Thomas Jefferson to Frederick W. Hatch, 12 May 1822
To Frederick W. Hatch
Monticello May 12. 22.
Dear Sir
The case seems again to occur when, as in that of the Feudal lord, formerly quoted, an aid was deemed reasonably due on the extraordinary occasions of marrying his daughter or knighting his son. the approaching Convention must bring considerable extra expence on you. I beg leave therefore to offer my contribution towards it on a principle of duty.
Altho’ my affairs in Bedford require my presence there necessarily at this season, yet I would have varied the time of my visit to that place so as to have been here at the meeting of the Convention. I should have gladly profited of that occasion of manifesting my respect for that body, with some of whose members I may probably be acquainted. but it seems to be expected that there will be a concourse of one or two thousand others attending it, from all parts of the country; and experience has proved to me that my place is considered as among the curiosities of the neighborhood, and that it will probably be visited as such by most of the attendants. I have neither strength nor spirits to encounter such a stream of strangers from day to day, and must therefore avoid it by obeying the necessary call of my concerns in Bedford, to which place I sh[al]l set out tomorrow morning. accept my friendly and respectful salutations.
Th: Jefferson
PoC (MHi); on verso of reused address cover of James Monroe to TJ, 17 Feb. 1821; mutilated at seal, with missing text rewritten by TJ; one word faint; at foot of text: “Revd mr Hatch”; endorsed by TJ.
The approaching convention was the annual gathering of the Protestant Episcopal Church of Virginia, which met in Charlottesville from 16 to 18 May 1822, with Hatch in attendance ([Francis Lister Hawks], A Narrative of Events connected with the Rise and Progress of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Virginia [1836], 151–8). Although TJ had earlier considered postponing his next trip to Poplar Forest until the meeting had concluded, toward the end of April 1822 he was “so much afraid of the concourse of people which it is said the Convention in Charlottesville will bring to the neighbourhood, that he has determined to remain in Bedford until it is all over, and to send the remaining part of the family to Tufton, that these doors [i.e., Monticello] may be closed against the curious, and impertinent mob, whom he thinks would make it their resort” (Martha Jefferson Randolph to Virginia J. Randolph [Trist], 14 Feb. 1822 [NcU: NPT]; Virginia J. Randolph [Trist] to Nicholas P. Trist, 28 Apr. 1822 [DLC: NPT]).
my contribution: on this day TJ recorded sending Hatch a $20 “gratuity” (, 2:1385).
Accompanied by his daughter Martha Jefferson Randolph and granddaughters Ellen W. Randolph (Coolidge) and Virginia J. Randolph (Trist), TJ actually set out for Bedford County on 14 May. They returned to Monticello on 29 May 1822 (, 2:1385–6; Martha Jefferson Randolph to Ann C. Morris, 27 May 1822).
Index Entries
- Charlottesville, Va.; convention of Protestant Episcopal Church of Virginia held in search
- Coolidge, Ellen Wayles Randolph (TJ’s granddaughter); visits Poplar Forest search
- Episcopalians; convention of Va. diocese search
- feudalism; and gifts to feudal lords search
- Hatch, Frederick Winslow; and convention of Va. Episcopalians search
- Hatch, Frederick Winslow; letters to search
- Hatch, Frederick Winslow; TJ gives money to search
- Poplar Forest (TJ’s Bedford Co. estate); M. J. Randolph visits search
- Poplar Forest (TJ’s Bedford Co. estate); TJ plans visits to search
- Poplar Forest (TJ’s Bedford Co. estate); TJ visits search
- Poplar Forest (TJ’s Bedford Co. estate); TJ’s grandchildren visit search
- Randolph, Martha Jefferson (Patsy; TJ’s daughter; Thomas Mann Randolph’s wife); visits Poplar Forest search
- Trist, Virginia Jefferson Randolph (TJ’s granddaughter); visits Poplar Forest search
- Tufton (TJ’s Albemarle Co. estate); family members visit search