To Thomas Jefferson from Francis Peyton, 30 July 1801
From Francis Peyton
Alexandria 30th. July 1801.
Dear Sir,
Enclosed you will recieve an estimate of the taxes formerly imposed by the Commonwealth of Virginia, on that part of the District of Columbia included within the county of Alexandria. the statement is procured from the Clerk of our Court who I supposed possessed the best information on the subject,
I must beg your permission to return half the money sent me for the horse nettings as I shall then have retained the full value of them in their present situation Wishing you an agreeable journey, I am
with great respect D Sir, yr. Obt. Servt.
Francis Peyton
RC (ViW); endorsed by TJ as received 6 Aug. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure not found.
As part of an act passed on 3 May 1802 concerning the District of Columbia, Congress directed that taxes in the county of alexandria in the federal district be assessed and levied in the same manner as they were under the laws of [p. 693] Virginia, as they stood in force within the county on the first Monday of December 1800. The District of Columbia had been divided into the counties of Washington and Alexandria in February 1801 (, 2:105, 194).
Return Half the Money: in a note to Peyton written on 28 July, TJ acknowledged the receipt of “the pair of horse nettings in good order” and enclosed $10 in payment (RC described in Swann Galleries, Inc., New York, Catalogue No. 1333, 1984, Item 100). TJ also recorded the transaction in his financial memoranda under the same date (, 2:1048, 1049).