self-inflicted wounds or suicide theories. The group included the late Stephen Ambrose, author of the 1997 biography of Lewis, "Undaunted Courage."
Gale's interest in the case started when she learned of the existence of a transcript of a 1996 Tennessee coroner's inquest into Lewis's death. "I was just curious," she said. The jury's verdict called for the exhumation of Lewis' remains to determine the cause of death. Gale read the transcript, studied political treachery on America's western frontier in the early 19th century and eventually teamed with James E. Starrs to write "The Death of Meriwether Lewis." Starrs, a retired Georgetown University professor of criminal law and forensic sciences, was involved with the exhumation of outlaw Jesse James' remains. Gale and Starrs published the book through a company Gale owns. Lewis died when traveling from St. Louis, the territorial capital, to Washington, D.C., to protest federal bureaucrats' refusal to pay expenses for official business he was personally incurring as governor, such as printing the territorial laws.
Gale believes that Lewis also was carrying papers with evidence of treasonous plots by the nation's top Army officer, Gen. James Wilkinson.
She said her study of the historical record points to Wilkinson for arranging Lewis' assassination. Wilkinson's career was filled with betrayals, conspiracies and dishonesty. He spied for Spain. He also was Lewis' predecessor as territorial governor. In 1807, President Thomas Jefferson installed Lewis as governor of the territory, in part, to root out corruption. Lewis had enemies in St. Louis, including supporters of Aaron Burr (once Jefferson's vice president), who was tried and acquitted of treason charges for a plot to meddle with Mexico. "Lewis was faced with chaos and anarchy," Gale said. "It was an impossible task." Gale said Wilkinson and others wanted to control the lead mines south of St. Louis - for their bullet-making value - and to invade Mexico and gain control of the globally important Mexican silver mines. At one point, Wilkinson and Burr were alleged co-conspirators in the invasion plan, until Wilkinson betrayed Burr. Lewis probably intended to expose the fraudulent land deals and invasion plans, Gale speculated. If Lewis carried incriminating documents, they disappeared after his Oct. 11, 1809, death from two gunshot wounds near present-day Hohenwald, Tenn. Gale theorized that reports of Lewis being suicidal, alcoholic or mentally deranged as he set out for the nation's capital were cover stories created by Wilkinson with false information or forged documents. "He [Lewis] had a lot to live for," Gale said. Lewis had recently pledged to care for the 13-year-old son of a Canadian interpreter. Lewis planned to bring his mother to St. Louis. His brother Reuben was already there.
Lewis' body was hastily buried. An account of an 1848 exhumation to improve the grave site said a hole was observed in the back of Lewis' skull. A 1924 campaign to make the site a national monument stated that Lewis was murdered.
Forensic anthropologists say that if Lewis' bones are well preserved, it may be possible to determine if the wound to his head came from behind, an indication that he was slain.
Gale said the only way to know the truth, if possible, is to examine Lewis' remains.
"If it wasn't suicide, Meriwether Lewis' character has been distorted and the story of his life's record and accomplishments has been distorted," she said. "It's not right." McSwain said the government red tape involved in approving exhumation is frustrating. The family's push started 14 years ago, after the inquest failed to determine the cause of Lewis' death. "He went to the West Coast and back in 1803 a lot faster than this process is taking," he said.
Gale continues her research and meets weekly with the Lewis and Clark Study Group at the Western Historic Trails Center in Council Bluffs. The group's current topic is Andro Linklater's "An Artist in Treason."
It's the biography of the double-life of Gen. James Wilkinson.

