Slave George

[1] Because the killing coincided with the time and location of the New Madrid earthquake and the ensuing disgrace of the prominent Lewis family, accounts of it quickly became part of the regional and national lore.

Jailed after his brother's death, Isham escaped and disappeared from the area, and is believed to have perished in the Battle of New Orleans in January 1815.

In early 1811, Lilburne and Isham Lewis were still in mourning for their mother and older brother Randolph, who had died the year before.

Isham had come to Lilburne on an extended visit, and that night after George accidentally broke a water pitcher that belonged to their mother; angered, they killed him in front of seven other slaves.

The remains of George's body were burned in the fireplace piecemeal until about 2:00 a.m. when an earthquake hit western Kentucky, causing the chimney to collapse and smother the fire.

The next day, during the aftershocks, the Lewis brothers forced their slaves to clean the remains of the body out of the fireplace and begin rebuilding it.

[4] Lilburne intended to destroy the evidence by having the slaves burn George's dismembered body, but the New Madrid earthquake caused the chimney to collapse around the fire.

[2] In early March 1812, a neighborhood dog retrieved the young man's skull and deposited it in open view in a roadway.