1From Thomas Jefferson to Charles Clay, 11 January 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
Your’s of Dec. 19. has been duly recieved, and I thank you for your friendly attention to the offer of lands adjoining me for sale. it is true that I have always wished to purchase a part of what was Murray’s tract which would straiten the lines of the Poplar Forest. but I really am not able to make a purchase. I had hoped to keep the expences of my office within the limits of it’s salary, so...
2Thomas Jefferson to Charles Clay, 15 December 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
This will be handed you by my son in law, mr Randolph with the integrity & honor of whose character you are already acquainted. an urgent occasion to raise a considerable sum of money in the course of a year, and a part of it (2000.D.) within the month of January, has induced me to propose to him the curtailing the outskirts of my Poplar Forest lands, as the most probable means of effecting...
3Charles Clay to Thomas Jefferson, 5 September 1810 (Jefferson Papers)
the boy brings you Som Seed of the late invented Hay Rye,—in its wild State it is generally found on a light rich Soil by the Sides of Rivers Creek s &c Yet from the Single experiment I have made, with it I apprehend it will thrive very well on any good Clover Soil.—this is the fourth year it has Stood Where you Saw it,—& has every year increased in quantity, being at first Sown Very thin, in...
4Thomas Jefferson to Charles Clay, 16 August 1811 (Jefferson Papers)
I thank you for the contents of your basket and was just about writing to you when your boy came. I find I shall not have strength enough to ride as far as your house: but I should be very glad if you could meet me at the Double branches in the road, the day after tomorrow (Sunday) and that you may not have to wait, I will be sure to be there before 11. aclock. I have had some measures made...
5Thomas Jefferson to Charles Clay, 23 August 1811 (Jefferson Papers)
While here, & much confined to the house by my rheumatism, I have amused myself with calculating the hour lines of a horisontal dial for the latitude of this place which I find to be 37°–22′–26″. the calculations are for every 5. minutes of time, and are always exact to within less than half a second of a degree. as I do not know that any body here has taken this trouble before, I have...
6Charles Clay to Thomas Jefferson, 18 December 1811 (Jefferson Papers)
your Servant yesterday met with me in the field where I was a little engaged & gave me your Note , I sent him to the house with the baskett & to wait till I Should return, he did not wait for me, he left the Compass & protractor, but no Chain nor Compass Staff.— the other that part of your note respecting the hearth Stones will be particularly attended to Should I see the Masons as well as any...
7Thomas Jefferson to Charles Clay, 10 May 1812 [document added in digital edition] (Jefferson Papers)
The bearer comes to beg some Asparagus, and if you have no better project for the day, to come and partake of it, weather permitting. I salute you with friendship & respect. RC ( Heritage Auctions , auction 6054, New York City, 8 Apr. 2011, lot 34160); dateline at foot of text; addressed: “M r Clay”; endorsed by Clay. Not recorded in SJL . This document, located after the pertinent...
8Mortgage of Campbell County Land to Samuel J. Harrison, 18 May 1812 (Jefferson Papers)
This Indenture made on the 18 th day of May 1812. between Thomas Jefferson of Monticello in Albemarle on the one part, and William Norvell of the county of Campbell and Charles Clay —of the county of Bedford on the other part acting herein as trustees for the sd
9Charles Clay to Thomas Jefferson, 26 May 1812 (Jefferson Papers)
I came to the Forest the morning you left it for Albemarle , to see you about the land, I wished to know how many acres you found upon the calculation you proposed Making the last time I was with you, as also to know if you would not divide the payment into four Annual instalments, as I found I could with More propriety engage for the payment of Such a Sum upon them terms than for a shorter...
10Charles Clay to Thomas Jefferson, [received 22 October 1812] (Jefferson Papers)
M r Beverly Roy Scott eldest son of Our acquaintance Maj r Sam l Scott , feeling the amor Patriæ glowing in his bosom & wishing to Join Several of his Friends who are ingaged in the Marine Service a requests me to introduce him to your Attention, whishing to procure a letter to the Secretary of the Navy in Order to be recieved into the Service of the U.S. as a Midshipman the respectability of...
