101Enclosure: Petty Vaughan’s Notes on Guinea Grass, 29 March 1819, enclosure number 2 in Petty Vaughan to Thomas … (Jefferson Papers)
The Guinea Grass succeeds well in Jamaica upon dry, stony uplands; & when well established, will last for 20 or 30 years.—Used as grass for cutting, it may be cropped 3 or 4 times annually.— If for pasturage, it should not be fed too low in the dry part of the season; as the sun then gets at the roots, & burns them up. The common rule is, to feed it about 4 times in the year, & not to reduce...
102Constantine S. Rafinesque to Thomas Jefferson, 25 January 1821 (Jefferson Papers)
I have delayed answering your last favor until I could send you my Ichthyology of the Ohio , and the Western Minerva . The former I have now the pleasure to forward you, and shall be glad to know your opinion on it. But I cannot send you the Western Minerva , although the first number is printed , because this Journal is not to be published at present . It has been condamned before its...
103From John Adams to John V. N. Yates, 31 December 1822 (Adams Papers)
I am honored this Morning with your favour of the 23d.—That Dr. Frankline while in England corresponded with Mr. Dumas, I very well know from an intimate acquaintance with both of them; that he reccommended a Dutch loan before he left England is improbable because at that time there was no Government or body of Men or individual in America to whom the loan could be named. When Dr. Frankline...
104James Brown (of Charlottesville) to Thomas Jefferson, 17 July 1821 (Jefferson Papers)
Enclosed you have your Bond to F. Lewis , for which I received Payment in a drft Some time Since, the Bond would have been forwarded to you ere this, but it was not perfectly understood by Mr. J. Leitch what paper you wanted when your Servant applied to him for a paper. RC ( MHi ); endorsed by TJ; with additional notation by TJ beneath endorsement: “return g my note to Field g Lewis .”
105To James Madison from William F. Gray, 24 February 1825 (Madison Papers)
Having again become Agent for the Reviews, I send you by this mail the January No. of the North Am: Review. No. 81 of the Edinburg Review is in the press and will soon be ready for subscribers. If there be any nos. preceeding these that you have not recd. which I have reason to believe may be the case, please to send me a memo. of them and they shall be sent to you. I also take the liberty of...
106From James Madison to James Monroe, 19 March 1827 (Madison Papers)
Your two letters of Jany. 17 & 22. were duly recd. I hope your health was restored as soon as was promised by the decrease of your fever, and that it continues to be good. I inclose a Circular required by the resignation of Mr. Key, to which I have nothing to add on that subject. Our Colleagues protest against a “Called Board” on any acct. tho’ I fear the Creditors of the university will be...
107From James Madison to James Monroe, 11 December 1819 (Madison Papers)
I thank you for the copy of your Message. The moderation it breathes towards Spain will be approved generally at present, & universally hereafter. The time is passed when this policy could be ascribed to any other than its true motive. The present standing of the U.S. will secure to it a just interpretation every where. It is very satisfactory to learn that the greatest powers in Europe are...
108Enclosure: William H. Wilmer to Hugh Nelson, [before 2 February 1820] (Jefferson Papers)
This will be handed you by Mons r Calvo , Professor of the french language. His object in waiting upon you, is to obtain an introduction to his Excellency M r Jefferson of Monticello , who, he understands, is Patron of the Central College , & who, probably, might be disposed to favour his admission as a Professor in that Seminary. I have but a short acquaintance with M r Calvo , but as far as...
109To John Adams from François Adriaan Van der Kemp, 12 September 1824 (Adams Papers)
Confident, that, after Such a long Silence, a few Letters of an old friend, who allways revered you, and will continue to do So till his last breath, Shall not be unacceptable, I once more take up my pen I can not—after approaching my 73th foster the hope, that I Shall be permitted to do it often—But I will not delay it longer—as I hear neither from you or my N. England frends a word—except...
110From James Madison to Charles J. Ingersoll, 12 November 1825 (Madison Papers)
I have received the copy kindly sent me, of your “Discourse[”] before the Penn Society. It is to be wished that all the recurring occasions may be equally fruitful of interesting topics & views. Should the other States take the like course of instituting periodical commemorations of their Origin & Founders, and the model you have furnished on this and other occasions receive the attention due...
111Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Eston Randolph, 22 March 1817 (Jefferson Papers)
I sincerely regret that we happen to see the same subject in lights so very different, with respect to the mill . but the rent of a real property must, you know, be a fixt thing. as it’s original cost cannot be varied, so the interest or rent on that cannot vary with daily and transient occurrences, and especially on a lease for time. it is easy to reduce a rent, but impossible to raise it...
112Allan Pollock Jr. to James Madison, 4 June 1830 (Madison Papers)
I sent you immediately after the rising of the Virginia Convention– a copy Life of Arthur Lee– and did not know untill yesterday that it had never been delivered to Mr. Gray by the person who I sent it by from Richd. Accordingly I send you another copy– you can settle with Mr. Gray (the Post-Master) for the same at $4– I have not a copy like the first sent you, (in Russia) or I would send it...
It is a long time since I wrote you as I have again been very sick and utterly unable to put pen to paper—You may therefore readily imagine that I have nothing to write about any more than yourself as I have had nothing whatever to do with the great world for some time who are kind enough to believe me sick in consequence of the Presidential question—I will acknowledge that it is of a nature...
114Gabriel Crane to James Madison, 9 March 1828 (Madison Papers)
[ ] Now after the lapse of a number of years I have again to address a communication to you in the Name and by direction of the Supreme the Divine Author of the Scripture, to inform you that He is still upon the earth with intention of executing His most important Purposes, [relating] to its concerns. And further that I am still the organ of His Will upon the earth for the occasion as was...
115From John Adams to Benjamin Waterhouse, 27 July 1820 (Adams Papers)
I will not envy you but congratulate you on the pleasure you have had in your excursion to Washington But I covet the like pleasure so much that if I could do it with out stirring up an uproar, & hurly burly through the Contenent—Old as I am I would get into my Gig, & bend my course thitherward to morrow morning—. I regret most grievously that you did not Visit Cedar Grove—at Fishkill...
116Enclosure: Edwin Lewis to Harry Toulmin, [by 7 November 1820] (Jefferson Papers)
I should not deem it necessary to address you, nor the public, after you have retired from office with the consent of both the state and United States government, and by almost every persons consent, except your own, but for some vouchers which you sent to Washington City to disprove the truth of my charges vs. you, in congress . Among them is a letter of Abner S. Lipscombe , (now promoted to...
117Curtis Carter and William B. Phillips to [Nelson Barksdale], 24 March 1819 (Jefferson Papers)
we will contract with you to make & lay from seven to ten hundred Thousand Brick for the Virginia University and compleate it by the first day of November next for the following prices to wit For all walls faced with oil stock Brick $18/ M For all walls faced with sand Stock Brick $ 13 do all walls such as partitions brest of chimneys and Seller walls below the surfice $12 do The Bricks to be...
118Church Services for John Adams’s Death, July 1826 to August 1826 (Adams Papers)
Order of Performances. VOLUNTARY ON THE ORGAN. OCCASIONAL DIRGE....GERMAN HYMN. Columbia’s children bathed in tears, Before they throne, Jehovah , bow! And feel with humble hearts the stroke, That shrouds a nation deep in wo. Almighty Father ! low in earth Lies Monticello’s hoary Sage; Whose hand that Magna Charta drew, That stamped his country’s golden age. And, gracious
119To James Madison from Isaac Coffin, 22 December 1817 (Madison Papers)
Shortly after my arrival in England last August, your invaluable present of two wild Turkies were landed in England and received by my Friends the Messrs. Earles of Liverpool. I had set out on my Travels, and your obliging Letter reached me only a few days since. You have done more for me than all my Relations and friends have been able to accomplish in seven years. The Birds are placed under...
120Thomas Jefferson to Daniel Brent, 8 June 1817 (Jefferson Papers)
Long indulgence by your predecessors in the direction of the department of State in the privilege of getting my letters to Europe put under the same cover with their the official dispatches of the department has encoraged me to ask the same favor of you. my increasing aversion to writing will be a security against any abuse of this favor. on this ground I take the liberty of inclosing a letter...
