Sunday, June 22, 2008

Was Meriwether Lewis Assassinated? The 1850 Grave Exhumation Report

In the late 1840’s a movement got underway to place a monument at the gravesite of Meriwether Lewis. Until then, his gravesite consisted of a simple marker enclosed by a wooden rail fence. Lewis was buried at Griner’s Stand, a wayside inn near Hohenwald, Tennessee on the Natchez Trace Federal Road, where he met his death on October 11, 1809. Though as Governor of Louisiana Territory he might be considered the third ranking member of the federal government, his death was never investigated, nor was there an effort to rebury him in his hometown of Charlottesville, Virginia. His death was labeled a suicide by second hand accounts and accepted as such by President Thomas Jefferson.  It was said in later newspaper accounts that a county coroner’s jury investigation was held at the time of his death; but this 1809 report has not been found. Reportedly the local jury members thought Robert Griner had participated in the killing of Meriwether Lewis, but were afraid to indict him. It has always been stated by the residents of Tennessee that Meriwether Lewis was murdered. 

I have been doing extensive research on the death of Meriwether Lewis, tracking down primary documents referred to in two books, Suicide or Murder? The Strange Death of Governor Meriwether Lewis by Vardis Fisher, published in 1962; and By His Own Hand? The Mysterious Death of Meriwether Lewis, edited by John D. W. Guice, published in 2006. Richard Dillon’s biography, Meriwether Lewis, with a foreword by Stephen Ambrose, also states he was murdered. John Bakeless is another biographer of Lewis and Clark who believed he was murdered. You may purchase these books and others through my website’s Amazon’s Associates bookstore.

I am planning to share some of my research on blogs at http://www.lewisandclarktravel.com in the months to come. This is one of the most important documents I have found.  The document reveals that the Tennessee monument committee actually opened the grave of Meriwether Lewis to confirm that they had the right gravesite, and examined his upper torso. One of the members of the committee, Samuel B. Moore, was a physician. (History and Genealogy-State Records-Acts of Tennessee, 1831-1850). It was not their purpose to investigate the cause of Lewis’s death. However, later in their 1850 Monument Committee Report to the General Assembly of Tennessee, they stated: 

“The impression has long prevailed that under the influence of disease and body—of hopes based upon long and valuable services—not merely deferred but wholly disappointed—Governor Lewis perished by his own hands. It seems to be more probable that he died by the hands of an assassin.”

Here follows the complete text of the Report, found in the Meriwether Lewis Memorial Association Papers, 1880-1931 at the Tennessee State Archives (Microfilm #13-74). 

R E P O R T of the L E W I S M O N U M E N T C O M M I T T E E

To the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee: By the 9th section of an act, passed at the last session of the General Assembly of this State, entitled an act to establish the County of Lewis the sum of $500 was appropriated, or so much thereof as might be necessary, to preserve the place of interment where the remains of GEN. MERIWETHER LEWIS were deposited; and the undersigned were appointed the agents of the General Assembly to carry into execution the provisions of the act, and report to the present General Assembly. Looking upon the object to be accomplished to be one highly honorable to the State, the undersigned entered upon the duties assigned them cheerfully and with as little delay as possible. They consulted with the most eminent artists and practical mechanics as to the kind of monument to be erected, and a plan being agreed upon, they employed Mr. Lemuel W. Kirby, of Columbia, to execute it for the sum of five hundred dollars. The entire monument is twenty and a half feet high. The design is simple but is intended to express the difficulties, successes, and violent termination of a life which was marked by bold enterprise, by manly courage and by devoted patriotism. The base of the monument is of rough, unhewn stone, eight feet high and nine feet square where it rises to the surface of the ground. On this rests a plinth of cut stone, four feet square and eighteen inches in thickness, on which are the inscriptions given below. On this plinth stands a broken column eleven feet high, two and a half feet in diameter for the base, and a few inches smaller at the top.  The top is broken to denote the violent and untimely end of a bright and glorious career.  The base is composed of a species of sandstone found in the neighborhood of the grave. The plinth and shaft, or column, are made of a fine limestone, commonly known as Tennessee marble.  Around the monument is erected a handsome wrought iron rail fence.
Great care was taken to identify the grave. George Nixon, Esq., an old Surveyor, had become very early acquainted with its locality.  He pointed out the place; but to make assurance doubly sure the grave was re-opened and the upper portion of the skeleton examined, and such evidence found as to leave no doubt as to the place of internment.  Witnesses were called and their certificate, with that of the Surveyor, prove the fact beyond dispute. 

The inscription upon the plinth was furnished by Professor Nathaniel Cross of the University of Nashville.  It is beautiful and appropriate.  It is placed on the different sides of the plinth, and is as follows:  M E R I W E T H E R L E W I S BORN NEAR CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA, AUGUST 18, 1774 DIED OCTOBER 11, 1809; AGED 35 YEARS; An Officer of the Regular Army – Private Secretary to President Jefferson – Commander of the Expedition To The Oregon in 1803–1806 – Governor of the Territory of Louisiana – His Melancholy Death Occurred Where This Monument Now Stands, And Under Which Rests His Mortal Remains. 

In the language of Mr. Jefferson: “His Courage Was Undaunted; His Firmness and Perseverance Yielded To Nothing But Impossibilities; A Rigid Disciplinarian, Yet Tender As A Father To Those Committed To His Charge; Honest, Disinterested, Liberal, With A Sound Understanding, And A Scrupulous Fidelity To Truth.

Immaturus Obi; Sed Tu Felicior Annos Vive Meos, Bona Republica!  Vive Tuos.  ERECTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF TENNESSEE, A. D., 1848.

In the Latin diatich, many of your honorable body will no doubt recognize as the affecting epitaph on the tomb of a young wife, in which by a prosopopocia, after alluding to an immature death, she prays that her happier husband may live out her years and his own. Immaturus pari: sed tu felicior annos. Vive meos, conjux optime!  Vive tuos. Under the same figure, the deceased is represented in the Latin diatich as altered, after alluding to his early death, as uttering as a patriot a similar prayer, that the republic may fulfill her high destiny, and that her years may equal those of time. As the diatich now stands, the figure may be made to apply either to the whole Union, or to Tennessee, that has honored his memory by the erection of a monument.

The impression has long prevailed that under the influence of disease of body and mind – of hopes based upon long and valuable services – not merely deferred, but wholly disappointed – Governor Lewis perished by his own hands.  It seems to be more probable that he died by the hands of an assassin.  The place at which he was killed is even yet a lovely spot.  It was then wild and solitary, and on the borders of the Indian Nation.

Maj. M. L. Clark, a son of Governor Clark of Missouri; in a letter to the Rev. Mr. Cressey of Maury County says: “Have you ever heard of the report that Gov. Lewis did not destroy his own life, but was murdered by his servant, a Frenchman, who stole his money and horses, returned to Natchez, and was never afterwards heard of?  This is an important matter in connection with the erection of a monument to his memory, as it clearly removes from my mind at least, the only stigma upon the fair name I have the honor to bear.”

The undersigned would suggest to the General Assembly, the propriety of having an acre of ground, or some other reasonable quantity, around the grave secured against the entry of private persons. This can be done, either by reserving the title in the State, or by directing a grant to be issued in the name of the Governor and by his successors.  The first mode would perhaps be the best.

All of which is respectfully submitted, EDMUND DILLAHUNTY, BARCLAY MARTIN, ROBERT A. SMITH, SAMUEL B. MOORE.

Posted by Kira Gale on 06/22/2008 at 11:31 AM

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