From James Madison to Thomas Jefferson, 15 August 1810
To Thomas Jefferson
Montpelier Aug. 15. 1810
Dear Sir
I am offered the services of a Mr. Magee,1 now living with Mr. Randolph, as an overseer. I have discountenanced his offer, partly from an ignorance of his character, but particularly from the uncertainty whether Mr. R. means to part with him. Will you be kind eno’, by a line, merely to say 1st. whether it is decided that he is not to remain where he is, the only condition on which I wd. listen to a negociation. 2. whether his conduct as an overseer recommends him to attention.2
RC (DLC). Incomplete (see n. 2). Docketed by Jefferson, “recd Aug. 15.”
1. William McGehee was probably one of the sons of the William McGehee from whom Jefferson had purchased nearly two hundred acres of land in Albemarle County, Virginia, in 1774. In August 1809 he had been engaged by Thomas Mann Randolph to manage Tufton, the property adjacent to Monticello that Jefferson intended to develop as his “main dependance” during his retirement (Edgar Woods, Albemarle County in Virginia [Charlottesville, Va., 1901], p. 259; “Agreement with William Macgehe,” 8 Aug. 1809 [MHi: Jefferson Papers]; Jefferson to Martha Jefferson Randolph, 27 Feb. 1809, Betts and Bear, Family Letters of Jefferson, p. 386).
2. Paragraph ends here. Lower part of page has been clipped.