[Illustration: THOMAS JEFFERSON.
_From Portrait by Gilbert Stuart._]
[Illustration: MONTICELLO:--THE WESTERN FRONT.]
THE DOMESTIC LIFE
OF
THOMAS JEFFERSON.
COMPILED FROM
FAMILY LETTERS AND REMINISCENCES,
BY HIS GREAT-GRANDDAUGHTER,
SARAH N. RANDOLPH.
[Illustration: Jefferson's seal]
NEW YORK:
HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,
FRANKLIN SQUARE.
1871.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871, by
HARPER & BROTHERS,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
PREFACE.
I do not in this volume write of Jefferson either as of the great
man or as of the statesman. My object is only to give a faithful
picture of him as he was in private life--to show that he was, as
I have been taught to think of him by those who knew and loved him
best, a beautiful domestic character. With this view I have collected
the reminiscences of him which have been written by his daughter and
grandchildren. From his correspondence, published and unpublished,
I have culled his family letters, and here reproduce them as being
the most faithful witnesses of the warmth of his affections, the
elevation of his character, and the scrupulous fidelity with which he
discharged the duties of every relation in life.
I am well aware that the tale of Jefferson's life, both public and
private, has been well told by the most faithful of biographers in
"Randall's Life of Jefferson," and that much of what is contained in
these pages will be found in that admirable work, which, from the
author's zealous devotion to truth, and his indefatigable industry
in collecting his materials, must ever stand chief among the most
valuable contributions to American history. I propose, however, to
give a sketch of Jefferson's private life in a briefer form than it
can be found in either the thirteen volumes of the two editions of
his published correspondence, or in the three stout octavo volumes of
his Life by Randall. To give a bird's-eye view of his whole career,
and to preserve unbroken the thread of this narrative, I quote freely
from his Memoir, and from such of his letters as cast any light upon
the subject, filling up the blanks with my own pen.
Jefferson's executor having a few months ago recovered from the
United States Government his family letters and private papers, which
had been exempted from the sale of his public manuscripts, I am
enabled to give in these pages many interesting letters never before
published.
No man's private character has been more foully assailed than
Jefferson's, and none so wantonly exposed to the public gaze, nor
more fully vindicated. I shall be more than rewarded for my labors
should I succeed in imparting to my readers a tithe of that esteem
and veneration which I have been taught to feel for him by the person
with whom he was most intimate during life--the grandson who, as a
boy, played upon his knee, and, as a man, was, as he himself spoke of
him, "the staff" of his old age.
The portrait of Jefferson is from a painting by Gilbert Stuart, in
the possession of his family, and by them considered as the best
likeness of him. The portrait of his daughter, Martha Jefferson
Randolph, is from a painting by Sully. The view of Monticello
represents the home of Jefferson as it existed during his lifetime,
and not as it now is--a ruin.
THE AUTHOR.
JUNE, 1871.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Jefferson's Birthplace.--Sketch of his early Life.--Character
of his Parents.--His Grandfather, Isham Randolph.--Peter
Jefferson's Friendship for William Randolph.--Randolph dies,
and leaves his young Son to the Guardianship of Jefferson.--
His faithful Discharge of the Trust.--Thomas Jefferson's
earliest Recollections.--His Father's Hospitality.--First
Acquaintance with Indians.--Life of the early Settlers of
Virginia: its Ease and Leisure.--Expense of Thomas Jefferson's
early Education.--Death of his Father.--Perils of his
Situation.--Letter to his Guardian.--Goes to William and
Mary College.--Extract from his Memoir.--Sketch of
Fauquier.--Of Wythe Page 17
CHAPTER II.
Intense Application as a Student.--Habits of Study kept up
during his Vacations.--First Preparations made for Building
at Monticello.--Letters to his College Friend, John Page.--
Anecdote of Benjamin Harrison.--Jefferson's Devotion to his
eldest Sister.--He witnesses the Debate on the Stamp
Act.--First Meeting with Patrick Henry.--His Opinion of
him.--His superior Education.--Always a Student.--Wide Range
of Information.--Anecdote.--Death of his eldest Sister.--His
Grief.--Buries himself in his Books.--Finishes his Course of
Law Studies.--Begins to practise.--Collection of Vocabularies
of Indian Languages.--House at Shadwell burnt.--Loss of his
Library.--Marriage.--Anecdote of his Courtship.--Wife's
Beauty.--Bright Prospects.--Friendship for Dabney Carr.--His
Talents.--His Death.--Jefferson buries him at Monticello.--His
Epitaph 31
CHAPTER III.
Happy Life at Monticello.--Jefferson's fine Horsemanship.--Birth
of his oldest Child.--Goes to Congress.--Death of his Mother.--
Kindness to British Prisoners.--Their Gratitude.--His Devotion to
Music.--Letter to General de Riedesel.--Is made Governor of
Virginia.--Tarleton pursues Lafayette.--Reaches Charlottesville.--
The British at Monticello.--Cornwallis's Destruction of Property
at Elk Hill.--Jefferson retires at the End of his Second Term as
Governor.--Mrs. Jefferson's delicate Health.--Jefferson meets with
an Accident.--Writes his Notes on Virginia.--The Marquis de
Chastellux visits Monticello.--His Description of it.--Letter of
Congratulation from Jefferson to Washington.--Mrs. Jefferson's
Illness and Death.--Her Daughter's Description of the Scene.--
Jefferson's Grief 48
CHAPTER IV.
