Lewis is at his family’s home, Locust Hill, near present Ivy, Virginia. During his visit there, perhaps he recalls his teenage years at Latin School and reconnects with his old schoolmate “Peachy” Gilmer who thinks Lewis resembled Napoleon.[1]Traveling with Meriwether Lewis to Washington City is a Mandan delegation from the Knife River Villages—Chief Sheheke, his wife Yellow Corn, and their son. Speaking Mandan and French was … Continue reading
Lewis’s Latin Education
In preparation for the first official edition of the expedition journals, publisher Paul Allen asked Thomas Jefferson for biographical information about Meriwether Lewis:
Monticello. Aug. 18. 1813.
Sir
at thirteen he was put to the Latin school, and continued at that until eighteen . . .
Th: Jefferson[2]“Thomas Jefferson to Paul Allen”, Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-06-02-0341-0002. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, … Continue reading
Third Declension of Rupes (Rock) and Sedile (feat)
The Principles of Latin and English Grammar, by Alexander Adam, 1772 edition
First published in Scotland in 1772, Alexander Adam’s text became the standard textbook across early American schools and colleges.[3]Available at archive.org/details/bim_eighteenth-century_the-principles-of-latin-_adam-alexander_1772/.
Another document, endorsed by Thomas Jefferson but not written in his hand nor dated, provides more details:
he first went to common day schools, learning to read, to write & Arithmetic
with ordinary facility. . . . at eleven years old he was taken from his mother and remained untill thirteen with his gaurdian, when he was put to Latin schools kept by Dr Everett Parson Maury & Parson Wardell.
Matthew Maury and James Waddell were Episcopal and Presbyterian clergymen, respectively.[4]“Unidentified Author’s Short Biography of Meriwether Lewis”, Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-06-02-0341-0003. [Original source: The … Continue reading
Peachy Gilmer’s Recollections
Napoleon Bonaparte Distributing Sabers of Honor
Antoine-Jean Gros (1771–1835)
306 cm (10 ft) by 242 cm (95.2 in), Château de Malmaison collection. Image is in the Public Domain.
Meriwether Lewis, afterwards distinguished for his expedition up the Missouri, was one of our schoolmates. He was always remarkable for perseverance which in the early period of his life seemed nothing more than obstinacy in pursuing the trifles that employ that age: a martial temper: a great steadiness of purpose, self-possession, and undaunted courage. His person was stiff and without grace, bow legged, awkward, formal and almost without flexibility: his face was comely & by many considered handsome. It bore to my vision a very Strong resemblance to Buonaparte in the figure on horseback, now in my possession.[5]Richard Beale Davis, Francis Walker Gilmer: Life and Learning in Jefferson’s Virginia: A Study in Virginia Literary Culture in the First Quarter of the Nineteenth Century (Richmond, Virginia: The … Continue reading
Notes
| ↑1 | Traveling with Meriwether Lewis to Washington City is a Mandan delegation from the Knife River Villages—Chief Sheheke, his wife Yellow Corn, and their son. Speaking Mandan and French was interpreter René Jusseaume who brought one of his wives and two children. Expedition private François Labiche was included to translate between French and English. Finally, records indicate expedition sergeant John Ordway was serving as Lewis’s assistant. A large bill at Staunton, Virginia (see December 11, 1806) indicates that the delegation remained there during the holidays. Meanwhile, Clark is about two days into his trip to Washington City via the Wilderness Road. |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | “Thomas Jefferson to Paul Allen”, Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-06-02-0341-0002. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Retirement Series, vol. 6, 11 March to 27 November 1813, J. Jefferson Looney, ed. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009), 418–426.] |
| ↑3 | Available at archive.org/details/bim_eighteenth-century_the-principles-of-latin-_adam-alexander_1772/. |
| ↑4 | “Unidentified Author’s Short Biography of Meriwether Lewis”, Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-06-02-0341-0003. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Retirement Series, vol. 6, 11 March to 27 November 1813, J. Jefferson Looney, ed. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009), 426.] |
| ↑5 | Richard Beale Davis, Francis Walker Gilmer: Life and Learning in Jefferson’s Virginia: A Study in Virginia Literary Culture in the First Quarter of the Nineteenth Century (Richmond, Virginia: The Dietz Press, 1939), 360–61, archive.org/details/franciswalkergil0000rich. |
Experience the Lewis and Clark Trail
The Lewis and Clark Trail Experience—our sister site at lewisandclark.travel—connects the world to people and places on the Lewis and Clark Trail.
Discover More
- The Lewis and Clark Expedition: Day by Day by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 2018). The story in prose, 14 May 1804–23 September 1806.
- The Lewis and Clark Journals: An American Epic of Discovery (abridged) by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 2003). Selected journal excerpts, 14 May 1804–23 September 1806.
- The Lewis and Clark Journals. by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 1983–2001). The complete story in 13 volumes.
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