Day-by-Day / March 6, 1803

March 6, 1803

Ellicott helps out

Lancaster, PA The United States’ preeminent surveyor, Andrew Ellicott, accepts President Jefferson‘s request to tutor Meriwether Lewis prior to embarking on the Western Expedition.

Lancaster March 6th. 1803.

Dear Sir

Your agreeable favour of the 26th. Ult has been duly received, and the contents noted.—I shall be very happy to see Captn. Lewis, and will with pleasure give him all the information, and instruction, in my power.—

Mr. Lewis’s first object must be, to acquire a facility, and dexterity, in making the observations; which can only be attained by practice; in this he shall have all the assistance I can give him with aid of my apparatus.—

It is not to be expected that the calculations can be made till after his return, because the transportation of the books, and tables, necessary for that purpose, would be found inconvenient on such a journey.—

I have the honour to be with great respect and esteem your friend and hbl. Serv.

Andw. Ellicott.[2]Andrew Ellicott to Thomas Jefferson, Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-40-02-0020 accessed 11 May 2022. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas … Continue reading

 

Notes

Notes
1 “Andrew Ellicott.” New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed 24 May, 2022. digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47df-8f04-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99.
2 Andrew Ellicott to Thomas Jefferson, Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-40-02-0020 accessed 11 May 2022. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 40, 4 March–10 July 1803, ed. Barbara B. Oberg. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2013, pp. 15–16.]

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.

Logo: Lewis and Clark.travel

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.