Visit to Chesterfield County.--Is appointed Plenipotentiary to
Europe.--Letter to the Marquis de Chastellux.--Goes North with
his Daughter.--Leaves her in Philadelphia, and goes to
Congress.--Letters to his Daughter.--Sails for Europe.--His
Daughter's Description of the Voyage.--His Establishment and
Life in Paris.--Succeeds Franklin as Minister there.--Anecdotes
of Franklin.--Extracts from Mrs. Adams's Letters.--Note from
Jefferson to Mrs. Smith 67
CHAPTER V.
Jefferson's first Impressions of Europe.--Letter to Mrs.
Trist.--To Baron De Geismer.--He visits England.--Letter to
his Daughter.--To his Sister.--Extract from his Journal kept
when in England.--Letter to John Page.--Presents a Bust of
Lafayette to chief Functionaries of Paris.--Breaks his
Wrist.--Letter to Mrs. Trist.--Mr. and Mrs. Cosway.--
Correspondence with Mrs. Cosway.--Letter to Colonel
Carrington.--To Mr. Madison.--To Mrs. Bingham.--Her Reply 79
CHAPTER VI.
Death of Count de Vergennes.--Jefferson is ordered to Aix by
his Surgeon.--Death of his youngest Child.--Anxiety to have
his Daughter Mary with him.--Her Reluctance to leave
Virginia.--Her Letters to and from her Father.--Jefferson's
Letters to Mrs. and Mr. Eppes.--To Lafayette.--To the Countess
de Tesse.--To Lafayette.--Correspondence with his Daughter
Martha 101
CHAPTER VII.
Increased Anxiety about his youngest Daughter.--Her Aunt's
Letter.--She arrives in England.--Mrs. Adams receives her.--
Letter to Mrs. Eppes.--To Madame de Corny.--To J. Bannister.--
To his Sister.--Letter to Mr. Jay.--To Madame de Brehan.--To
Madame de Corny.--Weariness of Public Life.--Goes to
Amsterdam.--Letter to Mr. Jay.--To Mr. Izard.--To Mrs. Marks.--
To Mr. Marks.--To Randolph Jefferson.--To Mrs. Eppes 124
CHAPTER VIII.
Jefferson asks for leave of Absence.--Character of the Prince
of Wales.--Letters to Madame de Brehan.--Fondness for Natural
History.--Anecdote told by Webster.--Jefferson's Opinion of
Chemistry.--Letter to Professor Willard.--Martha Jefferson.--She
wishes to enter a Convent.--Her Father takes her Home.--He is
impatient to return to Virginia.--Letter to Washington.--To Mrs.
Eppes.--Receives leave of Absence.--Farewell to France.--
Jefferson as an Ambassador.--He leaves Paris.--His Daughter's
Account of the Voyage, and Arrival at Home.--His Reception by
his Slaves 139
CHAPTER IX.
Letters on the French Revolution 154
CHAPTER X.
Washington nominates Jefferson as Secretary of State.--
Jefferson's Regret.--Devotion of Southern Statesmen to Country
Life.--Letter to Washington.--Jefferson accepts the
Appointment.--Marriage of his Daughter.--He leaves for New
York.--Last Interview with Franklin.--Letters to Son-in-law.--
Letters of Adieu to Friends in Paris.--Family Letters. 169
CHAPTER XI.
Jefferson goes with the President to Rhode Island.--Visits
Monticello.--Letter to Mrs. Eppes.--Goes to Philadelphia.--
Family Letters.--Letter to Washington.--Goes to Monticello.--
Letters to his Daughter.--His Ana.--Letters to his Daughter.--
To General Washington.--To Lafayette.--To his Daughter 189
CHAPTER XII.
Anonymous Attacks on Jefferson.--Washington's Letter to him.--
His Reply.--Letter to Edmund Randolph.--Returns to
Philadelphia.--Washington urges him to remain in his
Cabinet.--Letters to his Daughter.--To his Son-in-law.--To
his Brother-in-law.--Sends his Resignation to the President.--
Fever in Philadelphia.--Weariness of Public Life.--Letters
to his Daughters.--To Mrs. Church.--To his Daughter.--Visits
Monticello.--Returns to Philadelphia.--Letter to Madison.--To
Mrs. Church.--To his Daughters.--Interview with Genet.--Letter
to Washington.--His Reply.--Jefferson returns to Monticello.--
State of his Affairs, and Extent of his Possessions.--Letter to
Washington.--To Mr. Adams.--Washington attempts to get
Jefferson back in his Cabinet.--Letter to Edmund Randolph,
declining.--Pleasures of his Life at Monticello.--Letter to
Madison.--To Giles.--To Rutledge.--To young Lafayette 213
CHAPTER XIII.
