John H. Woodward to Thomas Jefferson, 29 January 1810
From John H. Woodward
Charleston January 29, 1810
Sir.
I contemplate publishing, under the patronage of Dr David Ramsay, a succinct biography, of all the most eminent persons; who have done honor to our national character. Should my design meet your ideas, and you feel disposed to favor my undertaking, I would thank you for a catalogue of the names of such persons, as you may think worthy of being commemorated in such publication
John H. Woodward.
RC (MoSHi: TJC-BC); at foot of text: “Thomas Jefferson Esquire”; endorsed by TJ as received 18 Feb. 1810 and so recorded in SJL.
John H. Woodward (d. 1813), a native of Connecticut who later moved to South Carolina, was for a time the secretary and treasurer of the Charleston Philomathean Society. In 1808 he opened an academy in that city. Four years later Woodward published a slim volume of poetry, but there is no evidence that he completed the volume described above (Gary Phillip Zola, Isaac Harby of Charleston 1788–1828 [1994], 200n; John H. Woodward, The Poetical Works of John H. Woodward [Charleston, 1812]; Charleston Times, 22 Oct., 3 Nov. 1808, 16 Mar. 1813).
david ramsay was a noted Charleston physician and politician who wrote extensively on American history ().