|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
"To rescue from oblivion the history of a large and
honorable family is a praiseworthy achievement. Somebody must
begin the work. It is to be hoped that someone will complete it."
Joseph Woodruff Bozeman, 1885.
Lewis County is located in Middle Tennessee, southwest of Nashville. It is in one of the state's three "grand divisions". Lewis County was established on 23 December 1843 by the legislature from Hickman, Maury, Wayne and Lawrence Counties as a perpetual monument to Governor Meriwether Lewis. The legislature also directed that a monument be erected over Lewis' grave. The first county seat was the community of Gordon because it was the only significant settlement. Newburg was the second county seat because many felt it would become the more prominent town in the county. After the War Between the States began, people left Newburg in large numbers. This caused the county to be disbanded and the lands returned to their original counties. The disbandment lasted about one year. At the end of the war, the state legislature passed a special act to confirm that Lewis County still existed and the county books were returned. The current county seat, Hohenwald, was instituted in 1897.
Lewis County was named in honor of Meriwether Lewis, the second of three children born to Lucy and John Lewis, in Albemarle Co, VA on 18 August 1774. He was five years old when his father died. His mother soon remarried. He attended locally-run religious schools run by ministers from 1787 to 1792. After the death of his stepfather, Meriwether returned to the plantation and took over the daily running of it.
Lewis joined the US Army in 1794 and rose to the rank of Captain in 1800. In 1801, he was appointed private secretary to Thomas Jefferson when he was President of the United States. Meriwether was a close neighbor to Mr. Jefferson near Charlottesville, Virginia, and when he was wanted at Monticello Mr. Jefferson would signal him with a mirror reflected in the sun. President Jefferson appointed him leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1804 to explore the Northwestern Territory which the United States had bought from France in 1803. Lewis invited William Clark to join the expedition. The two men privately agreed to lead it jointly. In addition to command, Lewis served as the party's naturalist. On the expedition he collected plant, animal, and mineral specimens.
In May of 1804 the expedition sponsored by the US Government, and lead by Lewis and Clark started up the Missouri River from a camp near St. Louis. By late fall, the explorers reached what is now North Dakota and spent the winter there. The following spring they continued along the Missouri and in late summer crossed the Rocky Mountains. They obtained horses, supplies, and valuable information from the Indians they met on their journey. Following the Clearwater, Snake, and Columbia Rivers they made their way to the Pacific coast, which they reached in November of 1805. The party spent the winter on the coast of what is now Oregon and began the trip home in March of 1806. The explorers returned along nearly the same route by which they had come, reaching St. Louis in September of 1806 after traveling a total of 8,000 miles.
Lewis County was named in honor of Meriwether Lewis who, in October of 1809, departed this life about 8 miles from Hohenwald, TN. He stopped at Grinder's Stand to spend the evening. Though accounts of the event conflict, Lewis died that evening of gunshot wounds to the chest and head. Meriwether Lewis was buried near Grinder's Stand where a monument was erected in his memory in 1848. He was governor of the Territory of Louisiana from 1806 until his death. His watch was later found in a pawn shop in New Orleans. This watch, his revolver, diary, compass and many other articles that he used on the Western expedition are now in Jefferson Memorial in St. Louis, given the Memorial by Dr. Anderson of Virginia, who is a great-great-grandson of Jane Lewis Anderson, a sister of Meriwether Lewis.
Federal authorities reported that he committed suicide. Others think he was murdered by either bandits on the Natchez Trace, the Grinders, his own servant or federal authorities who would have been implicated in shady land deals on the Trace had he made it back to Washington. We may never know what really happened that night.
|
Post or View Current Lewis Co, TN Queries Automated Format! 
25 February
2008 |
Message Boards |
View
Archived |
Specific Lewis County Information Web
Pages
Death and Cemetery
Records
Lewis County, TN Military
History Lewis County Census
Information 1850 Census Index
of 1880 Census of Internet Help
US
African American Griots
Obituaries
from McDonald Funeral Home, Lewis Co, TN
24 March 2003-
31 December 2003
Complete
1 January 2004-
31 December 2004
Complete
1 January 2005-
31 December 2005
Complete
1 January 2006-
31 December 2006
Complete
1 January 2007-
31 December 2007
Complete
1 January 2008-
31 December 2008
Complete
1 January 2009-
31 December 2009
2
February 2009
1 January 2010-
31 December 2010
Death Notices
of Hohenwald Residents from the Nashville Tennessean
2000
Complete
2001
Complete
2002
Complete
2003
Complete
2004
Complete
2005
Complete
2006
Complete
2007
Complete
2008
10 February
2008
Death Notices from
the Lewis County Herald
2002
Complete
2003
Complete
2004
Complete
2005
Complete
2006
Coming Soon!