Description of Monticello and Jefferson by the Duc de la
Rochefoucauld-Liancourt.--Nominated Vice-President.--Letter
to Madison.--To Adams.--Preference for the Office of
Vice-President.--Sets out for Philadelphia.--Reception
there.--Returns to Monticello.--Letters to his Daughter.--Goes
to Philadelphia.--Letter to Rutledge.--Family Letters.--To
Miss Church.--To Mrs. Church 235
CHAPTER XIV.
Jefferson goes to Philadelphia.--Letters to his Daughters.--
Returns to Monticello.--Letters to his Daughter.--Goes back
to Philadelphia.--Family Letters.--Letters to Mrs. and Miss
Church.--Bonaparte.--Letters to his Daughters.--Is nominated
as President.--Seat of Government moved to Washington.--Spends
the Summer at Monticello.--Letters to his Daughter.--Jefferson
denounced by the New England Pulpit.--Letter to Uriah Gregory.--
Goes to Washington 254
CHAPTER XV.
Results of Presidential Election.--Letter to his Daughter.--
Balloting for President.--Letter to his Daughter.--Is
inaugurated.--Returns to Monticelllo.--Letters to his
Daughter.--Goes back to Washington.--Inaugurates the Custom
of sending a written Message to Congress.--Abolishes Levees.--
Letter to Story.--To Dickinson.--Letter from Mrs. Cosway.--
Family Letters.--Makes a short Visit to Monticello.--
Jefferson's Sixtieth Year 271
CHAPTER XVI.
Returns to Washington.--Letters to his Daughters.--Meets with
a Stranger in his daily Ride.--Letters to his Daughter.--To
his young Grandson.--To his Daughter, Mrs. Randolph.--Last
Letters to his Daughter, Mrs. Eppes.--Her Illness.--Letter to
Mr. Eppes.--Goes to Monticello.--Death of Mrs. Eppes.--Account
of it by a Niece.--Her Reminiscences of Mary Jefferson Eppes.--
Letter to Page.--To Tyler.--From Mrs. Adams.--Mr. Jefferson's
Reply.--Midnight Judges.--Letters to his Son-in-law 288
CHAPTER XVII.
Renominated as President.--Letter to Mazzei.--Slanders against
Jefferson.--Sad Visit to Monticello.--Second Inauguration.--
Receives the Bust of the Emperor of Russia.--Letters to and
from the Emperor.--To Diodati.--To Dickinson.--To his
Son-in-law.--Devotion to his Grandchildren.--Letter to
Monroe.--To his Grandchildren.--His Temper when roused.--Letter
to Charles Thompson.--To Dr. Logan.--Anxious to avoid a Public
Reception on his Return home.--Letter to Dupont de Nemours.--
Inauguration of Madison.--Harmony in Jefferson's Cabinet.--Letter
to Humboldt.--Farewell Address from the Legislature of
Virginia.--His Reply.--Reply to an Address of Welcome from
the Citizens of Albemarle.--Letter to Madison.--Anecdote of
Jefferson.--Dr. Stuart says he is quarelling with the Almighty 310
CHAPTER XVIII.
His final Return home.--Wreck of his Fortunes.--Letter to Mr.
Eppes.--To his Grand-daughter, Mrs. Bankhead.--To
Kosciusko.--Description of the Interior of the House at
Monticello.--Of the View from Monticello.--Jefferson's
Grandson's Description of his Manners and Appearance.--
Anecdotes.--His Habits.--Letter to Governor Langdon.--To
Governor Tyler.--Life at Monticello.--Jefferson's Studies
and Occupations.--Sketch of Jefferson by a Grand-daughter.--
Reminiscences of him by another Grand-daughter 329
CHAPTER XIX.
Letter to his Grand-daughter, Mrs. Bankhead.--To Dr. Rush.--
To Duane.--Anxiety to reopen Correspondence with John Adams.--
Letter to Benjamin Rush.--Old Letter from Mrs. Adams.--Letter
from Benjamin Rush.--Letter from John Adams.--The
Reconciliation.--Character of Washington.--Devotion to
him.--Letter to Say.--State of Health.--Labors of
Correspondence.--Cheerfulness of his Disposition.--Baron
Grimour.--Catherine of Russia.--Ledyard.--Letter to Mrs.
Trist.--To John Adams.--Gives Charge of his Affairs to his
Grandson.--Letter to his Grandson, Francis Eppes.--Description
of Monticello by Lieutenant Hall.--Letter to Mrs. Adams.--Her
Death.--Beautiful Letter to Mr. Adams.--Letter to Dr. Utley.--
Correspondence with Mrs. Cosway.--Tidings from Old French
Friends 349
CHAPTER XX.
