# John Brahan to Major Amos Stoddard, Nashville, 18 October 1809 ('Stoddard notified of Lewis's death'); with Jonathan Clark to George Rogers Clark, 3 February 1810, and the Monthly Anthology's editorial comment of April 1810

CITATION: Reuben Gold Thwaites, ed., Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, 1804-1806 (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1904-05), vol. 7, Appendix, nos. LXXVI-LXXVIII, pp. 389-391. Thwaites prints from the original manuscripts then in the possession of the Missouri Historical Society (Stoddard papers) and the Wisconsin Historical Society (Draper MSS).
URL fetched: https://archive.org/download/originaljournals07lewiuoft/originaljournals07lewiuoft_djvu.txt (Internet Archive item originaljournals07lewiuoft, University of Toronto scan of the 1905 printing)
DATE FETCHED: 2026-09-14
TRANSCRIPTION: OCR of the 1905 printed scholarly edition (Thwaites). OCR errors NOT corrected (e.g. 'i8th' = 18th, 'nth' = 11th, 'Grender', 'JeiFerson'); runs of spaces collapsed; bracketed numbers like [368] are the printed page numbers (page footers). Thwaites's own editorial remarks are in square brackets.

---- VERBATIM TEXT (OCR of the scan) ----


LXX VI 


STODDARD NOTIFIED OF LEWIS'S DEATH 

[From original MS. in possession of Missouri Historical Society.] 

Nashville, Tennessee. i8th Oct. 1809. 
Dear Sir : I am sorry to inform you of the death of Governor 
Meriwether Lewis, which took place on the Morning of the nth 
instance at the House of a Mr. Grender about seventy five miles from 
here on the Natchez Road, it is reported that he arrived there the 
evening before — the man of the house was from home — the governor 
went to bed in a room alone, about three o'clock the woman of the 
house who slept in a house near the other heard two pistols fire — she 
awoke the servants, and they rushed into the Room, and found the 
unfortunate Governor weltering in his blood ; he had shot himself in 
the head and just below his breast — he died in about three hours ; in a 
few hours Major Neeley Agent to the Chickasaws came up, who had 
remained behind to hunt two horses which they had lost the night 
before — he had him intered and took into his care & possession two 
trunks said to contain his valuable papers, amongst which is said to be 
his Journal to the pacific ocean, & perhaps some vouchers which he 
was taking on for settlement — Majr Neeley has his pistols. Rifle, 
Watch, &c — his servant John Parney will proceed on early in the 
morning with letters to Mr. JeiFerson from Majr Neeley communicating 
to him the particulars of the unhappy affair. I lament extremely the 
unfortunate fate of this worthy Character. 

[The remainder of the letter concerns Brahan's personal 
affairs. — Ed.] 

[Superscription : ] John Brahan to Major Amos Stoddard, U. S. Artillerists, Washington City. 


[389] 


LEWIS AND CLARK JOURNALS 


L X X V I I 


GEN. JONATHAN CLARK^ TO GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 

[From original MS. in library of Wisconsin Historical Society — Draper MSS., SSjyi.] 

Dear Brother: I received a letter from brother William, sometime 
about the first of January he was then at Washington but said that on 
the next day he should sit ofF for Philadelphia in search of some of the 
papers, that he hoped had been left there, by Governor Lewis — a part 
of the journals &c of the trip to the Western ocean, had been sent him, 
but not the whole, I have heard that the Governor made a will and 
devised the papers to William but he does not say any thing of it in his 
L'^ to me. William mentions that he was fearfull that nothing would 
be obtained on your memorial — for the old claim but was flattered with 
a hope that he should get a pension for you he says that no nomina- 
tion of a Governor in the place of Gov. Lewis had been made, your 
sister is here with a bad head ache with our best wishes for your self 
Maj' Croghan and family. Yr. afF Brother 

Jona: Clark. 

Febr 3? 1810 

[Endorsed : ] — Qeneral George R. Clark Philadelphia Edm. Clark 

1 General Jonathan Clark was the eldest brother of William and George Rogers 
Clark. Born in 1750, he served with distinction in the Revolutionary War, and was 
captured at Charleston in 1780. After the war he settled in Spottsylvania County, 
Va. ; and in 1793 was made one of the three major-generals of the state militia. He 
removed to Kentucky about 1800, and lived near Louisville. — Ed. 


[390] 


APPENDIX 


LXXVIII 


AN EDITORIAL COMMENT 

[From the Monthly Anthology and Boston Revie-w (April, l8io), viii, p. 283.] 

The publick are likely to be for a long time without the expected 
account of the journey of Capt. Lewis to the Pacifick ocean, which 
has excited more curiosity in Europe than it has in this country. It 
has been said, that the indifference of the publick, and the very small 
number of subscribers it has obtained, operated strongly on his mind, 
and was one of the causes that led to his unfortunate death. His papers 
are said to have been left in a very confused imperfect state ; but such 
as they were, they have been sent to his patron, Mr. Jefferson, who it 
is presumed will employ his leisure hours in preparing them for the 
press. 


[391]