Agreement with Richard Durrett, 28 October 1812
Agreement with Richard Durrett
It is agreed Betwen Thomas Jefferson and Richard Durrett Both of the County of Albemarle that the said Durrett shall serve the said Jefferson one yeare as a Carpenter. and the said Durrett do by these presents Oblige himself to do what ever work the said Jefferson shall require in the Business of Carpenters work and the said Durrett Obliges himself to faithfully do his duty. the yeare commence’is on the day that the said Durrett shall take charge of the said Jeffersons imploy. for which years service the said Jefferson agrees to pay the said Durrett forty pounds. and to find him four hundred and fifty pounds of Pork and a peck of corn meal a week or in case the said Durrett should have three in family the said Jefferson agres to find him three pecks a week and to find him a cow to give milk from 15th April to 15th November. as witness Our hands this 28th October. 1812.
| Richard Durrett | E Bacon for. |
| Th: Jefferson |
MS (ViU: TJP); in Edmund Bacon’s hand, signed by Bacon and Durrett; endorsed by TJ: “Durrett Richd. Agreement 1812. Oct. 28.”; later notation by TJ: “mr Durrett moved here Jan. 13.”; notations by Bacon beneath that: “Feb 13 March 13 April 13 May June July Augst Sep Octor Nov”; with “No. 3” and apparently unrelated calculations in Bacon’s hand.
Richard Durrett began his employment on 13 Jan. 1813. TJ paid the balance due him on 8 May 1814 (, 2:1285, 1286, 1295, 1298, 1300).
A letter TJ wrote Bacon from Poplar Forest on 18 Nov. 1812, recorded in SJL but not found, is described as being “about the purchase of beef” in The Splendid Collection of Historical Autographs Formed by J. Macy Willets (American Art Association auction catalog, 11 Nov. 1937), p. 35, lot no. 46.