Letters to John Adams.--Number of Letters written and
received.--To John Adams.--Breaks his Arm.--Letter to Judge
Johnson.--To Lafayette.--The University of Virginia.--Anxiety
to have Southern Young Men educated at the South.--Letters on
the Subject.--Lafayette's Visit to America.--His Meeting with
Jefferson.--Daniel Webster's Visit to Monticello, and
Description of Mr. Jefferson 378
CHAPTER XXI.
Pecuniary Embarrassments.--Letter from a Grand-daughter.--Dr.
Dunglison's Memoranda.--Sells his Library.--Depressed
Condition of the Money Market.--Disastrous Consequences to
Jefferson.--His Grandson's Devotion and Efforts to relieve
him.--Mental Sufferings of Mr. Jefferson.--Plan of Lottery to
sell his Property.--Hesitation of Virginia Legislature to grant
his Request.--Sad Letter to Madison.--Correspondence with
Cabell.--Extract from a Letter to his Grandson, to Cabell.--
Beautiful Letter to his Grandson.--Distress at the Death of his
Grand-daughter.--Dr. Dunglison's Memoranda.--Meeting in
Richmond.--In Nelson County.--New York, Philadelphia, and
Baltimore come to his Relief.--His Gratitude.--Unconscious
that at his Death Sales of his Property would fail to pay his
Debts.--Deficit made up by his Grandson.--His Daughter left
penniless.--Generosity of Louisiana and South Carolina 397
CHAPTER XXII.
Letter to Namesake.--To John Adams.--Declining Health.--Dr.
Dunglison's Memoranda.--Tenderness to his Family.--Accounts
of his Death by Dr. Dunglison and Colonel Randolph.--Farewell
to his Daughter.--Directions for a Tombstone.--It is erected
by his Grandson.--Shameful Desecration of Tombstones at
Monticello 419
ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
THOMAS JEFFERSON (From Portrait by Stuart) } _In Front._
MONTICELLO (The Western View) }
JEFFERSON'S SEAL _Title-Page._
JEFFERSON'S COAT OF ARMS _On Cover._
JEFFERSON'S MARRIAGE LICENSE-BOND (Fac-simile) 42
PART OF DRAFT OF DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE (Fac-simile) 52
MARTHA JEFFERSON RANDOLPH (From Portrait by Sully) 65
JEFFERSON'S HORSE-CHAIR (Still preserved at Monticello) 289
MONTICELLO (Plan of the First Floor) 334
THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA (In 1850) 386
JEFFERSON'S GRAVE (Near Monticello) 432
THE
DOMESTIC LIFE OF JEFFERSON.
CHAPTER I.
Jefferson's Birthplace.--Sketch of his early Life.--Character
of his Parents.--His Grandfather, Isham Randolph.--Peter
Jefferson's Friendship for William Randolph.--Randolph dies,
and leaves his young Son to the Guardianship of Jefferson.--His
faithful Discharge of the Trust.--Thomas Jefferson's earliest
Recollections.--His Father's Hospitality.--First Acquaintance
with Indians.--Life of the early Settlers of Virginia: its Ease
and Leisure.--Expense of Thomas Jefferson's early Education.--
Death of his Father.--Perils of his Situation.--Letter to his
Guardian.--Goes to William and Mary College.--Extract from his
Memoir.--Sketch of Fauquier.--Of Wythe.
On a long, gently sloping hill five miles east of Charlottesville,
Virginia, the traveller, passing along the county road of Albemarle,
has pointed out to him the spot where Thomas Jefferson was born,
April 13th, 1743. A few aged locust-trees are still left to mark the
place, and two or three sycamores stretch out their long majestic
arms over the greensward beneath, once the scene of young Jefferson's
boyish games, but now a silent pasture, where cattle and sheep
browse, undisturbed by the proximity of any dwelling. The trees are
all that are left of an avenue planted by him on his twenty-first
birthday, and, as such, are objects of peculiar interest to those who
love to dwell upon the associations of the past.
The situation is one well suited for a family mansion--offering from
its site a landscape view rarely surpassed. To the south are seen
the picturesque valley and banks of the Rivanna, with an extensive,
peaceful-looking horizon view, lying like a sleeping beauty, in the
east; while long rolling hills, occasionally rising into mountain
ranges until at last they are all lost in the gracefully-sweeping
profile of the Blue Ridge, stretch westward, and the thickly-wooded
Southwest Mountains, with the highly-cultivated fields and valleys
intervening, close the scene on the north, and present landscapes
whose exquisite enchantment must ever charm the beholder.
A brief sketch of Jefferson's family and early life is given in the
following quotation from his Memoir, written by himself:
_January 6, 1821._--At the age of 77, I begin to make some
memoranda, and state some recollections of dates and facts
concerning myself, for my own more ready reference, and for the
information of my family.
