Thomas Jefferson to George Hadfield, 10 September 1822
To George Hadfield
Monticello Sep. 10. 22.
Sir
I had the pleasure, a few days ago, of recieving from your sister, mrs Cosway, a letter dated London July 10. covering that which I now inclose you. she was shortly to leave London for Lodi her future residence. I shall write to her very soon at that place. should you have no better means of conveying a letter to her than under the cover of mine, I shall forward it with pleasure, and be glad to be enabled to inform her that you are in health & doing well. accept my friendly and respectful salutations.
Th: Jefferson
PoC (DLC); on verso of reused address cover of William DuVal to TJ, 13 June 1821; at foot of text: “Mr George Hadfield”; endorsed by TJ. Enclosure not found.
George Hadfield (1763–1826), architect and younger brother of TJ’s friend Maria Cosway, was born in Florence, Italy, and educated at the Royal Academy of Arts in London early in the 1780s. After working as an assistant to the noted designer James Wyatt, 1784–90, he won a scholarship from the Royal Academy and spent several years back in Italy honing his craft. In 1795 Hadfield came to Washington, D.C., to superintend the construction of the United States Capitol. Friction with his fellow architect William Thornton, among other things, led to his dismissal from that position three years later. Hadfield subsequently patented a machine for making bricks and tiles, founded an architectural academy, became a naturalized American citizen in 1802, and designed many buildings in and around Washington, including an arsenal, a branch of the Second Bank of the United States, the city hall, a jail, a theater, and Arlington House, the mansion that overlooks what later became Arlington National Cemetery. He died at his residence in Washington (The Journals of Benjamin Henry Latrobe [1977–80], 3:72; C. M. Harris and Daniel Preston, eds., Papers of William Thornton [1995– ], vol. 1; , 22; Hadfield’s naturalization record [DNA: RG 21, CCDCMB, 14 Aug. 1802]; Washington Daily National Intelligencer, 6, 13 Feb. 1826; gravestone inscription in Congressional Cemetery, Washington).
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