THE RANK AND FILE
Captain Meriwether Lewis
(The Long Knife)
Born August 18, 1774, of Scotch ancestry, on the Ivy Creek plantation near Charlottesville, Albemarle Co., Virginia, and three miles from Monticello, the estate of Thomas Jefferson.
Father—William Lewis.
Mother—Lucy Meriwether.
Having fought bravely through the Revolution, after the successful siege of Yorktown ending the war, his father dies, in 1782.
In due time his mother marries a friend of the family, Captain John Marks, and removes to Georgia.
Little Meriwether is reared, with his brother Reuben and his sister Jane, younger than he, at Locust Hill, the family home, and also spends much time at "The Farm," of his uncle Nicholas Lewis, adjoining Monticello.
A lad of bold spirit, at eight years of age he is accustomed to sally forth alone with his dogs, at night, and hunt.
At thirteen, is placed in a
Captain William Clark
(The Red Head)
Born August 1, 1770, in Caroline Co., tide-water Virginia.
Father—John Clark, of old Virginia Cavalier stock.
Mother—Ann Rogers, descendant of John Rogers, the "Martyr of Smithfield" burned at the stake in 1555, in England, for his religious beliefs.
William is the ninth of ten children, two others of whom have red hair. Five of his brothers enlist in the Revolution. One of these was the famous General George Rogers Clark, the "Hannibal of the West," who saved Kentucky and the Ohio country from the British and Indians.
The Clarks and the Lewises are well acquainted. George Rogers Clark was born at Charlottesville, and members of the Clark family frequently ride over there.
Little William early shows a love for frontier life.
After the close of the Revolution the Clarks remove, by horse and wagon, from Caroline Co., Virginia, to Western