11Charles Clay to Thomas Jefferson, 21 November 1812 (Jefferson Papers)
we have sent you of the Cyder in the tallest bottle which we had marked N o 1 & not 3 as you Mention in your Note , & if you think it worth puting in your bottles, send back the Barrell & have it filled again for your next summers use as your acceptance of it will give me more pleasure than any use I shall make of it, if you do not send for it.— M rs Clay begs the acceptance of a Cheese (of...
12Thomas Jefferson to Charles Clay, 14 December 1812 (Jefferson Papers)
I go certainly tomorrow, wind & weather permitting, and both have abated considerably. I promised you some sprout Kale seed, which I now send. I do not remember to have seen Salsafia in your garden, & yet it is one of the best roots for the Winter. some call it the oyster plant because fried in batter it can scarcely be distinguished from a fried oyster. I send you some seed. it is to be sowed...
13Thomas Jefferson to Charles Clay, 1 May 1813 (Jefferson Papers)
I think that on my recommending Tacitus to master Cyrus , you said you did not possess him, and perhaps that you had never seen him. on my return home I wrote to Philadelphia for a copy, which I now send for master Cyrus’s acceptance & perusal. the solidity of his matter, his brevity, & his fondness for point & antithesis make him difficult. I would advise the use of a translation, that to be...
14Charles Clay to Thomas Jefferson, 1 May 1813 (Jefferson Papers)
by boy Will I Recieved your present of Tacitus for Cyrus , your friendly attentions to the proper & useful Education of Cyrus is highly appreciated by us both, & I hope the impression will never be lessened.— I yesteday heard of your being up, & intended visiting you this day with a mess of Asparagus, which grows upon us with a threating Aspect, we shall trust to your frequent Aid in keeping...
15Thomas Jefferson to Charles Clay, 6 May 1813 (Jefferson Papers)
Our spinning machine is in operation, and a piece of cloth is begun with the flying shuttle, neither goes on perfectly as yet, from the want of a little more practice; but they will give Mrs. Clay an idea of what would be their proper operation, if she can do me the favor to come and take a plantation dinner with me tomorrow. You will come of course, according to promise. Friendly salutations...
16Charles Clay to Thomas Jefferson, 13 May 1813 (Jefferson Papers)
this Afternoon, M r Joseph Gilmore Called on me with a letter from Col: T. M. Randolph , who write me he was Just about Setting out for Canada , in his letter to me on particular business of our own he enclosed a couple of Reciepts for Money ($1,111.78) by him paid to Mess rs Gibson & Jefferson in Richmond for your use & disposial, his Reasons for sending them forward were that he did not know...
17Thomas Jefferson to Charles Clay, 28 December 1813 (Jefferson Papers)
Learning that mr Forber , one of those who have erected carding machines for us, was in the neighborhood, I asked the favor of him to call on me. he did so yesterday and agrees to go up to you in the 1 st or 2 d week of January. he tells me his price for a wool-carding machine is 500.D. & a Cotton carder 600.D. these prices being higher than I had supposed, and perhaps than I suggested to you,...
18Thomas Jefferson to Charles Clay, 8 January 1814 (Jefferson Papers)
I informed you on the 28 th Ult. by letter that I had according to your request engaged mr Forber to wait on you with a view to the erection of a carding machine for you. he proposes to set out the day after tomorrow, and will present himself to you with this letter. the success of the machine he has erected near me, persuades me he is fully competent to fulfill your wishes. Accept the...
19Charles Clay to Thomas Jefferson, 9 January 1814 (Jefferson Papers)
about two Day Since I recieved yours informing me you had Seen & Spoken to the man who builds the carding Machines, the price for a wool carding one I always understood was about $500. am therefore not disappointed in that, & of course wish the Man to come on, if you Suppose him to be Master of his business— with Respect to the Cotton one I can Make no decisive determination until he may come...
20Thomas Jefferson to Charles Clay, 12 November 1814 (Jefferson Papers)
I propose to set out tomorrow if ready, or certainly next day, and therefore send the bearer for the Cape of my coat. I recollect an opportunity I shall have of sending for your spectacles by a gentleman going to Philadelphia . I charge myself therefore with that commission. perhaps by writing myself to M c Alister he may pay more attention to the quality. The wild-rye seed you gave me before...