The tradition in my father's family was, that their ancestor
came to this country from Wales, and from near the mountain of
Snowden, the highest in Great Britain. I noted once a case from
Wales in the law reports, where a person of our name was either
plaintiff or defendant; and one of the same name was Secretary
to the Virginia Company. These are the only instances in which I
have met with the name in that country. I have found it in our
early records; but the first particular information I have of
any ancestor was of my grandfather, who lived at the place in
Chesterfield called Osborne's, and owned the lands afterwards
the glebe of the parish. He had three sons: Thomas, who died
young; Field, who settled on the waters of the Roanoke, and
left numerous descendants; and Peter, my father, who settled on
the lands I still own, called Shadwell, adjoining my present
residence. He was born February 29th, 1708, and intermarried
1739 with Jane Randolph, of the age of 19, daughter of Isham
Randolph, one of the seven sons of that name and family settled
at Dungeness, in Goochland. They trace their pedigree far back
in England and Scotland, to which let every one ascribe the
faith and merit he chooses.
My father's education had been quite neglected; but being of a
strong mind, sound judgment, and eager after information, he
read much, and improved himself; insomuch that he was chosen,
with Joshua Fry, Professor of Mathematics in William and
Mary College, to run the boundary-line between Virginia and
North Carolina, which had been begun by Colonel Byrd, and was
afterwards employed with the same Mr. Fry to make the first map
of Virginia which had ever been made, that of Captain Smith
being merely a conjectural sketch. They possessed excellent
materials for so much of the country as is below the Blue Ridge,
little being then known beyond that ridge. He was the third or
fourth settler, about the year 1737, of the part of the country
in which I live. He died August 17th, 1757, leaving my mother
a widow, who lived till 1776, with six daughters and two sons,
myself the elder.
To my younger brother he left his estate on James River, called
Snowden, after the supposed birthplace of the family; to myself,
the lands on which I was born and live. He placed me at the
English school at five years of age, and at the Latin at nine,
where I continued until his death. My teacher, Mr. Douglas, a
clergyman from Scotland, with the rudiments of the Latin and
Greek languages, taught me the French; and on the death of
my father I went to the Rev. Mr. Maury, a correct classical
scholar, with whom I continued two years.
The talents of great men are frequently said to be derived from the
mother. If they are inheritable, Jefferson was entitled to them on
both the paternal and maternal side. His father was a man of most
extraordinary vigor, both of mind and body. His son never wearied of
dwelling with all the pride of filial devotion and admiration on the
noble traits of his character. To the regular duties of his vocation
as a land-surveyor (which, it will be remembered, was the profession
of Washington also) were added those of county surveyor, colonel of
the militia, and member of the House of Burgesses.
Family tradition has preserved several incidents of the survey of the
boundary-line between Virginia and North Carolina, which prove him to
have been a man of remarkable powers of endurance, untiring energy,
and indomitable courage. The perils and toils of running that line
across the Blue Ridge were almost incredible, and were not surpassed
by those encountered by Colonel Byrd and his party in forcing the
same line through the forests and marshes of the Dismal Swamp in the
year 1728. On this expedition Colonel Jefferson and his companions
had often to defend themselves against the attacks of wild beasts
during the day, and at night found but a broken rest, sleeping--as
they were obliged to do for safety--in trees. At length their supply
of provisions began to run low, and his comrades, overcome by hunger
and exhaustion, fell fainting beside him. Amid all these hardships
and difficulties, Jefferson's courage did not once flag, but living
upon raw flesh, or whatever could be found to sustain life, he
pressed on and persevered until his task was accomplished.
So great was his physical strength, that when standing between two
hogsheads of tobacco lying on their sides, he could raise or "head"
them both up at once. Perhaps it was because he himself rejoiced in
such gigantic strength that it was his frequent remark that "it is
the strong in body who are both the strong and free in mind." This,
too, made him careful to have his young son early instructed in
all the manly sports and exercises of his day; so that while still
a school-boy he was a good rider, a good swimmer, and an ardent
sportsman, spending hours and days wandering in pursuit of game along
the sides of the beautiful Southwest Mountains--thus strengthening
his body and his health, which must otherwise have given way under
the intense application to study to which he soon afterwards devoted
himself.
The Jeffersons were among the earliest immigrants to the colony,
and we find the name in the list of the twenty-two members who
composed the Assembly that met in Jamestown in the year 1619--the
first legislative body that was ever convened in America.[1] Colonel
Jefferson's father-in-law, Isham Randolph, of Dungeness, was a man of
considerable eminence in the colony, whose name associated itself in
his day with all that was good and wise. In the year 1717 he married,
in London, Jane Rogers. Possessing the polished and courteous
manners of a gentleman of the colonial days, with a well-cultivated
intellect, and a heart in which every thing that is noble and true
was instinctive, he charmed and endeared himself to all who were
thrown into his society. He devoted much time to the study of
science; and we find the following mention of him in a quaint letter
from Peter Collinson, of London, to Bartram, the naturalist, then on
the eve of visiting Virginia to study her flora:
When thee proceeds home, I know no person who will make thee
more welcome than Isham Randolph. He lives thirty or forty
miles above the falls of James River, in Goochland, above the
other settlements. Now, I take his house to be a very suitable
place to make a settlement at, for to take several days'
excursions all round, and to return to his house at night....