121James Madison to Martin Van Buren, 11 December 1830 (Madison Papers)
I take a liberty, for which I must again apologize; in requesting that the enclosed letters may be forwarded with the first dispatches from the Office of State for Paris & Liverpool, renewing to you, at the same time, assurances of my high esteem & cordial respects. FC (DLC) .
Your Letter my caused me a mixture of feelings some pleasing some painful the latter because there is an evidence of a temper little calculated to promote the success of your wishes and evincing a disposition to rebel against your fathers order which must end unhappily to yourself—Be assured my dear Son that industry obedience and application will produce the best effects and that while you...
123James Madison to Thomas L. McKenney, 12 August 1828 (Madison Papers)
I have recd. your letter of the 4th. inst: with the publication contained in it; The opinion I have ever entertained of your integrity & honor, can not be changed by transactions involving controverted details, no longer within the scope of my attentions; nor by any thing short of an evidence of misconduct, which I certainly do not anticipate. Mrs. M. joins in the offer I make of continued...
124Thomas Jefferson’s List of Books to be Acquired in London, 21 October 1820 (Jefferson Papers)
Grammatica Anglo-Saxonica ex Hickesiano Thesauro excerpta. Institutiones grammaticae Anglo-Saxonicae et Moeso-Gothica Hickesii Vocabularium Anglo-Saxonicum à Benson . The Saxon Heptateuch by Thwaites . Spelman ’s Anglo-Saxon Psalter. Marshal ’s Saxon gospels. 4 to Dordrecht . 1665.
125To John Adams from Mathew Carey, 24 October 1821 (Adams Papers)
Several times since my return home, I have thought it wd be proper to write you on the subject of the Conversation that took place at your table as both business, & a certain reluctance to resume the subject, have prevented me from enacting this purpose.—Further reflexion has convinced me that justice to myself and to the cause of truth, imposes a duty on me, to vindicate the Olive Branch &...
126Thomas Jefferson to John Ayers & Company, 17 April 1821 (Jefferson Papers)
I have recieved the corn announced in your letter of the 9 th . considering it as a confidence on the part of mr Thayer for the benefit of the public, I shall feel it a duty to distribute it’s proceeds to all who shall be disposed to profit by it: and requesting permission to return my thanks to mr Thayer thro’ the same channel by which I recieved his favor, and to yourselves for your care of...
127Thomas C. Flournoy to Thomas Jefferson, 4 January 1819 (Jefferson Papers)
Permit me to renew my acquaintance, with one whom I esteem, very highly. Four or five years ago, I wrote you two letters, the last of which contained a fourth of July-speech . You were good enough to answer them both with promptness. Your first answer is dated 1 st October 1812 , your second 8 th of August 1814 . I have them yet, in your own hand writing , and will keep them till I die—indeed...
128From Thomas Jefferson to DeWitt Clinton, 30 April 1823 (Jefferson Papers)
I have duly received your favor of the 11 th with the description it covered of the Otsego Basse. born and bred among mountains, I have had less opportunity of becoming acquainted with the fishy tribe, however interesting, than with any other the objects of natural history. I should expect that the great inland seas of our country, insulated as they are, would furnish many examples of...
129From John Adams to Benjamin Waterhouse, 25 December 1817 (Adams Papers)
It was not friendly in you to involve me in your domestic & family Controversies Major Pierce Butler told me that he made a voyage to England from S Carolina to ask his fathers consent to marry a Lady, whom he was determined to marry, whether his father consented, or not. And I believe you ask my advice with the same resolution I have seen Fanaticism in all its forms. the fanaticism of honour,...
130Minutes of the Board of Visitors of the University of Virginia, 7 October 1826 (Madison Papers)
The board met pursuant to adjournment: present the same members as yesterday. Resolved that the proctor be directed to refund to the several professors, the advances by them made for venitian blinds; when, in the opinion of the executive committee, such appropriation shall be justified by the state of the funds. Resolved that the communication of the faculty respecting books, be referred to...
