1Thomas Jefferson’s Memoranda to James Madison, [ca. 4–11 March 1809] (Jefferson Papers)
Memoranda for the President. Information having been recieved in October last that many intruders had settled on the lands of the Cherokees & Chickasaws; the letter from Gen l Dearborn to Col o Meigs was written to have them ordered off, & to inform them they would be removed by military force in the spring if still on the lands. these orders remain still to be given, & they should go to the...
2Thomas Jefferson to the Citizens of Washington, D.C., 4 March 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
I recieve with peculiar gratification the affectionate address of the citizens of Washington , and in the patriotic sentiments it expresses, I see the true character of the National Metropolis . the station which we occupy among the nations of the earth is honourable, but awful. trusted with the destinies of this solitary republic of the world, the only monument of human rights, & the sole...
3Thomas Jefferson to John Benson, 5 March 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
I recieved last night your favor of the 3 d and am very sensible of the kind wishes of my friends at Fredericksbg that I should pass a day with them on my return home. at any other season I should have done this with great pleasure; but we have such terrible information of the impassable state of the roads that I dare not attempt it. the route I go is by cross roads altogether, not cut by...
4Thomas Jefferson to John Armstrong, 6 March 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
This will be handed you by mr Coles , the bearer of public dispatches, by an Aviso . he has lived with me as Secretary, is my wealthy neighbor at Monticello , & worthy of all confidence. his intimate knolege of our situation has induced us to send him, because he will be a full supplement as to all those things which cannot be detailed in writing. he can possess you of our present situation...
5Thomas Jefferson to Alexander von Humboldt, 6 March 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
I recieved safely your letter of May 30. & with it your astronomical work & Political essay on the kingdom of New Spain , for which I return you my sincere thanks. I had before heard that this work had begun to appear, & the specimen I have recieved proves that it will not disappoint the expectations of the learned. besides making known to us one of the most singular & interesting countries on...
6Thomas Jefferson’s Notes on Presidential Appointments, [ca. 6 March 1809] (Jefferson Papers)
candidates Sec retary of State War Missisi pi Gov r v. Williams Holmes .
7Thomas Jefferson to Margaret Bayard Smith, 6 March 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
Th: Jefferson presents his respectful salutations to mrs Smith, and sends her the Geranium she expressed a willingness to recieve. it is in very bad condition, having been neglected latterly as not intended to be removed. he cannot give it his parting blessing more effectually than by consigning it to the nourishing hand of mrs Smith. if plants have sensibility, as the analogy of their...
8Thomas Jefferson to Samuel H. Smith, 6 March 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
Th: Jefferson asks the favor of mr Smith to print for him 100. copies of the within letter each on a separate sheet of 4 to letter paper. he would be glad to have them by Thursday evening if practicable. he salutes him with esteem & respect. RC ( DLC : Henley Smith Papers); dateline at foot of text; endorsed by Smith. Not recorded in SJL . Samuel Harrison Smith (1772–1845) was born in...
9Enclosure: Thomas Jefferson’s Circular to Office Seekers, [ca. 6 March 1809] (Jefferson Papers)
THE friendship which has long subsisted between the President of the United States and myself gave me reason to expect, on my retirement from office, that I might often receive applications to interpose with him on behalf of persons desiring appointments. Such an abuse of his dispositions towards me would necessarily lead to the loss of them, and to the transforming me from the character of a...
10Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Gimbrede, 7 March 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
Th: Jefferson presents his compliments to mr Gimbrede and his thanks for the very elegant Cameo he has been so kind as to send him. he considers it as a flattering mark of the indulgence with which mr Gimbrede has been so good as to contemplate his public conduct, and it adds to the consolation he recieves from the testimony of the worthy that the purity of his intentions, at least, has atoned...
11Thomas Jefferson to the Republicans of Georgetown, 8 March 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
The affectionate address of the Republicans of George Town on my retirement from public duty, is received with sincere pleasure. in the review of my political life, which they so indulgently take, if it be found that I have done my duty as other faithful Citizens have done, it is all the merit I claim. Our lot has been cast on an Awful period of human history. the contest which began with us...
12Thomas Jefferson to William Short, 8 March 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
It is with much concern I inform you that the Senate has negatived your appointment. we thought it best to keep back the nomination to the close of the session, that the mission might remain secret as long as possible, which you know was our purpose from the beginning. it was then sent in with an explanation of it’s object & motives. we took for granted, if any hesitation should arise, that...