One thing I must desire of thee, and do insist that thee must
oblige me therein: that thou make up that drugget clothes, to
go to Virginia in, and not appear to disgrace thyself or me;
for though I should not esteem thee the less to come to me in
what dress thou wilt, yet these Virginians are a very gentle,
well-dressed people, and look, perhaps, more at a man's outside
than his inside. For these and other reasons, pray go very
clean, neat, and handsomely-dressed to Virginia. Never mind thy
clothes; I will send thee more another year.
[1] The Jeffersons first emigrated to Virginia in 1612.
In reply to Bartram's account of the kind welcome which he received
from Isham Randolph, he writes: "As for my friend Isham, who I am
also personally known to, I did not doubt his civility to thee. I
only wish I had been there and shared it with thee." Again, after
Randolph's death, he writes to Bartram that "the good man is gone to
his long home, and, I doubt not, is happy."
Such was Jefferson's maternal grandfather. His mother, from whom he
inherited his cheerful and hopeful temper and disposition, was a
woman of a clear and strong understanding, and, in every respect,
worthy of the love of such a man as Peter Jefferson.
Isham Randolph's nephew, Colonel William Randolph, of Tuckahoe, was
Peter Jefferson's most intimate friend. A pleasing incident preserved
in the family records proves how warm and generous their friendship
was. Two or three days before Jefferson took out a patent for a
thousand acres of land on the Rivanna River, Randolph had taken out
one for twenty-four hundred acres adjoining. Jefferson, not finding a
good site for a house on his land, his friend sold him four hundred
acres of his tract, the price paid for these four hundred acres
being, as the deed still in the possession of the family proves,
"Henry Weatherbourne's biggest bowl of arrack punch."
Colonel Jefferson called his estate "Shadwell," after the parish
in England where his wife was born, while Randolph's was named
"Edgehill," in honor of the field on which the Cavaliers and
Roundheads first crossed swords. By an intermarriage between their
grandchildren, these two estates passed into the possession of
descendants common to them both, in whose hands they have been
preserved down to the present day.
On the four hundred acres thus added by Jefferson to his original
patent, he erected a plain weather-boarded house, to which he took
his young bride immediately after his marriage, and where they
remained until the death of Colonel William Randolph, of Tuckahoe, in
1745.
It was the dying request of Colonel Randolph, that his friend
Peter Jefferson should undertake the management of his estates and
the guardianship of his young son, Thomas Mann Randolph. Being
unable to fulfill this request while living at Shadwell, Colonel
Jefferson removed his family to Tuckahoe, and remained there seven
years, sacredly guarding, like a Knight of the Round Table, the
solemn charge intrusted to him, without any other reward than the
satisfaction of fully keeping the promise made to his dying friend.
That he refused to receive any other compensation for his services
as guardian is not only proved by the frequent assertion of his son
in after years, but by his accounts as executor, which have ever
remained unchallenged.[2]
[2] In spite of these facts, however, some of Randolph's
descendants, with more arrogance than gratitude, speak of Colonel
Jefferson as being a paid agent of their ancestor.
Thomas Jefferson was not more than two years old when his father
moved to Tuckahoe, yet he often declared that his earliest
recollection in life was of being, on that occasion, handed up to a
servant on horseback, by whom he was carried on a pillow for a long
distance. He also remembered that later, when five years old, he
one day became impatient for his school to be out, and, going out,
knelt behind the house, and there repeated the Lord's Prayer, hoping
thereby to hurry up the desired hour.
Colonel Jefferson's house at Shadwell was near the public highway,
and in those days of primitive hospitality was the stopping-place for
all passers-by, and, in the true spirit of Old Virginia hospitality,
was thrown open to every guest. Here, too, the great Indian Chiefs
stopped, on their journeys to and from the colonial capital, and
it was thus that young Jefferson first became acquainted with and
interested in them and their people. More than half a century later
we find him writing to John Adams:
I know much of the great Ontasseté, the warrior and orator of
the Cherokees; he was always the guest of my father on his
journeys to and from Williamsburg. I was in his camp when he
made his great farewell oration to his people, the evening
before his departure for England. The moon was in full splendor,
and to her he seemed to address himself in his prayers for his
own safety on the voyage, and that of his people during his
absence; his sounding voice, distinct articulation, animated
action, and the solemn silence of his people at their several
fires, filled me with awe and veneration.
The lives led by our forefathers were certainly filled with ease
and leisure. One of Thomas Jefferson's grandsons asked him, on one
occasion, how the men of his father's day spent their time. He
smiled, and, in reply, said, "My father had a devoted friend, to
whose house he would go, dine, spend the night, dine with him again
on the second day, and return to Shadwell in the evening. His friend,
in the course of a day or two, returned the visit, and spent the same
length of time at his house. This occurred once every week; and thus,
you see, they were together four days out of the seven."
This is, perhaps, a fair picture of the ease and leisure of the life
of an old Virginian, and to the causes which produced this style of
life was due, also, the great hospitality for which Virginians have
ever been so renowned. The process of farming was then so simple
that the labor and cultivation of an estate were easily and most
profitably carried on by an overseer and the slaves, the master only
riding occasionally over his plantation to see that his general
orders were executed.
