To Thomas Jefferson from Nicholas Herbemont, 29 March 1804
From Nicholas Herbemont
Charleston S.C. 29th March 1804
Sir
If, from enquiry you Should think me fit to be one of the persons whom you may appoint to ascertain the extent & boundaries of Louisiana, & make Surveys on the Red river & Arcansas, or Such parts of Louisiana as you may think proper, I would with the greatest pleasure afford my adopted country all the Services in my power, either as a Surveyor, Secretary, or assistant to the person you may chose to be at the head of the expedition. I could also Serve as an interpreter in the french language as occasion might require.
I am a native of france, & have been these fourteen years in different parts of the United States of which I have become a Citizen, induced Solely by my Sincere attachment to the Government.
I have lived as a tutor in the family of the late General Everard Meade of Amelia County in Virginia to whose friendship I owe my acquaintance with Messrs John Randolph, Joseph Eggleston, Governor William C. C. Claiborn & others.
Although I cannot boast of profound knowledge, Natural Philosophy is my delight, & Should my Services be acceptable, my best endeavours will be to promote, either by my exertions or writings, the wellfare of this country.
I have the honor to be Sir Your most obedient Sert.
N. herbemont
RC (DNA: RG 59, LAR); endorsed by TJ as received 20 Apr. and “to be Surveyor Louisa.” and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure: Certificate written and signed by Joseph Purcell, South Carolina land surveyor and state geographer, Charleston, 16 June 1803, attesting to Herbemont’s “knowledge and skill” as a surveyor (MS in same).
Nicholas Herbemont (1771-1839), a native of the Champagne district of France, settled in South Carolina as of 1800. His English translation of Jean Louis Dubroca’s biography of Toussaint-Louverture was published in 1802 in Charleston, where he widely advertised his French language evening school and his services as a tutor. In 1807, he became a professor of French at South Carolina College in Columbia. A gardener who experimented in viticulture, he established a successful vineyard, popularized a Madeira grape that bore his name, became a founder and curator of the Agricultural Society of South Carolina, and published his writings in various agrarian journals (The Life of Toussaint Louverture, Late General in Chief and Governor of the Island of Saint Domingo, trans. Nicholas Herbemont [Charleston, 1802]; Charleston City Gazette, 7 Oct. 1801; Charleston Courier, 25 Nov. 1803, 14 Jan. 1805; David S. Shields, ed., Pioneering American Wine: Writings of Nicholas Herbemont, Master Viticulturist [Athens, Ga., 2009], 9-15, 282-3).