To Richmond, VA

William Douglas Meriwether, Executor of the Meriwether Lewis Estate

9th Breakfast 17 mi at Louisa Court House I Staid all night at Mr. Dukes a drunken man bad fair.

10th Sunday Breakfast at Brown Ordinary I Stayed all night with Rich Thompson, met several old school mates who appeared very glad to see me and have old talk.

Monday 11 Dec. 1809, Stayed all night with Cozen Sam Red, saw Mr. Fitahugh and others, much inquiry wife son & family.

The morning of 9 December, William and Scott crossed the Albemarle and Lousia County line and passed the Boswell Tavern. The Boswell Tavern, built in the 18th century by Col. John Boswell, is an extant private residence at the intersection of VA 22 and U S 33. While Willian and Scott did not indicate they stopped, the tavern is noted for being a camp for Marquis de Lafayette during the Revolution War.⁽¹⁾ Clark was passing through the historic region of Green Springs, settled during the last half of the 1700s. The soil was rich and favorable for growing tobacco, cotton, and corn.⁽²⁾⁽³⁾ Today the Green Springs Loop is a driving route developed by the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources. In addition to the wildlife viewing opportunities, the James Madson’s Montpelier and the Historic Town of Louisa anchor each end of the driving loop.⁽⁴⁾

They had breakfast at Louisa Courthouse, paying $1.12 & 1/2. The ordinary in Louisa was near to the Court House, established by Major Thomas Johnson in 1782. While Clark did not comment on the quality of the meal, the ordinary had a reputation for poor food, service, and cleanliness.⁽⁵⁾⁽⁶⁾

When William and Scott arrived at the intersection of US 33 (Jefferson Highway a.k.a. Mountain Road) and US 522, they were at the Cockoo Tavern owned by John Jouett. Sr. While Clark makes no note of stopping, this is the June 1781, site where 27-year-old John “Jack” Jouett, Jr. started his famous 40-mile ride to Monticello. Jouett followed a shorter cross-country trail to warn Thomas Jefferson and the Virginia Assembly that British Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarlton, “Bloody Ban,” was approaching.⁽⁷⁾⁽⁸⁾ After the Revolutionary War, John “Jack” Jouett moved to Mercer County, Kentucky, and married Sallie Robards. Their son, Matthew Harris Jouett, studied law but had a more famous career as a portrait painter. (See page 9 for more on Matthew Harris Jouett)

The evening of 9 December William and Scott stayed at Mr. Dukes, cost was $2.25, commenting, bad fair and had to put-up with a drunk man (37.86718N 77.78750W). The 1863 Hotchkiss Map of Louisa County shows a T. Duke at the Locust Creek Post Office. Today this is the intersection of US 33 (Jefferson Highway) and VA 655, approximately 2.8 miles east of the Louisa and Hanover County line.⁽⁹⁾

At the entry of 10 December (1809) there is a very interesting notation, written upside down, in the journal. It appears to be a note written by Julia for William to read at a future date.

Art thow a husband? Treat thy wife with tenderness and respect, reprove her faults with gentleness, her faithful to her love; give up his heart to her in confidence, and alleviate her cares.

Read this often my

Dear love

The only Duty of a wife is to be obedient to the will of her husband, in all respects.

Sunday morning, 10 December, William, and Scott proceeded along present-day US 33 to Beaver Dam Road, VA 715, stopping for breakfast at Brown’s Ordinary, cost $1.25. Brown’s Ordinary was in the vicinity of the present-day intersection of VA 684 and VA 738. Family and local oral tradition reports that the present-day private residence is built on or near the foundation of Brown’s Ordinary, confirmed by Robert Selig, Revolutionary War Roads and Transportation Survey in the Commonwealth of Virginia 1781-1782.⁽¹⁰⁾

The Sycamore Tavern in Montpelier is an outstanding example of the ordinaries and stage coach stops during the Colonial Period, located approximately 100 yards east of intersection of US 33 and Beaver Dam Road, VA 715. The tavern was the 4th stage coach stop on the Charlottesville-Richmond Road a.k.a. Mountain Road or Jefferson Highway. Sycamore Tavern was built before 1804 and today serves as the Florence L. Page Library (37.82282N-77.68698W) This historic building is an example of Tidewater – Piedmont Architecture, National Register Number 42-0085.⁽¹¹⁾

Clark was nearing Caroline County where he was born on 1 August 1770 and lived until the age 14.⁽¹²⁾ He will spend the night with friends and family associates on the night of 10 and 11 December. On the 10th he stayed with Rich(ard) Tompkins. The Tompkins family had purchased part of the Clark plantation after the Clark family moved to Kentucky.⁽¹³⁾ The night of 11 December, William and Scott stayed with Clark’s first cousin Samuel Redd.⁽¹⁴⁾ Clark paid Mr. Redd’s servant Boy $1.50 but he did not explain the service provided.