HOHENWALD, Tenn.'97Meriwether Lewis conquered rivers, mountains and bears leading the Lewis and Clark Expedition across 8,000 miles of wilderness from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean and back.
Two centuries later, relatives of Mr. Lewis are having a tough time moving his remains down 80 miles of paved Tennessee highway from a national park to a forensic lab.
Independence National Historical Park
Meriwether Lewis by Charles Willson Peale
Mr. Lewis's body rests beneath a 20-foot-high stone monument at milepost 385.9 of the Natchez Trace Parkway. A plaque next to the gravesite states that it was here, in 1809, three years after his epic journey, that his life drew "mysteriously to its close."
Many historians believe Mr. Lewis, who was governor of the Louisiana Territory at the time of his death, committed suicide after wrestling with depression, drug addiction or some other malady. Others have speculated that he was murdered.
About 200 descendants have petitioned the federal government to dig Mr. Lewis up, hoping that modern science will exonerate a historical figure whose legacy they believe was tarnished by his ambiguous death.
"He could very well have become presidential material," asserts Howell Bowen, a 75-year-old nephew four generations removed, who grew up and lives in Mr. Lewis's hometown of Ivy, Va. He calls the suicide hypothesis preposterous.
A recent letter from the U.S. Department of the Interior turning down the exhumation request is just the latest in a string of rejections handed down to the Lewis family'97all distant relatives of Mr. Lewis's sister Jane, because the explorer didn't marry or have children.
Digging up notable Americans to solve mysteries isn't without precedent. President Zachary Taylor was exhumed in 1991, nearly 150 years after his death, to determine whether he had been poisoned. He wasn't. A soldier at the Tomb of the Unknowns was disinterred and identified through his DNA in 1998. In June, former chess champion Bobby Fischer was exhumed in Iceland in a paternity suit.
But none were dug up on land controlled by the National Park Service, whose policy prohibits exhumations unless burial sites are "threatened with destruction by park development, operational activities or natural forces."
Mike Esterl/The Wall Street Journal
The National Park Service cabin near the burial site of Meriwether Lewis is undergoing facilities upgrades using federal stimulus funds. Approximately $3.5 million has been allocated to upgrade the burial site as a whole.
Lobbying on behalf of the Lewis family is a team of experts, including James Starrs, a professor of law and forensic sciences at George Washington University, who exhumed gunslinger Jesse James, Albert DeSalvo, also known as the "Boston Strangler," and President George Washington's brother, Samuel.
Cameron Sholly, superintendent of Natchez Trace Parkway, says digging up Mr. Lewis could intrude upon the remains of more than 100 pioneers buried close by. The explorer also lies under a foot and a half of concrete, an additional three feet of crushed gravel and "more fill and concrete under that."
Mr. Sholly says there could still be "lots of questions'' about how Mr. Lewis met his end even after a forensic investigation.
In a letter to the Lewis family last month, the Interior Department said that it is spending more than $3.5 million in federal stimulus funds to improve the site. That includes building a parking lot, restrooms and a small bookstore.
Mr. Lewis headed the first official U.S. expedition to the West Coast after the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. He was appointed governor of Louisiana Territory after a hero's return, but by 1809 was wrestling with allegations he had misused government funds.
He set out for Washington, D.C., that autumn by way of Natchez Trace, a pioneer trail, armed with two pistols, a dagger and a tomahawk. On Oct. 10, he stopped at Grinder's Stand, a remote inn 70 miles south of Nashville. The next morning he was found by the innkeeper and servants in his room, dying of bullet wounds to his head and chest.
No one claimed to have witnessed the shooting. But Mr. Lewis's guide reported the 35-year-old governor had killed himself'97a version that was accepted in the nation's capital.
Some historians question why an expert marksman like Mr. Lewis needed more than one bullet, and believe he was killed. "He was on a very dangerous frontier trail,'' says John Guice, a retired University of Southern Mississippi history professor who backs the family's exhumation efforts.
Melinda Ward, a waitress at Lay's General Café in Hohenwald, said she heard as a child that Mr. Lewis was shot after flirting with a local married woman.
Mr. Lewis's mother, according to family lore, believed he was murdered by a traveling servant. "She supposedly saw through'' the servant after questioning him at her Virginia homestead, says Mr. Bowen, the nephew.
Family members began pushing for exhumation in 1993 after meeting with Mr. Starrs, who argued that bullet trajectories could yield clues. If a bullet entered the back of Mr. Lewis's skull, for instance, suicide would be unlikely. In 1996, a coroner's jury in Tennessee recommended Mr. Lewis be exhumed to collect evidence. But a federal court ruled in 1998 that the National Park Service had the last word.
The Meriwether Lewis burial site in a national park near the Natchez Trace Parkway in Hohenwald, Tenn.
Mr. Lewis's descendants cited other exhumations on Park Service land, including one in 1985 at Blackburn Cemetery, in another part of Natchez Trace Parkway. Remains also were dug up in Montana in the 1980s at the Park-administered site of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, where George Custer was killed in 1876.
The family had a breakthrough in 2008, when then-Assistant Interior Secretary Lyle Laverty wrote that given "the unique circumstances of the death of Meriwether Lewis,'' and the "overwhelming support'' of descendants, an exhumation was "appropriate and in the public interest.''
But in April, before preparations for the exhumation were complete, the agency reversed its decision, arguing that department policy couldn't be ignored. Following up last month, Assistant Interior Secretary Thomas Strickland instructed the family, "Please consider this a final decision on this matter.''
More than 40 relatives gathered Sept. 18 for an annual picnic at the family cemetery to discuss the latest setback. Over lemon pies, they pledged to plow ahead with their campaign. "He may have committed suicide," Mr. Bowen says. "I doubt it. If he did, we will pack our bags and accept it.''