13Thomas Jefferson to John Threlkeld, 8 March 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
Th: Jefferson presents his compliments to mr Threlkeld and takes the liberty of asking a few small plants of the English mulberry & peach-Apricot, of which mr Threlkeld thought he could spare some. Th:J. can convey only such & so many as are very portable, & will occupy but little space. he begs leave to present to mr & mrs Threlkeld & family his friendly Adieux, and assurances of his sincere...
14Thomas Jefferson’s Notes on Expenses, 9 March 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
D 1809. Mar. 9. Balance at the bank in favor of Th: Jefferson 2291. 77½ a warrant from the Treasury 1148. 3439. 77½ Th:J. proposes to draw as follows J. Barnes
15Thomas Jefferson to George Jefferson, 10 March 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
By a vessel just departing hence for Richmond I send a number of packages as by the inclosed , in which however I believe there may be an error or two, for I have not yet got the bill of lading. I must pray you to procure for me 3. dozen stick chairs , of the kind marked in the margin, painted black with yellow rings, & forward them for me to Lynchburg . Couch’s boats are, I believe, the most...
16Thomas Jefferson to Charles Willson Peale, 10 March 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
Being just on the eve of my departure for Monticello I must write you a short letter returning you a thousand thanks for the portrait of my grandson , which is indeed inimitably done. I do not know whether age impairs the faculties of your art, but I am sure it would do honor to any period of life. it will be a treasure to his parents & not less so to me. as he wished to see them & had a month...
17Thomas Jefferson to Mary Daingerfield, 11 March 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
By the post of this day I inclose to the President of the bank of Fredericksburg five hundred & ninety dollars on account of the hire of your negroes and subject to the order of yourself and miss Dangerfield , and tender you the assurances of my great respect. PoC ( MHi ); at foot of text: “M rs Dangerfield”; endorsed by TJ. Mary Willis Daingerfield (1745–1818), widow of Continental army...
18Thomas Jefferson to William Duane, 11 March 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
Such has been the hurry & bustle of the close of a session of Congress & of my departure, which now takes place in an hour that I have not been able to acknolege the re ciept of your letters, but I did what was essential as to the most important one. I consulted with Gen l Dearborne and we concluded that the public service permitted the indulgence and the proceeding which would accomodate your...
19Thomas Jefferson to Levi Lincoln, 11 March 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
I ought before this to have acknoleged the reciept of two or three letters from you, but the hurry of a close of Congress and bustle of my own departure which takes place in an hour, has prevented me. yours of Feb. 15. is just now recieved, & I hasten to inclose you an order of the bank of the US. here on that at Boston for 45.62 D to reimburse what you have been so kind as to pay for me for...
20Thomas Jefferson to Mayer & Brantz, 11 March 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
The non-intercourse law prohibiting the importation of any thing from France directly, I must still rely on the indirect importation from Amsterdam . making no use therefore of the letter to mr Backer which you were so kind as to send me, I now return it with a renewal of my request that you will suffer your former orders for the books to go into execution, and the tender of assurances of my...
21Thomas Jefferson to George C. Shattuck, 11 March 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
Th: Jefferson presents his compliments to mr Shattuc k and his thanks for the copy of the Boylston prize dissertation w hich he was so kind as to send him. he shall read it with pleasure in the leisure of Monticello , to which place he is now in the moment of departure. he prays mr Shattu ck to accept the assurances of his respect. PoC (
22Thomas Jefferson to Étienne Lemaire, 16 March 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
When I parted with you at Washington , it was my intention to have expressed to you all the sentiments of obligation I have felt myself under to you. but my heart was so full that I could utter but the single word Adieu. indeed the enlivening idea of rejoining my family and of being once more master of my own time & actions, was lost in the moment of separation from those who had lived so long...
23To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 17 March 1809 (Madison Papers)
On opening my letters from France in the moment of my departure from Washington, I found from their signatures that they were all from literary characters except one from mr. Short, which mentioned in the outset that it was private, & that his public communications were in the letter to the Secretary of State, which I sent you. I find however on reading his letter to me (which I did not do...
24Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 17 March 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
On opening my letters from France in the moment of my departure from Washington , I found from their signatures that they were all from literary characters except one from mr Short , which mentioned in the outset that it was private, & that his public communications were in the letter to the Secretary of State , which I sent you. I find however on reading his letter to me (which I did not do...
25To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 24 March 1809 (Madison Papers)
I inclose you several letters which must have been intended for the office, & not the person named on the back. They belong therefore to your files, and I will pray you particularly as to those asking office on this & all other occasions to consider me merely as the channel of conveyance, & not as meaning to add an atom of weight to the sollicitations they convey—unless indeed I know any thing...
