"If he did kill himself, Choate said, "it wouldn't diminish his place in history."
Historians like Larry E. Morris agree, but they say there is little to gain by exhuming the remains.
"If you could determine there were gunshot wounds at close range," Morris said, "what would that mean, really? … Evidence can be viewed different ways by different parties."
If there were a way of proving that the wounds weren't self-inflicted, it would be a significant historic matter, Morris said.
"I'm inclined to say let him rest in peace," Morris said. "There's something that is a little disturbing to me about exhuming a body 200 years later when no murderer could be brought to justice."
Historian Thomas Danisi doubts there's much left to study. He worries that the analysis might lead to a conclusion that could still be wrong.
"It is an unwarranted desecration. … I really don't see what they are going to be able to determine," Danisi said. "It's better for it to be a mystery. It's better left alone."
Family members say they've received a lot of opposition from the historical community; they chalk it up to fears that theories on Lewis' death could be proved wrong.
"We'd like to put the mystery to rest," Bowen said.
"All historians should be interested finding the truth. The truth is available to us now — we just have to go get it."