131James Madison to James Wattles, 19 July 1835 (Madison Papers)
I have received Sir, your letter of the 13th. and regret that I cannot find among my papers the letter of Chief Justice Marshall to which you refer. Such a letter was certainly presented to me, and left an impression very favorable to your talent in taking likenesses. As your portrait of Mr. Marshall doubtless exists and his opinion of it can thro’ his family be obtained as well as their own...
132Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Appleton, 28 May 1819 (Jefferson Papers)
My last to you was of Apr. 4 . which went by duplicates. since that I have recieved yours of Apr. 29. Aug. 26. and Nov. 10. the accident which delayed the reciept of the bill of exchange for M. and M e Pini has been the subject of infinite regret and mortification to me; there being nothing on which my attention is more religiously fixed than on the punctual remittance of the annual interest...
133To James Madison from William Whann, 15 December 1818 (Madison Papers)
I have recd. by the mail of this day a check drawn by James Monroe on this Bank for 1.200 Dolls. which, according to the endorsement I have placed to your credit in this Bank. Very Respectfully I have the Honor to be Sir Your Obt Sert RC ( DLC ). Docketed by JM. This sum was probably in payment for wine; see Monroe to JM, 13 Feb. , and JM to Monroe, 18 Feb. 1818 . William Whann (d. 1822) was...
134James Madison to Robert Walsh, 22 August 1831 (Madison Papers)
I inclose the answer of Mr. Scott on the subject of Bishop Madison, as just received that you may extract the materials suited to your object. The intellectual power and diversified learning of the Bishop may justly be spoken of in strong terms; and few men have equally deserved the praise due to a model of all the virtues social, domestic, and personal which adorn and endear the human...
135Thomas Jefferson to Patrick Gibson, 27 January 1821 (Jefferson Papers)
Your favor of the 9 th was recieved in due time. I do not know the exact date or amount of my note in the bank of Virginia , except that the latter is between 11. & 1200.D. I therefore inclose you a blank, hoping it is in time for renewal. I find myself so much declining by age and ill health in the attention and energy necessary for business that I am turning every thing over to my grandson...
136To Thomas Jefferson from W.H. Tarpley, 12 July 1824 (Jefferson Papers)
I address you as the sage of America, as one intimately acquainted with the human heart, and who will rightly appreciate all its effusions. “As one to whom the bliss belongs which only wisdom, of celestial birth brings in her train.” My object in writing, is to make a request which I am well assured, if you cannot comply with you will readily excuse. It is to solicit some employment about your...
137From John Adams to François Adriaan Van der Kemp, 3 January 1823 (Adams Papers)
A friend in need, is a friend indeed; you must certainly have read Shakespear, and have learnt from him, when you have once made a friend, to grapple him to your Soul with hooks of Steeal. You have been constantly grappling me for more than forty years—The newspapers have brought to me your correspondence with Mr. Yates, and that has introduced a correspondence between him and me And what is...
138William Maury to Thomas Jefferson, 18 July 1821 (Jefferson Papers)
Since I had the pleasure of seeing you, I have received from my Father letters, upon the subject of my letter to you from New Orleans in which he approves of the course I there adopted— But desires me to avoid any expression leading to an idea of his resigning “for, he adds, such an idea might possibly give birth to another: Viz that, from the Wear & Tear of years I ought to do so— ” Now this...
139From James Madison to Dennis A. Smith, 26 February 1825 (Madison Papers)
I have received your letter of the 21st. in which you request me to express an opinion of your conduct at a critical period of the last war, particularly as a Loan Contractor with the public. The lapse of time & absence of occasions for the recurrence of my memory to the transactions to which you were a party, not to mention my less intimate knowledge of them than that of the then Secretary of...
140From Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Lehré, 1 August 1823 (Jefferson Papers)
Age and debility after a recent illness oblige Th: Jefferson to borrow the pen of another to thank Col o Lehré for his kind letter of July 5. to assure him of the gratification it affords him to learn that those who have thought well of him continue their kind dispositions and that those who have thought otherwise begin to change opinions. he never had a wish but for the good of all his...