2007
Coming Soon!2008
15 October 2008
2009
2010
Reported
Death Notices
of Lewis County Residents
in the Nashville Christian
Advocate
between
1852-1856
Lewis County, TN:
Social Security Death Index
for Lewis County Residents
1964-current
5 September
2008
Cemetery
Listings
for Lewis Co, TN
74 cemeteries online!
5 September 2008
Death Records of
Lewis County, TN
1909-1921
Death Records
1949-2005
Page
1
Page 2
Page
3
Genealogical Codicil for Last Wills
and Testaments
McDonald Funeral Home
Obituary Line
931-796-3300
Now the obituaries are available via E-mail - Send your e-mail address to
mcdonaldfh@bellsouth.net
This is a good way for those who have moved
away to stay
informed.
Obituaries for the Hohenwald and Centerville Chapels are also
available at
http://www.mcdonaldfuneralhomes.org/lewis/index.html
Lewis Co, TN
Coming soon:
Complete transcription of the
1850 Census of Lewis County. I am currently working on this and will
post each Civil District as they are completed.
Lewis Co, TN
31 January 2004
1930 Census of
Lewis Co, TN
Enumeration District Information
Tennessee Census Maps
Population
Statistics
from
1850-2000 Censuses
of Lewis Co, TN
Genealogy Helps
Internet
Links of Interest
Genealogy Societies
Genealogy Links
This site
is dedicated to assisting all of those in pursuit of their
African American ancestry by being a central depository for
African American records of historical proportion.
All states are represented. There is a Surname List as well
as other research tools on the site. Please
visit and support the site. Follow this
link to the website:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~afamer/index.html
| Coordinator's Home Page |
 |
Several researchers have asked for hotel/motel information. There are two
hotel/motels in Hohenwald:
Embassy Inn, 235 E Main St, Hohenwald, TN, (931)796-1500
Goodenough Inn, 699 Centerville Hwy, Hohenwald, TN (931)796-2501
Here are other Tennessee GenWeb sites that may be of interest!
The TNGenWeb Site
Search Engine
TNGenWeb Counties Selections
Page
About the
TNGenWeb
Lewis County, TN US GenWeb Archives
David Donahue Memorial
Tennesee Records Repository for Lewis County, TN
Visit our Neighboring States for additional information.
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
Contact
the County Coordinator
This page is ©1999-2009 by Cheryl Zelek.
You are visitor # 120201
Please come back and visit us again!
This page was last updated on
Monday, February 02, 2009.
This nonprofit county historical and genealogical
research site is an independent affiliate of the American History and
Genealogy Project (AHGP), and hosted at no charge by
USGenNet,
a nonprofit public benefit corporation and web-hosting service solely
supported by
tax-deductible
contributions. No claim is made to the copyrights of individual
submitters, and this site complies fully with USGenNet's
Nonprofit
Conditions of Use.
This Website Has Been Generously Hosted By
USGenNet
Since 1999.
We Thank Them!
NOTE: The below listed people are just administrators of this project, they do not do research for individuals. It is suggested to go to the county of your ancestor and submit a query. If the county is unknown please submit a query to unknown county. Although we would love to be able to help everyone who corresponds with us, it is not feasible, and we hope you understand.
Connie BurkettTNGenWeb
Lewis CountyCounty Coordinator is Cheryl Zelek
TNGenWeb State Coordinator is
Jim Cole
TNGenNet, Inc.
General Secretary is Tim Stowell
TNGenNet,
Inc Membership Secretary is Betty Brooks
TNGenWeb Special Projects Coordinator is
Fred
Smoot
TNGenWeb Executive
Board Members:
Connie Burkett, Mari Byers, Nancy Cole, Sandy
Keathley, Jess Lewis,
Charles Reeves Jr., Fred Smoot, Tim Stowell, & Cheryl Zelek.
TNGenWeb Tombstone
Project TNGenWeb Tombstone Project
Coordinator is Kathi
Jones-Hudson
USGenWeb Archives (Tennessee):
TNGenWeb Archives Coordinator is
Michael
DeLoach
David Donahue Memorial -
Tennessee
Records Records Repository:
Tennessee Records Repository Coordinator is
Paulette Carpenter