1Ferdinando Fairfax to Thomas Jefferson, 13 March 1820 (Jefferson Papers)
This will be presented to you by M r Thomas Ragland , one of the Committee of (5) Cadets, whose case, now before Congress , you probably have looked into. He has with him the best credentials, shewing his Qualifications, as one of the proficients, and as one of the Assist t Professors, at West-Point ; and his object in visiting you, is, to obtain your patronage, in seeking a respectable...