26Thomas Jefferson to Joseph Dougherty, 24 March 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
I have recieved yours of the 19 th just in time by the return of this day’s post, to inform you that the dove coloured silk, with down in it, is mine. it is an Eider-down coverlet which I bought in Philadelphia in 1793. when I lived there. as it can be rolled into a compass not bigger than a man’s leg, I would wish it to be packed in as small a box as it can be got into, & forwarded by the...
27Thomas Jefferson to Henry Foxall, 24 March 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
The cook which I had in Washington ( mr Julien ) and who is now with me for a time, informs me you made for the President ’s kitchen some irons of casting for the stoves or stew-holes in the kitchen, in which the box-part & the grilles grille or bars were all solid together, and that you made them of three sizes. I must ask the favor of you to make 8. for me, to wit, 2. of the largest size & 3...
28Thomas Jefferson to George Jefferson, 24 March 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
My packages from Washington must be now near arriving with you, and I will pray you to forward them by such boats as are deemed trusty. there will also be from mr Taggert of Philadelphia a cask of linseed oil & keg of white lead. I inclose you a bill of lading of for a box belonging to one of my workmen, mr Nelson , which he had addressed to me, to the care of your firm, which as you will see...
29Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 24 March 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
I inclose you several letters which must have been intended for the office, & not the person named on the back. they belong therefore to your files, and I will pray you particularly as to those asking office on this & all other occasions to consider me merely as the channel of conveyance, & not as meaning to add an atom of weight to the sollicitations they convey. unless indeed I know any...
30Thomas Jefferson to William D. Meriwether, 24 March 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
I intended to have answered your kind letter by mr Stevenson yesterday evening but he left us without my knowing it. perhaps he considered as an answer, my saying to him that I presumed it would be most convenient for the gentlemen of the committee to meet on our next court day at Charlottesville , where I will attend them. I take the liberty therefore of proposing this to them, as other...
31Thomas Jefferson to Elizabeth Trist, 24 March 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
I recieve with great thankfulness your kind congratulations on my liberation from the duties & anxieties of my late situation. five & twenty years of affectionate acquaintance (perhaps it is uncivil to recall such a period to a single lady) leave me without a doubt of their sincerity. of the ground of congratulation nobody can be a more feeling judge than myself. I my present freedom of...
32Thomas Jefferson to George Jefferson, 25 March 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
My letter by post yesterday desired you to send my goods from Washington by trusty boatmen. I did not then know that mr r R andolph ’s boats would go off to-day. as they are entirely trusty, I pray you to deliver to them whatever you may have for me. the molasses particularly will come safe by them. we are entirely unable to get cotton seed in this part of the country. mr Bacon at my request...
33Thomas Jefferson to the Republicans of Essex County, Massachusetts, 28 March 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
The reciept of your kind address in the last moments of the session of Congress , will, I trust offer a just apology for this late acknolegement of it. I am very sensible of the indulgence with which you are so good as to review the measures of my late administration: and I feel for that indulgence the sentiments of gratitude it so justly calls for. the stand which has been made on behalf of...
34Thomas Jefferson to the Convention of Bristol County, Rhode Island, 29 March 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
The reciept of your friendly address in the last moments of the session of Congress , will, I trust, offer a just apology for it’s late acknolegement. We have certainly cause to rejoice that since the waves of affliction & peril, raised from the storm of war by the rival belligerents of Europe , have undulated on our shores, the councils of the nation have been able to preserve it from the...
35Thomas Jefferson to the Republican Mechanics of Leesburg, Virginia, 29 March 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
The reciept of your kind address , in the last moments of the session of Congress , will, I trust, offer a just apology for it’s late acknolegement. Your friendly salutations on the close of my public life, and approbation of the motives which dictated my retirement are recieved with great satisfaction. That there should be a contrariety of opinions respecting the public Agents & their...
36Thomas Jefferson to William McCandless, 29 March 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
I recieved on the evening of the 1 st of March the resolutions inclosed in your letter of Feb. 20. for the purpose of being laid before both houses of Congress . usage & perhaps sound principle not permitting the President to place himself between the representatives & their constituents, who have a right to address their legislature directly, I delivered, the next day a copy of your...
37To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 30 March 1809 (Madison Papers)
Yours of the 19th. came to hand by the last post; but that allows us so little time that I could not answer by it’s return. I had not before heard of mr. Latrobe’s claim of Lenthall’s salary in addition to his own. That some of Lenthall’s duties must have fallen on him I have no doubt; but that he could have performed them all in addition to his own so as to entitle himself to his whole...
38Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 30 March 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
Yours of the 19 th came to hand by the last post; but that allows us so little time that I could not answer by it’s return. I had not before heard of mr Latrobe’s claim of Lenthall’s salary in addition to his own. that some of Lenthall’s duties must have fallen on him I have no doubt; but that he could have performed them all in addition to his own so as to entitle himself to his whole salary,...
39To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 31 March 1809 (Madison Papers)
Since my letter of yesterday I have recieved yours of the 27th. & 28th. and in the former the 500. D. for mrs. Trist. The bronze time piece mentioned will run a fortnight, but I found it better to wind it up once a week, as during the 2d. week the greater expansion of the spring occasioned her to lose time. With respect to newspapers, none can now come to Washington for me. Of those which,...
40Thomas Jefferson to the Citizens of Allegany County, Maryland, 31 March 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
The sentiments of attachment, respect & esteem expressed in your address of the 20 th Ult. have been read with pleasure, and would sooner have recieved my thanks, but for the mass of business engrossing the last moments of a session of Congress . I am gratified by your approbation of our efforts for the public general good, and our endeavors to promote the best interests of our country, & to...
41Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 31 March 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
Since my letter of yesterday I have recieved yours of the 27 th & 28 th and in the former the 500.D. for mrs Trist . the bronze time piece mentioned will run a fortnight, but I found it better to wind it up once a week, as during the 2 d week the greater expansion of the spring occasioned her to lose time. with respect to newspapers , none can now come to Washington for me. of those which,...
42Thomas Jefferson to John Taggart, 31 March 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
I recieved by our last post your favor of the 15 th informing me you had sent on the oil & paint requested, and stating the amount 72.D. I accordingly now inclose you US. bank bills for 70.D. and for want of smaller, I have desired my grandson Th:J. Randolph to call on you and pay the additional 2.D. on his arrival in Philadelphia , and I pray you to accept my thanks with my respectful...
43Thomas Jefferson to the Republicans of Washington County, Maryland, 31 March 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
The affectionate sentiments you express on my retirement from the high office conferred on me by my country, are gratefully recieved, & acknoleged with thankfulness. your approbation of the various measures which have been pursued, cannot but be highly consolatory to myself, & encouraging to future functionaries, who will see that their honest endeavors for the public good will recieve due...
44Thomas Jefferson to the Democratic Republican Delegates of Washington County, Pennsylvania, 31 March 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
The satisfaction you express, fellow citizens, that my endeavors have been unremitting to preserve the peace & independance of our country, & that a faithful neutrality has been observed towards all the contending powers, is highly grateful to me, and there can be no doubt that in any common times they would have saved us from the present embarrasments, thrown in the way of our national...
45Thomas Jefferson to Caspar Wistar, 31 March 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
My grandson being on his return to attend the botanical lectures gives me a safe opportunity of forwarding a livraison of a botanical work of M. Tussac for the Philosophical society
46Thomas Jefferson to James Hochie, 2 April 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
I have duly recieved your favor of Mar. 17. covering resolutions of the antient Plymouth society of New London , approving my conduct, as well during the period of my late administration, as the preceding portion of my public services. our lot has been cast in times which called for the best exertions of all our citizens to recover and preserve the rights which nature had given them; and we...
47Thomas Jefferson to the Inhabitants of Albemarle County, 3 April 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
Returning to the scenes of my birth & early life, to the society of those with whom I was raised, & who have been ever dear to me, I recieve, fellow citizens & neighbors, with inexpressible pleasure, the cordial welcome you are so good as to give me. long absent on duties which the history of a wonderful aera made incumbent on those called to them, the pomp, the turmoil, the bustle & splendour...
48Thomas Jefferson to Robert Wright, 3 April 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
Your friendly note of Mar. 3. was delivered to me on that day. you know the pressure of the last moments of a session of Congress , and can judge of that of my own departure from Washington , & of my first attentions here. this must excuse my late acknolegement of your note.—the assurances of your approbation of the course I have observed are highly flattering, & the more so, as you have been...
49Thomas Jefferson to John B. Colvin, 4 April 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
Th: Jefferson presents his compliments to mr. Colvin and having recieved but two of his Monitors since left Washington on the 11 th of Mar. he ascribes it to his having failed to give mr Colvin his address which is at Monticello near Milton . the post for Milton leaves Washington on
50Thomas Jefferson to Jonathan Shoemaker, 6 April 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
It is with great regret that I write you a letter which I am sure must give you pain, but your interest as well as my own makes it my duty, & yours is still more urgent than mine. I have little doubt that your sons write you flattering accounts of their proceedings & prospects at the Shadwell mills , & it is possible they may flatter themselves with retrieving their affairs, but however I...