In the school of such a life, however, were reared and developed the
characters of the men who rose to such eminence in the struggles of
the Revolution, and who, as giants in intellect and virtue, must
ever be a prominent group among the great historical characters of
the world. Their devotion to the chase, to horsemanship, and to all
the manly sports of the day, and the perils and adventures to be
encountered in a new country, developed their physical strength,
and inspired them with that bold and dashing spirit which still
characterizes their descendants, while the leisure of their lives
gave them time to devote to study and reflection.
The city of Williamsburg, being the capital of the colony and the
residence of the governor, was the seat of intelligence, refinement,
and elegance, and offered every advantage for social intercourse.
There it was that those graceful manners were formed which made
men belonging to the old colonial school so celebrated for the
cordial ease and courtesy of their address. As there were no large
towns in the colony, the inducements and temptations offered for
the accumulation of wealth were few, while the abundance of the
good things of the earth found on his own plantation rendered the
Virginian lavish in his expenditures, and hence his unbounded
hospitality. Of this we have ample proof in the accounts which have
been handed down to us of their mode of life. Thomas Mann Randolph,
of Tuckahoe, it is said, consumed annually a thousand barrels of
corn at his family stable; while the princely abode of Colonel Byrd,
of Westover, with its offices, covered a space of two acres. The
prices of corn were what seem to us now fabulously low. The old
chroniclers tell us that one year the price rose to the enormous sum
of thirty-three cents a bushel, and that year was ever after known as
the "ten-shilling year"--ten shillings being the price per barrel.
In looking over Colonel Peter Jefferson's account-books, one can not
refrain from smiling to see the small amount paid for his young son's
school education. To the Rev. William Douglas he paid sixteen pounds
sterling per annum for his board and tuition, and Mr. Maury received
for the same twenty pounds. Colonel Jefferson's eagerness for
information was inherited to an extraordinary degree by his son, who
early evinced that thirst for knowledge which he preserved to the day
of his death. He made rapid progress in his studies, and soon became
a proficient in mathematics and the classics. In after years he used
often to say, that had he to decide between the pleasure derived from
the classical education which his father had given him and the estate
he had left him, he would decide in favor of the former.
Jefferson's father died, as we have seen, when he was only fourteen
years old. The perils and wants of his situation, deprived as he was
so early in life of the guidance and influence of such a father,
were very touchingly described by him years afterwards, in a letter
written to his eldest grandson,[3] when the latter was sent from
home to school for the first time. He writes:
When I recollect that at fourteen years of age the whole
care and direction of myself was thrown on myself entirely,
without a relative or friend qualified to advise or guide me,
and recollect the various sorts of bad company with which I
associated from time to time, I am astonished that I did not
turn off with some of them, and become as worthless to society
as they were. I had the good-fortune to become acquainted very
early with some characters of very high standing, and to feel
the incessant wish that I could ever become what they were.
Under temptations and difficulties, I would ask myself--What
would Dr. Small, Mr. Wythe, Peyton Randolph, do in this
situation? What course in it will insure me their approbation? I
am certain that this mode of deciding on my conduct tended more
to correctness than any reasoning powers I possessed. Knowing
the even and dignified lives they pursued, I could never doubt
for a moment which of two courses would be in character for
them; whereas, seeking the same object through a process of
moral reasoning, and with the jaundiced eye of youth, I should
often have erred. From the circumstances of my position, I was
often thrown into the society of horse-racers, card-players,
fox-hunters, scientific and professional men, and of dignified
men; and many a time have I asked myself, in the enthusiastic
moment of the death of a fox, the victory of a favorite horse,
the issue of a question eloquently argued at the bar, or in
the great council of the nation, Well, which of these kinds
of reputation should I prefer--that of a horse-jockey, a
fox-hunter, an orator, or the honest advocate of my country's
rights? Be assured, my dear Jefferson, that these little returns
into ourselves, this self-catechising habit, is not trifling nor
useless, but leads to the prudent selection and steady pursuit
of what is right.
[3] Thomas Jefferson Randolph.
After leaving Mr. Maury's school, we find him writing the following
letter to a gentleman who was at the time his guardian. It was
written when he was seventeen years old, and is the earliest
production which we have from his pen:
Shadwell, January 14th, 1760.
Sir--I was at Colo. Peter Randolph's about a fortnight ago, and
my Schooling falling into Discourse, he said he thought it
would be to my Advantage to go to the College, and was desirous
I should go, as indeed I am myself for several Reasons. In the
first place as long as I stay at the Mountain, the loss of one
fourth of my Time is inevitable, by Company's coming here and
detaining me from School. And likewise my Absence will in a
great measure, put a Stop to so much Company, and by that Means
lessen the Expenses of the Estate in House-keeping. And on the
other Hand by going to the College, I shall get a more universal
Acquaintance, which may hereafter be serviceable to me; and I
suppose I can pursue my Studies in the Greek and Latin as well
there as here, and likewise learn something of the Mathematics.
