William Jarvis to Thomas Jefferson, 19 February 1810
From William Jarvis
Lisbon 19 feby 1810
Respected sir
I had the pleasure to address you the 20th Ulto and took the liberty to request your acceptance of a pair of Merino sheep & that you would give the necessary instructions about them. I now take the liberty to inform you, that I have shipped nine rams & four ewes to by1 the ship Diana, Captn Wm W. Lewis, for Alexandria; out of which Mr Madison is to select two & you, sir, another pair. There is little or no difference in the wool of any of them, of course I have taken the liberty to point2 out the two youngest rams & the two youngest ewes as those which I think are preferable. The wool of the rams are as fine as any on board, & the ewes are also equally fine & are much larger as to size. The Bill of Lading of those for you, sir, I inclosed to Mr Madison, with a Bill of Lading for his. I must appeal to your patriotick virtues to insure an acceptance of this useful animal as a proof of my high sense of what every American indebted to you3 for your services to your Country.
The heavy baggage of the British Army is daily embarking & the transports arranged for the receiving troops & sailing at the shortest notice. A small french force appeared in the neighbourhood of Badajos the 11 inst, but have since taken another direction, without a battle or even a skirmish.
Wm Jarvis
RC (DLC); at foot of text: “Thomas Jefferson Esquire”; endorsed by TJ as received 9 May 1810 and so recorded in SJL. Enclosed in James Madison to TJ, 7 May 1810.
In a letter toJames Madison of 19 Feb. 1810 Jarvis inclosed a bill of lading for a merino ram and ewe for TJ, dated Lisbon, 17 Feb. 1810 (MS in DLC: Madison Papers, Rives Collection; printed form with blanks filled by Jarvis), and a second bill of lading of the same date for a pair of merinos intended for Madison, asking the president to take charge of TJ’s pair until his instructions were received ( , Pres. Ser., 2:239–40).
1. Thus in manuscript.
2. New page begins with this word; catchword at foot of preceding page: “name.”
3. Thus in manuscript.
Index Entries
- Alexandria, Va.; merino sheep shipped to search
- Badajoz, Spain search
- Diana (ship) search
- France; military operations in Spain and Portugal search
- Great Britain; military operations of in Spain and Portugal search
- Jarvis, William; and merino sheep search
- Jarvis, William; letters from search
- Lewis, William W.; and merino sheep search
- Madison, James; and merino sheep search
- merino sheep; sent to TJ and J. Madison search
- Portugal; military operations in search
- Spain; resists Napoleonic rule search