141From John Adams to Thomas Goodsell, 4 May 1819 (Adams Papers)
Be pleased to accept my thanks—for an address from the Agricultural Society of the County of Oneida by Alexander Coventry Esqr.— Tho I have not the honour, of knowing, or being known—either to yourself or Mr Coventry I have not the less obligation to both for this favour—I have been more amused with this Address than with any I have ever read upon such occasions—it has laid open sources of...
142From James Madison to Thomas Cooper, 23 March 1827 (Madison Papers)
Your letter of the 8th. is just recd & with it a copy of the Printed Circular on the same subject. I forward both to the Faculty of our University who are prohibited by one of its Statutes “from receiving into it any person who has been a Student at any other incorporated Seminary, but on producing a Certificate therefrom, or other satisfactory evidence, with respect to his general good...
143Thomas Jefferson to John Gardiner, 28 May 1818 (Jefferson Papers)
Th: Jefferson presents his compliments to mr Gardiner and his thanks for the handsome Map of the Alabama territory , which he has been so kind as to send him . the rapid advance of that portion of our country into notice and estimation renders it now entirely interesting. he salutes mr Gardiner with esteem and respect. PoC ( MHi ); on verso of reused address cover of Charles Willson Peale to...
144From James Madison to Thomas Herttell, 20 December 1819 (Madison Papers)
I have been some time a debtor for your favor of Novr. 11th accompanied by a Copy of your Exposé. It reached me at a time when my attention had some particular calls on it; and I was so unlucky as to lose by an accident, the answer which I had prepared for a late mail. I now repeat the thanks it contained for your communication. I have read with pleasure the interesting lights in which you...
145James Madison to William Allen, 28 July 1832 (Madison Papers)
The waggon will take you a load of flour this evening which please sell & inform me of the amount of its proceeds. A return load of plaister may be sent up with the articles mentioned in the memorandum annexed. ½ bushel Cranberries 1 bunch best quills 2 lbs black teas 2 lbs green } 5# Canister best green do. 1 Keg Lisbon Wine. Draft (DLC) .
146From Francis Walker Gilmer to Thomas Hewitt Key, 28 September 1824 (Jefferson Papers)
This covenant entered into sat London, on this 28th day of September in the year 1824, between Francis W. Gilmer attorney in fact for the university of Virginia of the one part, and Thomas Hewett Key of the other part, Witnesseth, that the said Gilmer attorney in fact for the rector & visitors of the university of Virginia doth hereby appoint the said Key a professor in the said university,...
147To John Adams from David Hosack, 29 September 1824 (Adams Papers)
You are respectfully informed, that at a meeting of the NEW-YORK HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, held on the 31st day of August 1824, you were elected an HONORARY MEMBER. By order of the Society, MHi : Adams Papers.
148To James Madison from Henry Lee, 19 November 1825 (Madison Papers)
The inclination which I expressed to you several years ago, in 1823 I believe, to devote myself to the cultivation of letters, still besets me, & I have been fortunate enough to select a subject which is capable of receiving and conferring ⟨imperishable?⟩ honour. Whether I shall be able to do it justice is a question which labour, patience, diligence, & the inspiration of the historic muse,...
149Thomas Jefferson to Levett Harris, 22 June 1820 (Jefferson Papers)
I recieved yesterday your favor of the 15. and sincerely regret the misunderstanding mentioned in it, of which that letter was the first notice. I can say conscientiously that your services gave me, while in office, the most perfect satisfaction. not apprised of the service I can render you at the interview proposed, retired as I am from all intermedling with the transaction s of the...
150Thomas Jefferson to James Monroe, 21 February 1818 (Jefferson Papers)
I am the more indebted for your friendly letter of Feb. 13. mentioning the charges against Cathalan , because a long, an intimate and personal acquaintance with him interest my wishes for his welfare, so far as justice permits; while I certainly should not be his advocate if guilty of serious delinquencies of office. but I observe that all these complaints have originated since mr Fitch began...