21Charles Clay to Thomas Jefferson, 20 December 1814 (Jefferson Papers)
Reflecting on an expression of yours Relative to an Idea Sometimes entertained by you of Compresing the Moral doctrines taught by Jesus of Nazareth in the Gospels, divested of all other Matters into a small and Regular system of the purest morality ever taught to Mankind, & meritting the highest praise, & most worthy the Strictest attention &c &c. however laudable may be your Views View &...
22Thomas Jefferson to Charles Clay, 29 January 1815 (Jefferson Papers)
Your letter of Dec. 20. was 4. weeks on it’s way to me. I thank you for it: for altho founded on a misconception, it is evidence of that friendly concern for my peace and welfare which I have ever believed you to feel. of publishing a book on religion, my dear Sir, I never had an idea. I should as soon think of writing for the reformation of Bedlam, as of the world of religious sects. of these...
23Charles Clay to Thomas Jefferson, 8 February 1815 (Jefferson Papers)
I am pleased to find you viewed my letter in the light it was intended,—a Real Concern for your present peace & future Reputation alone dictated it, & Strongly impressed my mind to draw your attention to the probable Consequences Should your ultimate Views have been publication; in the brokn form of fragments & which must have been perhaps conected perhaps by some observations, or...
24Thomas Jefferson to Charles Clay, 21 February 1815 (Jefferson Papers)
I recieved last night your favor of the 8 th and find on examination that I have committed exactly the mistake you conjectured. M c Allister had made me a pair of spectacles in 1804. by a drawing I had sent him, & believing they were of the size you would like best, I directed him to make the new ones like them. when they came I took out mine to compare them, and in packing up yours again, I...
25Charles Clay to Thomas Jefferson, 23 May 1815 (Jefferson Papers)
thro’ forgetfulness inattention or Some other Cause I am unable to hint to Cap. Slaughter the precise nature of the Service for which he is wanted.— whether it is a Superintendance of the business in its present form, as inspector Gen l or in a more particular & pointed manner, Such as I Suppose m r Goodman now Acts in— breviter is it to overlook the Overseers & people or the people only RC (...
26Thomas Jefferson to Charles Clay, 25 May 1815 (Jefferson Papers)
On the subject which has been passing between us I have had an offer from a person who has many proper points in his character, and would see both my plantations every day . altho my inclinations are as they were before, yet there is ground for consultation with you on comparative merits. this suggests that while it is necessary to sound the dispositions of the party first thought of...
27Thomas Jefferson to Charles Clay, 25 August 1815 (Jefferson Papers)
How do you do? and when will you be able to ride thus far ? these are my first questions. how you like the changes & chances of the European world may be the subject of conversation. but you must come with your ears stuffed full of cotton to fortify them against the noise of hammers, saws, planes E t c which assail us in every direction. affectionate salutations. RC ( ViU: TJP ); dateline at...
28Joel Yancey‘s Promissory Note to Charles Clay on Behalf of Thomas Jefferson, 3 October 1815 (Jefferson Papers)
for value received I I promise to pay or cause to be paid unto Charles Clay h is executors, administrators or assigns, on or before the first day of Dec. 181 5 the just and full sum of Ninety Seven Doll. Seventy five Cents current money of U. States
29Thomas Jefferson to Charles Clay, 18 November 1815 (Jefferson Papers)
I was five days absent in my trip to the peaks of Otter , and have been five days engaged in calculating the observations made. this brings me down to yesterday evening when I finished them. I am going to-day to see mr Clarke at his new habitation, and tomorrow, weather permitting, will pay you a morning visit. in the mean time I send you a note of the result of my ten days labor and some...
30Charles Clay to Thomas Jefferson, 5 December 1815 (Jefferson Papers)
as you appeard pleased with the sample of Potatoes the Servant brought the Other Day M rs Clay by Bob Sends you a few more for seed, She Says her mode of Cultivating them in the Garden, is to plant a fine large Single potatoe, uncut in a hill, that by doing so, she has had the finest large potatoes & greatest in Number, of all the Modes she has tryed, that by Cuting, she thinks the Vigor of...