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Lewis Day of the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition is a proper occasion for a review of the leading events in the life of Meriwether Lewis. The only authentic account of his early life and genealogy is contained in the memoirs of Thomas Jefferson. We learn more of the man from the Journals of Lewis and Clark's Expedition than from any other source. It is a marvelous fact that the records of this expedition have never been fully published. There is now an edition in the course of preparation as the explorers wrote them.

Meriwether Lewis was born on the 18th day of August, 1774, near the town of Charlottesville, in the county of Albemarle, in 'Virginia. John Lewis, one of his greatuncles, was a member of the king's council before the Revolution; and Fielding Lewis, another great-uncle, married a sister of George Washington. Colonel Robert Lewis, his grandfather, had five sons, of whom William, the youngest, was the father of Meriwether and Reuben. Charles Lewis, an uncle, was colonel of a Virginia regiment; he died early in the Revolution. Nicholas Lewis, an uncle, commanded a regiment of militia in 1776 against the Cherokee Indians. This member of the Lewis family was endeared to all who knew him for probity, courteous disposition, and modesty of manners. After William Lewis's death, Nicholas Lewis was appointed guardian of Meriwether and Reuben. The mother married John Marks, and from this marriage there were two children, John Marks and Mary Garland Marks. Reuben Lewis