In 1807 he married Eleanor McDonald of Shelby County, Kentucky, in Missouri. He was a good blacksmith, gunsmith, and hunter, but made the unfortunate mistake of falling asleep on guard duty (which he denied) and received 100 lashes as his punishment. Willard was recruited at Kaskaskia and joined the permanent party on January 1, 1804. Willard was born in New Hampshire and was reportedly living in Kentucky when he joined the army in 1800.
Whether the original has survived is unknown. A contemporary copy was apparently made not long after the expedition’s return. Private Whitehouse kept a journal during the expedition. Whitehouse disappeared in 1817 when he deserted from the army and Clark didn’t know his status in the mid-1820s. He had an interest in Indian trade and is noted in the journals as being a tailor and tanner. He was part of the detachment that accompanied Lewis and Clark from Massac to Kaskaskia and subsequently joined the permanent party on January 1, 1804. He joined the army at an unknown date and was stationed at Fort Massac on the lower Ohio (essentially across the river from present Paducah). Whitehouse was born in Fairfax County, Virginia, and is believed to have moved with his family to Kentucky about 1784, possibly in the Boyle-Mercer Counties area. After the expedition he assisted William Clark with Indian affairs and in the mid-1820s his former captain reported him living in Virginia.
He was one of the salt makers on the Pacific, which might indicate earlier experience at one of Kentucky’s salt making operations. His enlistment in the Corps of Discovery dates from January 1, 1804. His army unit and posting prior to joining the expedition are unknown. It is believed that he was born in Kentucky. Werner’s pre-expedition life is also essentially a blank. In a list of expedition members he compiled in the mid-1820s, he noted that McNeal was dead. William Clark apparently knew of his eventual fate. A Hugh McNeal appears on an 1811 muster roll. He was an excellent hunter and might have remained in the army after the expedition. He joined the permanent party of the Corps of Discovery on January 1, 1804. His army unit and posting when he met Lewis and Clark are unknown. He was born and raised in Pennsylvania but is believed to have been living in Kentucky when he joined the army. Little is known about McNeal, including his birth and death dates. The five other expedition members listed as having Kentucky ties are: So many of the members of the Corps of Discovery appear on “stage,” with little know past to participate in this epic adventure, and many of them disappear into the anonymity from which they came. This extends to some of their post expedition lives as well.
Like so many members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, these men’s backgrounds are shrouded in uncertainty. Five of these recruits are identified as being associated with Kentucky. As Lewis and Clark proceeded down the Ohio and then up the Mississippi in the fall of 1803, they recruited additional men from army posts at Fort Massac and Kaskaskia. But there were others who joined the expedition with Kentucky ties.
The “Nine Young Men from Kentucky” with Lewis and Clark have rightfully achieved recognition and a degree of fame as the first enlistees of the Corps of the Discovery and that all-important foundation upon which the rest of the Corps was built. Lewis and Clark in Kentucky > Kentucky People > Other Kentuckians with Lewis and Clark Other Kentuckians with Lewis and Clark
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