# National Intelligencer (Washington), 15 November 1809, p. 1: reprint of the Lexington (Ky.) item of 28 October 1809 — the "Russellville letter" of 20 October 1809 (the earliest dated report: "shot himself twice, and then cut his throat"), the Lexington editor's comment on the protested bills, and the Nashville Clarion extract CITATION: The National Intelligencer and Washington Advertiser (Washington City, D.C.), Wednesday 15 November 1809, p. 1, col. 4 (the column headed "LEXINGTON, OCTOBER 28." reprinted from a Lexington, Kentucky, newspaper of that date — probably the Kentucky Reporter or the Kentucky Gazette of 28 Oct. is not possible (the Gazette appeared on Tuesdays: 24 and 31 Oct.); the Reporter (Saturday) fits 28 Oct.). Library of Congress, Chronicling America, LCCN sn83045242, batch dlc_forest_ver01, page image 1809111501/0001. NOTE ON THE SOURCE: This is the account William Clark probably saw: he wrote from Shelbyville, Ky., on 28 Oct. 1809 that he had read "in a Frankfort paper called the Argus a report ... [that Lewis had] killed himself by Cutting his throat with a Knife" (Holmberg, Dear Brother, 216-18; see sources/1809_clark_to_jonathan_clark_excerpts_holmberg_wpo1992.md). The Russellville letter is dated the same day as the Clarion (20 Oct.) and the letter-writer's chain is: a person who saw Lewis buried "on the 12th" → "a gentleman from Nashville" → the writer at Russellville, Ky. → his friend at Lexington → the Lexington paper (28 Oct.) → the Intelligencer (15 Nov.). The Intelligencer on 27 Nov. 1809 said of the "circumstantial statement" it had "republished from a Western print" that later information "induces us to think that statement in several respects incorrect" (see sources/1809-11-27_national_intelligencer.md); that remark refers to this column. URLs fetched: OCR (ALTO XML): https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/sgp/sgpbatches/batch_dlc_forest_ver01/data/sn83045242/print/1809111501/0001.xml page image (IIIF): https://tile.loc.gov/image-services/iiif/service:sgp:sgpbatches:batch_dlc_forest_ver01:data:sn83045242:print:1809111501:0001/info.json (4917 x 7575 px); crops read: .../0001/2980,780,960,1350/full/0/default.jpg ; .../2980,2050,960,1350/... ; .../2980,3320,960,1350/... ; .../2980,4590,960,1350/... page (viewer): https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83045242/1809-11-15/ed-1/?sp=1 DATE FETCHED: 2026-09-14 TRANSCRIPTION: FACSIMILE-READ for the Russellville letter, the Lexington editor's paragraphs, the bracketed introduction to the Clarion extract and the Clarion text down to "great botanical" (all fully legible in the four crops). The remainder of the Clarion eulogy was not re-read here; the complete Clarion text, read from the Kentucky Gazette's reprint, is in sources/1809-10-31_kentucky_gazette_reprint_of_clarion_20oct1809.md. Original spelling kept ("Russelville", "Merriwether", "Eextract"). Italics of the original are not reproduced. ----- VERBATIM TEXT (National Intelligencer, 15 Nov. 1809, p. 1, col. 4) ----- LEXINGTON, OCTOBER 28. Eextract of a letter from a gentleman in Russelville, to his friend at present in Lexington dated "RUSSELVILLE, Oct. 20, 1809 "A gentleman from Nashville informs me that he conversed with a person who had seen governor MERRIWETHER LEWIS buried on the 12th inst. about 40 miles beyond Nashville on the Natchez road.—The accounts are, that Governor Lewis arrived at a house very weak, from a recent illness at Natchez, and shewed marks of mental derangement. After a stay of a few hours at the above house, he took his pistols and shot himself twice, and then cut his throat. The above unfortunate intelligence is confirmed by a gentleman at present in this place. It is added, that Governor Lewis, in addition to shooting himself twice in the body, and cutting his throat, shot himself in the head, and cut the arteries in his thighs and arms. We have been unable to procure any satisfactory intelligence of the circumstances which led to this unhappy event. We have only heard it stated, that Gov. Lewis drew bills to a considerable amount on the government of the United States, for which there had been no specific appropriations, and which came back protested. We can hardly suppose, however, that an incident of this kind alone, could have produced such deplorable consequences. [After the above was put in type, a gentleman politely hand us a Nashville paper of the 20th inst. from which we have made the following extract:—] To record the untimely end of a brave and prudent officer, a learned scholar and scientific gentleman this column of the Clarion is ushered to the world in black. On the night of the 10th instant Meriwether Lewis, esq. Governor-general of Upper Louisiana, on his way to Washington city, came to the house of Mr. Grinder near the Indian line in this state—called for his supper and some spirits, of which he partook and gave some to his servants. Mr. Grinder not being at home, Mrs. Grinder retired to the kitchen with her children, and the servants (after the Governor went to bed, which he did in good order) went to a stable about three hundred yards distant to sleep—no one in the house with the governor—and some time before midnight Mrs. Grinder was alarmed by the firing of 2 pistols in the house—she called to the servants without effect—and at the appearance of day light the servants came to the house when the Governor said he had now done for himself—they asked what, and he said he had shot himself and would die, and requested them to bring him water, he then laying on the floor where he expired about 7 o'clock in the morning of the 11th—he had shot a ball that grazed the top of his head and another through his intestines, and cut his neck arm and ham with a razor. When in his best sences he spoke about a trunk of papers that he said would be of great value to our government. He had been under the influence of a deranging malady for about six weeks—the cause of which is unknown, unless it was from a pretest [sic] to a draft which he drew on the secretary at war, which he considered tantamount to a disgrace by government. In the death of governor Lewis the public behold the wreck of one of the noblest of men—he was a pupil of the immortal Jefferson—by him he was reared—by him he was instructed in the tour of the sciences—by him he was introduced to public life, when his enterprising soul, great botanical [... the rest of the Clarion's eulogy follows as in the Kentucky Gazette file; not re-read here] ----- NOTES ----- - Differences between this (Intelligencer/Lexington) printing of the Clarion text and the Kentucky Gazette's (31 Oct.): "a learned scholar and scientific gentleman" (KG: "a learned sholar and a scientific gentleman"); "Governor-general" (KG: "governor-general"); "Washington city" (KG: "Washington City"); "the firing of 2 pistols" (KG: "two pistols"); "Meriwether Lewis, esq." (KG: "MERIWETHER LEWIS, Esq."); "sences" (KG: "senses"); "a pretest to a draft" (KG: "a protest to a draft"); "In the death of governor Lewis" (KG: "Governor Lewis"). This printing confirms the two words half-hidden by an ink blot in the Kentucky Gazette copy: "he then laying on the floor where he expired about 7 o'clock". The substance is identical. - The Russellville letter's "buried on the 12th inst." is the only contemporary statement of the burial date; Neelly (who "came up Some time after" the death) does not date the burial. - "a recent illness at Natchez" is an error of the rumour chain (Lewis's illness was at Fort Pickering/Chickasaw Bluffs, above Natchez on the Mississippi); "shot himself twice in the body ... shot himself in the head, and cut the arteries in his thighs and arms" is the maximal wound list of any 1809 report and is the source of the "cut his throat" story. - The Lexington editor's guess about "bills ... for which there had been no specific appropriations, and which came back protested" agrees with Lewis's own statement to Stoddard (22 Sept. 1809) and with the Clarion's "protest to a draft which he drew on the secretary at war".