Thomas Jefferson Papers

Thomas Jefferson to Philip Grymes, 3 March 1810

To Philip Grymes

Monticello Mar. 3. 1810.

Dear Sir

The bearer hereof, mr Carr, is the son of mr John Carr, a neighbor of mine, resident in Charlottesville, clerk of our District court and nephew to the mr Carrs of this neighborhood whom you probably know. the bearer his son having studied law partly under the direction of mr Dabney Carr, & being now ready to enter on business, proposes to try his fortune at N. Orleans. I know little of him personally, but learn in the neighborhood that he is a young man of worth & correct conduct. this consideration, as well as that of his connections highly esteemed by me, will I hope apologize for my asking for him your kind notice & those good offices which may befriend his entrance into business, and which are so desirable for a beginner & a stranger. the obligation will be duly acknoleged by Dr Sir

Your most obedt servt

Th: Jefferson

PoC (MHi); at foot of text: “Mr Grymes”; endorsed by TJ.

Philip Grymes (ca. 1777–1818), attorney, was an alumnus of the College of William and Mary who moved from Madison County to New Orleans early in 1808. TJ appointed him United States attorney for Orleans Territory that February and register of the land office for the eastern district of the territory a year later. Grymes resigned the former post on 18 Mar. 1810, apparently stayed on as register until the appointment of Columbus Lawson in January 1813, and returned to Virginia before his death (William and Mary Provisional List description begins A Provisional List of Alumni, Grammar School Students, Members of the Faculty, and Members of the Board of Visitors of the College of William and Mary in Virginia. From 1693 to 1888 [1941] description ends , 20; Grymes to TJ, 15 Jan. 1808 [DNA: RG 59, LAR, 1801–09]; Terr. Papers description begins Clarence E. Carter and John Porter Bloom, eds., The Territorial Papers of the United States, 1934–75, 28 vols. description ends , 9:772, 828 , 877, 921–2; JEP description begins Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States description ends , 2:69, 78, 110, 111, 318 [19 Feb., 17 Mar. 1808, 17, 18 Feb. 1809, 27 Jan. 1813]; Claiborne, Letter Books description begins Dunbar Rowland, ed., Official Letter Books of W. C. C. Claiborne, 1801–1816, 1917, repr. 1972, 6 vols. description ends , 4:203, 273; Fredericksburg Virginia Herald, 25 July 1818).

In 1807 TJ advised the bearer hereof, John H. Carr, on which books to read prior to and which courses to take after beginning his formal legal training at the College of William and Mary (TJ to John Carr, 28 Apr. 1807 [ViU: TJP-CC]; William and Mary Provisional List description begins A Provisional List of Alumni, Grammar School Students, Members of the Faculty, and Members of the Board of Visitors of the College of William and Mary in Virginia. From 1693 to 1888 [1941] description ends , 11).

Index Entries

  • Carr, Dabney (1773–1837) (TJ’s nephew); instructs J. H. Carr in law search
  • Carr, John; family of search
  • Carr, John H.; recommended by TJ search
  • Grymes, Philip; identified search
  • Grymes, Philip; letters to search
  • Grymes, Philip; TJ recommends J. H. Carr to search
  • Jefferson, Thomas; Correspondence; letters of introduction from search
  • Jefferson, Thomas; Family & Friends; relations with Carr family search
  • New Orleans; immigrants to search