12/22/2010:

State rep: Exhume Lewis - page 2
Some history buffs doubt suicide story

.On Oct. 10, two of Lewis's horses ran away. Lewis left Neelly, his traveling companion, to find the horses and went on with his servant John Pernier and another servant. They stayed at Grinder's Inn, a cabin 72 miles from Nashville, in an area called the Natchez Trace. Lewis acted deranged that night and started talking to himself, according to accounts written by those who spoke to the innkeeper.

No one saw the shots being fired. But the innkeeper, Priscilla Grinder, heard them and summoned Pernier. Both saw Lewis before he died. Mrs. Grinder's story is recorded, with some variations, in three separate accounts over the next two years.

Grinder said she heard two shots from Lewis's room about 3 a.m. - "he had shot himself in the head with one pistol & a little below the Breast with the other," Neelly wrote to Jefferson. "when his servant came in (Lewis) says; I have done the business my good servant give me some water."

Lewis died hours later and was buried near Grinder's Inn.


Murder suspicions

Clark and Jefferson accepted the news with sadness and understanding.

"I fear the weight of his mind has overcome him," Clark wrote.

Lewis "was much afflicted & habitually so with hypochondria," Jefferson wrote.

Stephenie Ambrose Tubbs, a Lewis and Clark scholar and daughter of the late Stephen Ambrose, said their reactions are revealing.

"His two best friends accepted the notion that he killed himself and didn't look for murder or conspiracy at the time," Ambrose Tubbs said.

The first hint that he might have been murdered came in a report by a committee that erected a monument at Lewis's grave in 1848. The committee opened Lewis's grave and identified the remains.

The committee wrote: "The impression has long prevailed that under the influence of disease of body and mind. . . . Gov. Lewis perished by his own hands. It seems to be more probable that he died by the hands of an assassin."

The committee report offers no evidence of murder. It notes only that the place he was killed was "wild and solitary." It cites a rumor that Lewis was murdered by his servant and adds that if the rumor were true, it would remove "the only stigma" upon his name.

Yet that report opened the door for a floodgate of questions.

Tony Turnbow, a Tennessee attorney who has researched Lewis's death, said that Natchez Trace was a dangerous place and that most people who died there with multiple gunshot wounds were murdered. Additionally, Lewis's money was missing. Turnbow said Nashville newspapers reported Lewis's throat was cut and his hands were wounded - though some historians question the accuracy of early 19th-century journalism.

"The only evidence of suicide is hearsay and speculation that comes from letters written by people who did not see Lewis receive his final injury, and are contradictory," Turnbow said. "The bottom line is no one saw it. There are no eyewitnesses."


Doubting descendants

By His Own Hand?, a compilation of essays on Lewis's death edited by John Guice, asks other questions. How could Lewis put a gun to his head and miss, only grazing his skull on the first shot? Why would such an accomplished man kill himself? Is Grinder reliable? Guice argues that the evidence for suicide is circumstantial. Some documents from the same time show Lewis as upbeat, not depressed.

Individuals named as possible murder suspects include Neelly, Pernier, Priscilla Grinder and her husband, Robert, and Gen. James Wilkinson, the governor of the Louisiana Territory before Lewis who had been exposed as a Spanish secret agent.

As early as 1905, the Tennessee governor denied a request to exhume Lewis's grave.

In the 1990s, James Starrs, a forensic science professor at George Washington University who has exhumed other prominent graves, started working with family members to renew calls for an exhumation

Birth:
Born near Charlottesville, VA and was a neighbor of Thomas Jefferson

Living In:
This was the boyhood home of Meriwether Lewis. The original log house was built early in the 1760s on the nearly 2000 acres that make up this plantation. This house was a single room with loft space above but was lost in a fire in 1837. The name comes from the locust poplars that are found on the property even to this day. Locust Hill was a working plantation at the time of Meriwether Lewis' birth and fairly self-sufficient. The property included an orchard, gardens, as well as fields for sowing and for grazing. It was within riding distance of the property of Thomas Jefferson's family, Monticello. Also located on the property is the Locust Hill Cemetery where Lucy Marks is buried.

Died:
Died in a roadside inn from a gunshot, in Grinder's Stand, Tn. a way station on the Natchez Trace in Tennessee.)
Kira Gale of Omaha, a 68-year-old Lewis and Clark buff who co-authored a book about the issue, believes Lewis was slain by political enemies in 1809. "I believe they'll find a large bullet hole in the back of his head," Gale said. "This is more than history. It's a history mystery."

Notes:

Both Reuben and John (II) grew up to become doctors, taking after their mother's medicinal abilities.