An extremely well researched and detailed articles by the late Dr. Robert E. Gatten, Jr., Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Science, University of North Carolina, describes the home site of William Clark in We Proceeded On, May 1993, with a follow-up in May 1999.⁽¹⁴⁾ The area is in the southwestern corner of Caroline Co. VA near the Spotsylvania and Hanover County line on VA 603.^(15)(16)

Editorial Note: The subject counties in the region are commonly called “burn counties” due to a great number of records destroyed during the Civil War by both Northern and Southern armies. We have made considerable effort to locate and present the records found, including maps. Raising the public awareness of this important region in the Lewis and Clark Story is of great value to preservation of the story and travels of William Clark.

The 1809 journal clearly records Scott as William Clark’s enslaved servant and traveling partner at this point of the journey. However, this is also the birth area of York, Clark’s enslaved servant that had traveled to the Pacific Ocean and back with the Lewis and Clark Expedition. York is the first recorded African American crossing the North American Continent, coast to coast.⁽¹⁷⁾

Virginia is the home of Indigenous People dating 8,000-6500 BC. The American Indians found on first contact with the Europeans spoke Algonquian, Iroquoian, or Siouan language, though each group could to a degree understand each other. There were several Tribal Groups that live well and in relative peace with each other.⁽¹⁸⁾

Thomas Jefferson recorded the names of Tribal Groups living in Virginia and known in North America in Notes on the State of Virginia, Query XI, a process followed by Lewis and Clark during the western exploration.⁽¹⁹⁾ William had grown to the age of 14 along the rivers and fields where the Indigenous People had lives for centuries. Did William recognize the relationship between the American Indians he was serving as Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the west and the American Indians that lived in Virginia? It is doubtful that William Clark met any of the remaining Tribal People that resided in VA? While we will never know, or at least William did not comment on the First People in Virginia, their societies were the foundation for Virginia pre-contact history. The Tribal ancestors still survive and thrive today in Virginia.⁽²⁰⁾

Sources:

(1) https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/historic-registers/054-0007/

(2) Architectural History Identification and Assessment of Louisa County, VA, Thomas Jefferson Planning District, VA Dept. of Historic Resources, 1993 Rev. 1995, page 46.

(3) https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/pdf_files/SpecialCollections/FV-006_AH_ID_Survey_Fluvanna_County_1993_TJPDC_report.pdf

(4) https://dwr.virginia.gov/vbwt/piedmont-trail/pgs/

(5) https://www.louisatown.org/community/town-history/

(6) Cooke, Pattie, Louisa County Virginia: A Brief History, Historic Press, Charleston, SC, 2008, Chapter 4, page 1.

(7) https://explorekyhistory.ky.gov/items/show/469?tour=32&index=4

(8) Haley, Gail, Jack Jouett’s Ride, Viking Press Books for Young Readers, 1973.

(9) https://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?webmap=403d70d6eccd464ba5089c358fd96acd&extent=-78.1091,37.9413,-77.8382,38.1187

(10) https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1TFIWei0L7qOjzjVbchA00iXgGVVYxjvN, Chapter 8-page 150.

(11) https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/VLR_to_transfer/PDFNoms/042-0085_Sycamore_Tavern_1974_Final_Nomination.pdf

(12) Tubbs, Stephenie Ambrose and Jenkinson, Clay Straus, The Lewis and Clark Companion: An Encyclopedic Guide to the Voyage of Discovery, Henry Holt and Company, New York, 2003, page 62.

(13) Holmberg, James J., Dear Brother: Letters of William Clark to Jonathan Clark, Yale University Press, New Haven, 2002, page 240, note 6.

(14) Ibid, page 240, note 5.

(15) Gatten, Robert E. Jr., Clark Land in Virginia and the Birthplace of William Clark. We Proceeded On, Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, May 1999, page 6-11.

(16) Virginia Atlas & Gazetteer, DeLorme Mapping Co, Freeport, Maine, 1989, Page 70.

(17) https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=47378

(18) https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/indians-in-virginia/

(19) https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/debra-martin.htm