Meriwether Lewis Papers

Collection

Identifier: A0897

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Meriwether Lewis Papers is an artificial, or subject-based, collection gathered to record the Lewis and Clark Expedition. During the re-processing of the Meriwether Lewis Collection in 1999, several items were removed from the collection and returned to the archival collection in which they originally belonged. (Please consult the separation record at the end of this finding aid.)

Dates

1784-1960

Creator

Lewis, Meriwether, 1774-1809 (Creator, Person)

Conditions Governing Access

The Missouri Historical Society asks researchers to assist in the preservation of the collection by using either the microfilm or the published versions of documents at all times. Permission to access the original documents in the Meriwether Lewis Papers must be obtained from a member of the archives staff.

Conditions Governing Use

The Missouri Historical Society cannot grant permission to publish or exhibit any reproductions in this collection, the originals of which are not held in trust by the society. For permission to publish, quote from, or reproduce original material in this collection, please contact the Archives Reference Desk at archives@mohistory.org. Copyright restrictions may apply. The researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming to the laws of copyright.

Biographical Sketch

Meriwether Lewis was born August 18, 1774, to William and Lucy Meriwether Lewis in Albemarle County, Virginia. William died when Meriwether was five years old and Lucy remarried and moved to Georgia. Lewis received most of his formal education in Virginia and by age eighteen was in charge of Locust Hill, the family plantation in Albemarle County. Lewis volunteered for the militia during the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794. He enlisted in the Regular Army in May 1795, entering at the rank of ensign. From 1795 to 1800, he served on the western frontier. During this time one of his assignments placed him in a rifle company commanded by William Clark, also a native of Albemarle County, Virginia. In 1800, Lewis was promoted to the rank of captain. Thomas Jefferson, a family friend from Virginia, asked Lewis to serve as his private secretary, or aide-de-camp, after his presidential inauguration. Jefferson allowed him to retain his military commission, and Lewis moved into the White House in April 1801 as the president’s personal assistant. He assisted Jefferson in planning the expedition to explore the Louisiana Purchase, the newly acquired land west of the Mississippi River. The president placed Lewis in charge of the journey, and Lewis chose William Clark to serve with him. The two men and their party left St. Louis in 1804 and returned in September 1806. In 1807 Jefferson nominated Lewis to serve as governor of Upper Louisiana. However, Lewis did not arrive in St. Louis to take his post until 1808. His administration was marred by fighting with his territorial secretary, Frederick Bates, and by financial woes. In 1809, Lewis set out for Washington, D.C., to discuss the affairs of his official post. While camping at Grinder’s Stand, near Nashville, the traveling party heard shots in the night and found Lewis dying. Meriwether Lewis died October 11, 1809.

Extent

1.15 Cubic Feet ( (2 boxes, 1 oversize folder, 2 microfilm reels))

Language of Materials

English

French

Additional Description

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in three series: Original Documents Series, Reproductions/Clippings Series, and Corps of Discovery Series. The Original Documents Series spans from circa 1784 to 1841, and is arranged in chronological order. It contains letters written to and from Meriwether Lewis, including several letters concerning family affairs that Lewis wrote to his mother, Lucy Marks, in both Georgia and Virginia. Correspondence with Frederick Bates and Michel Amoureaux discusses the expedition and various affairs in St. Louis. The correspondence of Reuben Lewis, dated after Meriwether Lewis’s death in 1809, discusses affairs of Meriwether’s estate and the disposition of his possessions. This series also contains three small bound volumes that belonged to Meriwether Lewis: a notebook dated 1796 that documents a journey in Ohio; a receipt book, dated 1798 to 1800, in the hand of Lewis that contains signatures or marks of soldiers of the American Revolution; and a personal account book dated 1807-1809. The Reproductions/Clippings Series spans from 1666 to 1960 and is arranged in chronological order. It contains photographs, negative photostats, and typed transcriptions of original documents that are not held in the Missouri Historical Society Archives. The only original items in this series are newsclippings or articles about Meriwether Lewis, the Lewis family, or the Lewis & Clark Expedition. The Corps of Discovery was the name by which the Lewis & Clark Expedition was originally known. The Corps of Discovery Series contains original documents, reproductions/typescripts, and articles relating to members of the expedition other than Meriwether Lewis or William Clark. This series dates from 1804 to 1948, and is arranged in chronological order.

Physical and Technical Requirements

All copy orders will be filled from the microfilm unless photographic reproductions are requested.

Donor Information

Many of the documents came from Dr. Meriwether Lewis Anderson in 1936 but the provenance of others items is uncertain. Also in 1936, Charles Gilmer Gray donated the letter of Meriwether Lewis to Dr. John Thornton Gilmer, dated 18 June 1801. The items in the Corps of Discovery Series appear to have been gathered from a variety of sources and were probably part of the Lewis & Clark Papers that were divided into the Meriwether Lewis Papers and the William Clark Papers sometime between 1950 and 1980.

Existence and Location of Copies

The microfilm of the Meriwether Lewis Papers was produced from the Save America’s Treasures grant program of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Park Service. Many documents relating to the Lewis & Clark Expedition were published in the following source: Donald Jackson, ed. Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Related Documents, 1783-1854. Second Edition. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1978. Selected items from this collection were digitized by Missouri Historical Society staff. The images may be viewed online by clicking the links beside each item in the inventory.

Separated Materials

Separation Record

Material separated:

1998 Jan
: 1803 June 19, letter signed Meriwether Lewis to William Clark. Disposition: Clark Family Papers.; 1804 May 2, letter signed Meriwether Lewis to William Clark. Disposition: Clark Family Papers.; 1804 May 16, letter signed Meriwether Lewis to Amos Stoddard. Disposition: Amos Stoddard Papers.; 1804 May 21, letter signed William Clark to Maj. Croghan. Disposition: Clark Family Papers.; 1807 Mar 11, letter signed Meriwether Lewis to William Clark. Disposition: Clark Family Papers.; 1807 Apr, fragment of letter signed Frederick Bates to M. Lewis (see Bates Family Papers, Letterbook, Volume 2, pp. 7-12 for sender’s copy). Disposition: Bates Family Papers.; 1807 May 7, United States vs. Robert Westcott. Disposition: Missouri Supreme Court Minute Books, Volume 1, 1805-1808, p. 139.; 1809 Nov 12, letter signed Bryan & Schlatter to P. Chouteau. Disposition: Chouteau Family Papers.; 1809 Dec 6, letter signed Nancy Bates, James Abbott, J.W. Bates to Frederick Bates. Disposition: Bates Family Papers.; 1809 Sept 22, document signed Meriwether Lewis to Amos Stoddard. Disposition: Amos Stoddard Papers.; 1809 Sept 28, letter signed James Howes to Frederick Bates. Disposition: Bates Family Papers.
2001 Mar
: 1807, prospectus of Lewis and Clark’s Tour to the Pacific Ocean through the Interior of the Continent of North America. Disposition: Clark Family Papers.; 1807 June 3, printed document, Philadelphia. Subscription list form for publishing Lewis and Clark’s map of North America. Disposition: Clark Family Papers.