Reuben Lewis
Reuben Lewis (1777-1844) was the younger brother of Meriwether Lewis. He traveled west when his brother became the Governor of Louisiana in 1807. He served as an Indian agent among the Mandans and Cherokees until he returned to Albemarle in 1820. He married Mildred Dabney on December 18, 1822, and the couple left no children.

Reuben married DABNEY Mildred on 18 Dec 1822. Mildred and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Lucy Meriwether Lewis Marks
Lucy Meriwether was born at Cloverfields on February 4, 1752. She married William Lewis of Locust Hill; he died in 1779 and she married Captain John Marks six months later. Lucy Meriwether was well known in Albemarle County throughout her adult life. Besides being the mother of the famed explorer, she had medical skills and often rode throughout the county to treat the sick. Even into old-age, she thought nothing of riding several miles to go treat an ill acquaintance.
She is reported to have notable culinary and intellectual skills as well. She could not afford many books, but collected a small library throughout her life. In her will, she was careful to address the dispersion of the books among her offspring; appraisers valued the total collection at the modern equivalent of several hundred dollars.
With regards to her cooking, Thomas Jefferson reportedly remarked "Merriwether Lewis' mother made very nice hams-better than even Monticello could produce."
A male acquaintance once described her as having a perfect person and complimented her on having "activity beyond her sex." 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. That rifle came in handy as well when a hunting party from Locust Hill failed to kill a deer. A deer however had been cornered onto the grounds of Locust Hill by the party hounds, and Mrs. Lewis-Marks shot it and turned it into a succulent dinner before the party even returned.
Lucy Meriwether Lewis Marks gave birth to Jane Meriwether Lewis, Meriwether Lewis, Lucinda Lewis (who died in childhood) and Reuben Lewis while married to William Lewis and John Marks and Mary Garland Marks while married to Captain John Marks. Both Reuben and John (II) grew up to become doctors, taking after their mother's medicinal abilities.
Lucy Meriwether Lewis Marks was widowed a second time in 1791. She returned to Albemarle for good, and Locust Hill became her property after Meriwether's mysterious death in 1809. 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. She lived there until her death in 1837 with her widowed daughter Jane Lewis Anderson.

Buried:
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. She lived there until her death in 1837 with her widowed daughter Jane Lewis Anderson.

Family/Spouse: LEWIS William. William (son of Col. LEWIS Robert, III and MERIWETHER Jane) was born about 1735 in Locust Hill, Albemarle, Virginia; died on 14 Nov 1779 in Cloverfields, Albemarle, Virginia. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Lucy married Capt. MARKS John in May 1780. John died in 1791. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Indications he was a planter and mill owner
• Alt. Birth: 1750-1751, Spotsylvania County, VA
• Will: 11 Oct 1819

Notes:

Publication: The Meriwether Society, Inc.
URL: http://MeriwetherSociety.org
Text: Information about this individual has been collected by The Meriweither Society from many sources. As the Society is in the process of verifying the information, it should be treated as unconfirmed at this time. Please do not assume the information is correct.

If you have information about this individual, please contact the Society. PLEASE DO NOT USE THE INFORMATION SHOWN WITHOUT VERIFYING IT YOURSELF!
Type: Book
Periodical: The Meriwethers and Their Connections
Author: Nelson Heath Meriwether
Publication: Artcraft Press
Date: 1964
Detail: Reprinted in 1991 by The Meriwether Society, Gateway Press
Type: Book
Detail: The Meriwether Society Source: S82
Type: Web Site
Title: LDS Ancetsral File
URL: www.familysearch.com
Type: Gedcom File
Detail: The Meriwether Society Source: S88

John married MCGEHEE Esther Martha on 15 Apr 1771 in Louisa County, VA. Esther (daughter of MCGEHEE William and MCCULLOUGH Elizabeth) was born on 24 Nov 1753 in Louisa County, VA; died on 3 Mar 1807 in Greenwood, Greenwood County, SC; was buried in Greenwood, Abbeville County, Sc. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

John married TINSLEY Ann on 18 Sep 1809 in Louisa County, VA. Ann was born about 1773 in Greenville, Augusta, Virginia, USA; died in Jun 1831 in Abbeville County, SC. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alt. Birth: 24 May 1754, Spotsylvania County, VA
• Alt. Death: 18 Jan 1836, Greene County, AL

Notes:

Zachary & Jane are 1C and 2C

Family/Spouse: LEWIS Jane. Jane (daughter of LEWIS John and LEWIS Anne) was born about 1759 in Greenville, Augusta, Virginia, USA; died before 1787 in South Carolina. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]