Thomas Jefferson’s Statement of Albemarle County Property Subject to Federal Tax, 14 May 1815
Statement of Albemarle County Property Subject to Federal Tax
A list of the property of the subscriber in the county of Albemarle liable to the taxes imposed by Congress at their session of 1814–15.
| 5640. acres of land, including 400. as on Hardware1 belonging to himself, Hudson & others. |
| 2. slaves above 60. years of age | ||
| 9. do between 50. & 60. | ||
| 9.2 do between 40. & 50. | ||
| 16. do between 30. & 40. | ||
| 24. do between 20. & 30. | ||
| 29. do between 10. & 20. | ||
| 43. do under 10. | ||
| 132. | ||
| Houshold furniture.3 | ||
| 4. clocks | ||
| Mahogany. | ┌ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └ |
1. desk & bookcase |
| 2. book cases. | ||
| 4. chests of drawers | ||
| 1. sideboard | ||
| 5. single & 2. double4 leaved dining tables5 | ||
| 13. tea & card tables | ||
| 36. chairs | ||
| 1. Sopha. | ||
| 6. do with some gilding | ||
| 1.6 do plain painted. | ||
| 44. chairs with some gilding | ||
| 11 do plain painted. | ||
| 11. window curtains | ||
| 80. pictures & prints above 12.I. wide | ||
| 39. smaller | ||
| 9. looking glasses above 2.f. long. | ||
| 4. smaller do7 | ||
| 1. harpsichord | ||
| 1. tea urn, coffee do beakers8 & candlesticks | ||
| 752. oz. of plate Troy weight equal to 804.D. | ||
| 2. silver watches9 | ||
| all which said houshold furniture the subscriber believes would not sell at public vendue for more than three thousand dollars.10 | ||
| Th: Jefferson |
| May. 14. 1815. |
MS (MHi); entirely in TJ’s hand; endorsed by TJ: “taxes Albemarle 1815 for the Assessor.” Dft (MHi); on verso of reused address cover to TJ.
taxes on dwellings, land, and slaves were imposed by “An Act to provide additional revenues for defraying the expenses of government, and maintaining the public credit, by laying a direct tax upon the United States, and to provide for assessing and collecting the same,” 9 Jan. 1815. Other taxes were collected under “An Act to provide additional revenues for defraying the expenses of government, and maintaining the public credit, by laying duties on household furniture, and on gold and silver watches,” 18 Jan. 1815 (, 3:164–80, 186–92).
1. Preceding two words not in Dft.
2. Reworked from “10” in Dft.
3. Preceding two words interlined in Dft. TJ valued each of the following entries in pencil in a column in right margin of Dft. He valued his clocks at a total of $80, his combination desk and bookcase at $20, his bookcases at $20, his chests of drawers at $40, his sideboard at $20, his dining tables at $60, his tea and card tables at $78, his chairs and sofa without gilding at $90, his gilt and painted sofas at $54, his chairs with gilding at $110, his painted chairs at $20, his window curtains at $66, his larger pictures and prints at $240, his smaller pictures and prints at $39, his looking glasses at $95, his harpsichord at $100, his 752 troy ounces of “plate” (silver flatware and hollowware) at $804, and his plated tea and coffee urns, beakers, and candlesticks at $60. According to his calculations, the furniture was worth $1132 and the silver $864, for a total of $1996.
4. Preceding three words interlined.
5. Entry reworked in Dft from “[. . .] ding tables of 3 & 1. of 2. leaves.”
6. Dft: “2.”
7. Preceding three words interlined in Dft.
8. MS: “bickers.” Dft: “beakers.”
9. TJ placed a question mark to the left of this entry in Dft.
10. Beneath this line in Dft TJ wrote in pencil: “
| not exceeding | 2000. | 10 |
| 3000. | 17. |
Index Entries
- Albemarle County, Va.; Hardware River search
- An Act to provide additional revenues for defraying the expenses of government, and maintaining the public credit, by laying a direct tax upon the United States, and to provide for assessing and collecting the same (1815) search
- An Act to provide additional revenues for defraying the expenses of government, and maintaining the public credit, by laying duties on household furniture, and on gold and silver watches (1815) search
- bookcases; at Monticello search
- clocks; at Monticello search
- clocks; silver watches search
- coffee; pots search
- furniture; bookcases search
- furniture; chairs search
- furniture; chests of drawers search
- furniture; desks search
- furniture; sideboards search
- furniture; sofas search
- furniture; tables search
- furniture; taxes on search
- Hardware River (Albemarle Co.) search
- household articles; artwork search
- household articles; candlesticks search
- household articles; coffeepots search
- household articles; curtains search
- household articles; decanters search
- household articles; mirrors search
- household articles; teapots search
- Hudson, Christopher; and Limestone survey search
- Jefferson, Thomas; Writings; Statement of Albemarle County Property Subject to Federal Tax search
- Limestone Survey (Albemarle Co.); taxes on search
- mirrors; at Monticello search
- Monticello (TJ’s estate); acreage at listed search
- Monticello (TJ’s estate); clocks at search
- Monticello (TJ’s estate); furnishings at search
- Monticello (TJ’s estate); slaves at listed search
- Monticello (TJ’s estate); taxes on search
- music; harpsichord search
- pots; coffee search
- silver; plated search
- silver; watches search
- slaves; enumeration of search
- slaves; taxes on search
- tables; at Monticello search
- taxes; on furniture search
- taxes; on slaves search
- taxes; Statement of Albemarle County Property Subject to Federal Tax search
- teapots search
- watches; silver search