Thomas Jefferson to Davis Durrett, 22 December 1812
To Davis Durrett
Monticello Dec. 22. 12.
Sir
Mr Sam Carr informed me you had a bay horse which you were disposed to part with at the price of £50, which he thought would match one of mine, and that you would let me have him on trial for 10. days. I therefore send the bearer for him if my information is right. I should be glad to be informed of his age, & his blood by the sire. his dam I understand is of the Seelah blood. as to the time of paiment, I cannot make it till I get my flour to market & sold, say in all April. if a longer term would suit you as well, I would rather take it paying interest. the horse shall be returned in 10. days if I find he does not suit me. the principal object of trial is to see if he will go in a carriage. Accept my best wishes & respects
Th: Jefferson
PoC (MHi); at foot of text: “Mr Durrett”; endorsed by TJ.
Davis Durrett (1789–ca. 1832) was appointed a road surveyor in Albemarle County on 4 Feb. 1811. He served briefly in Norfolk with the militia during the War of 1812 but apparently failed in a bid for a permanent military appointment. Durrett inherited 482 acres of Albemarle County land from his father in 1820 (Mrs. Bert Harter, “Durrett Family,” Virginia Genealogist 16 [1972]: 96–103; , 183–5; Albemarle Co. Order Book [1810–11], 363, 433, 435; [1815–16], 229, 380; Durrett to John H. Cocke, 31 Jan. 1814 [ViU: Cocke Papers]; Albemarle Co. Will Book, 7:87–9 [father’s will]; Mary Catharine Murphy, comp., Guardians’ Bonds of Albemarle County, Virginia, 1783–1852 [1968], sect. 2, p. 119).
Celer (seelah) descended from English turf stock and was the progenitor of some of TJ’s horses (, 2:1230, 1381; TJ to Thomas Jefferson Randolph, 31 Mar. 1815; , 87; Fairfax Harrison, Early American Turf Stock 1730–1830 [1934–35], 1:99–103, 2:27, 69).