Jefferson's Nephews: A Frontier Tragedy

In December of 1811 Lillburne and Isham Lewis, the nephews of Thomas Jefferson, committed a heinous murder, hacking and dismembering a negro slave with an ax. While attempting to hide the remains the New Madrid Earthquake struck, thwarting their grisly task and revealing their crime. How they came to commit such a terrible act, what drove them, and how they felt about it are the subject of Boynton Merrill Jr.'s exhaustive investigation.