I shall be glad of your opinion, and remain, Sir, your most
humble servant,
THOMAS JEFFERSON JR:
To Mr. John Hervey, at Bellemont.
We find no traces, in the above school-boy's letter, of the graceful
pen which afterwards won for its author so high a rank among the
letter-writers of his own, or, indeed, of any day.
It was decided that he should go to William and Mary College, and
thither he accordingly went, in the year 1760. We again quote from
his Memoir, to give a glance at this period of his life:
It was my great good-fortune, and what, perhaps, fixed the
destinies of my life, that Dr. William Small, of Scotland,
was the Professor of Mathematics, a man profound in most
of the useful branches of science, with a happy talent of
communication, correct and gentlemanly manners, and an enlarged
and liberal mind. He, most happily for me, became soon attached
to me, and made me his daily companion, when not engaged in the
school; and from his conversation I got my first views of the
expansion of science, and of the system of things in which we
are placed. Fortunately, the philosophical chair became vacant
soon after my arrival at college, and he was appointed to fill
it _per interim_; and he was the first who ever gave, in that
college, regular lectures in Ethics, Rhetoric, and Belles
Lettres. He returned to Europe in 1762, having previously filled
up the measure of his goodness to me, by procuring for me,
from his most intimate friend, George Wythe, a reception as a
student of law under his direction, and introduced me to the
acquaintance and familiar table of Governor Fauquier, the ablest
man who had ever filled that office. With him and at his table,
Dr. Small and Mr. Wythe, his _amici omnium horarum_, and myself
formed a _partie quarrée_, and to the habitual conversations on
these occasions I owed much instruction. Mr. Wythe continued
to be my faithful and beloved mentor in youth, and my most
affectionate friend through life.
There must indeed have been some very great charm and attraction
about the young student of seventeen, to have won for him the
friendship and esteem of such a profound scholar as Small, and a seat
at the family table of the elegant and accomplished Fauquier.
We have just quoted Jefferson's finely-drawn character of Small, and
give now the following brilliant but sad picture, as drawn by the
Virginia historian, Burke, of the able and generous Fauquier, and of
the vices which he introduced into the colony:
With some allowance, he was every thing that could have been
wished for by Virginia under a royal government. Generous,
liberal, elegant in his manners and acquirements; his example
left an impression of taste, refinement and erudition on the
character of the colony, which eminently contributed to its
present high reputation in the arts. It is stated, on evidence
sufficiently authentic, that on the return of Anson from his
circumnavigation of the earth, he accidentally fell in with
Fauquier, from whom, in a single night's play, he won at cards
the whole of his patrimony; that afterwards, being captivated by
the striking graces of this gentleman's person and conversation,
he procured for him the government of Virginia. Unreclaimed by
the former subversion of his fortune, he introduced the same
fatal propensity to gaming into Virginia; and the example of
so many virtues and accomplishments, alloyed but by a single
vice, was but too successful in extending the influence of
this pernicious and ruinous practice. He found among the
people of his new government a character compounded of the
same elements as his own; and he found little difficulty in
rendering fashionable a practice which had, before his arrival,
already prevailed to an alarming extent. During the recess of
the courts of judicature and of the assemblies, he visited the
most distinguished landholders of the colonies, and the rage of
playing deep, reckless of time, health or money, spread like a
contagion among a class proverbial for their hospitality, their
politeness and fondness for expense. In every thing besides,
Fauquier was the ornament and the delight of Virginia.
Happy it was for young Jefferson, that "the example of so many
virtues and accomplishments" in this brave gentleman failed to give
any attraction, for him at least, to the vice which was such a blot
on Fauquier's fine character. Jefferson never knew one card from
another, and never allowed the game to be played in his own house.
Turning from the picture of the gifted but dissipated royal Governor,
it is a relief to glance at the character given by Jefferson of the
equally gifted but pure and virtuous George Wythe. We can not refrain
from giving the conclusion of his sketch of Wythe, completing, as it
does, the picture of the "_partie quarrée_" which so often met at the
Governor's hospitable board:
No man ever left behind him a character more venerated than
George Wythe. His virtue was of the purest tint; his integrity
inflexible, and his justice exact; of warm patriotism, and,
devoted as he was to liberty, and the natural and equal rights
of man, he might truly be called the Cato of his country,
without the avarice of the Roman; for a more disinterested
man never lived. Temperance and regularity in all his habits
gave him general good health, and his unaffected modesty and
suavity of manners endeared him to every one. He was of easy
elocution; his language chaste, methodical in the arrangement
of his matter, learned and logical in the use of it, and of
great urbanity in debate; not quick of apprehension, but, with a
little time, profound in penetration and sound in conclusion. In
his philosophy he was firm; and neither troubling, nor, perhaps,
trusting, any one with his religious creed, he left the world
to the conclusion that that religion must be good which could
produce a life of such exemplary virtue. His stature was of the
middle size, well formed and proportioned, and the features
of his face were manly, comely, and engaging. Such was George
Wythe, the honor of his own and the model of future times.