William Christy (posthumous)
J. Thomas Scharf. History of Saint Louis City and County, Philadelphia: Louis H. Everts and Company, 1883, downloaded at digital.lib.niu.edu/islandora/object/niu-twain:9277 accessed 28 Dec 2022.
Born 10 Jan 1764 in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, William Christy (1764–1837) moved at a young age to Jefferson County south of the Falls of the Ohio. There, he married Martha Thompson Taylor and became a wealthy farmer. During the 1794 Battle of Fallen Timbers he served as adjutant in a Kentucky regiment. In Kentucky, the Christy and Clark families had known each other well.
Christy moved to St. Louis c. 1804 and opened a Public House in the old Government mansion at the corner of Main and Walnut Streets. It was here on 25 September 1806, that eighteen toasts were raised to the success of what would later become known as the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
Also in 1806, Christy was appointed Justice of the Court of Quarter Sessions. On 29 September, just six days after the return of the expedition, he signed-off on the bonds promising the future land grants of privates Joseph Whitehouse and John Collins to expedition interpreter George Drouillard for $280 each. In subsequent years, he held several offices including Presiding Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, Auditor of Accounts for the Upper Louisiana Territory, Auditor of Missouri, and Register of the U.S. Land office.
William Christy died 3 April 1837 aged 73 years at his residence in the town he founded, North St. Louis.[1]“Maj William Christy”, Find a Grave, www.findagrave.com/memorial/124444408/william-christy accessed 18 December 2025; Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Related Documents: … Continue reading
William Christy’s Masonic Apron
Missouri Historical Society, mohistory.org/collections/item/1936-001-0001.
Like Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, Christy was a practicing Free Mason. His Masonic Apron has been restored and archived at the Missouri Historical Society. It is considered one of the finest examples of the era. See also Lewis as Master Mason.
Related Pages
September 23, 1806
St. Louis homecoming
Around noon, the expedition celebrates its St. Louis homecoming. The captains work on letters to President Jefferson and Clark’s brother Jonathan telling of their findings.
September 25, 1806
Eighteen toasts
After storing botanical and zoological specimens in Pierre Chouteau’s St. Louis warehouse, the captains attend a ball. At Christy’s Tavern, eighteen toasts are given in honor of the “Missouri expedition”.
September 29, 1806
The most practicable route
Meriwether Lewis writes a sketch of the Lewis and Clark Expedition and years later, fur trader and explorer David Thompson makes a copy—the only copy to have survived. In it, he describes the ‘most practicable route’ across North America.
In a St. Louis Court, Pvts. Whitehouse and Collins sign bonds promising to sell the land grants that they will receive for serving in the expedition.
At a Pawnee village on the Republican River, expedition leader Zebulon M. Pike gives a speech like those given by Lewis and Clark.
October 17, 1806
St. Louis purchases
In preparation for their return to Washington City, Meriwether Lewis purchases four horses from Charles Gratiot and goods or services for “public purposes” from William Christy and two other St. Louis merchants.
November 25, 1806
Frazer's journal prospectus
Former expedition private Robert Frazer’s prospectus to publish his journal appears in the “Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette”. He promises much in the lines of Western geography, ethnography, and natural history—much to the displeasure of Meriwether Lewis.
Notes
| ↑1 | “Maj William Christy”, Find a Grave, www.findagrave.com/memorial/124444408/william-christy accessed 18 December 2025; Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Related Documents: 1783–1854, ed. Donald Jackson (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1978), 1:345. |
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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.
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