While preparing for the Western Expedition, Meriwether Lewis enjoys a small network of influential friends and mentors in Philadelphia. According to his friend Mahlon Dickerson, the two hold a conference on this day.
Mahlon Dickerson (1802)
Charles B. J. F. de Saint Mémin (1770–1852)
U.S. Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/2007675955/.
Tues. 24. Began to take lessons on the flute of M. Soisson—read five of the first elegies of Tibulus—had a conference with Capt. Lewis.
—Mahlon Dickerson
Mahlon Dickerson (1770–1853) practiced law in Philadelphia from 1797 to 1810, but his main activities even then were in politics. The letters and diary entries of his Philadelphia period have a man-about-town flavor. He said of Lewis that he was “the most sincere friend I ever had.” Probably none of his long-past walks with Lewis matched in drama the one in which he was walking with the President when an attempt was made on Jackson’s life.
He remained a bachelor all his life. His Ferromonte (Mountain of Iron) mansion, its garden and library, were shared with the family of a nephew, but he was usually alone there each Christmas Day, working among books, papers and mementos of a political life. He died in 1853, surviving Lewis by many years and indeed all the expedition’s Philadelphia friends and mentors during the events of 1803-1807.[1]For the complete article, see on this site Mahlon Dickerson by Charles F. Reed.
Notes
| ↑1 | For the complete article, see on this site Mahlon Dickerson by Charles F. Reed. |
|---|
Experience the Lewis and Clark Trail
The Lewis and Clark Trail Experience—our sister site at lewisandclark.travel—connects the world to people and places on the Lewis and Clark Trail.
Discover More
- The Lewis and Clark Expedition: Day by Day by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 2018). The story in prose, 14 May 1804–23 September 1806.
- The Lewis and Clark Journals: An American Epic of Discovery (abridged) by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 2003). Selected journal excerpts, 14 May 1804–23 September 1806.
- The Lewis and Clark Journals. by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 1983–2001). The complete story in 13 volumes.
This site is provided as a public service by the
Lewis and Clark Trail Alliance
with cooperation and funding from the following organizations:
- Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail
- Montana Committee for the Humanities
- Idaho Governor's Lewis and Clark Trail Committee
- The Capital Gallery (Lewis and Clark Fort Mandan Foundation)
- Yellowstone Public Radio
Unless otherwise noted, journal excerpts are from The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, edited by Gary E. Moulton, 13 vols. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1983-2001).