Thomas W. Maury to Thomas Jefferson, 16 November 1805
From Thomas W. Maury
Albemarle 16th. Novr. 1805.
Dear Sir
The confidence you repose in me and your attentions to my interest claim my warmest gratitude. I will endeavour to deserve them.
Of the three offices offer’d me, I presume there cannot be much difficulty in making a choice. the superior advantages of that at Fort St. Stephens being such, as to entitle it to a decided preference I must therefore beg the favor of you to consider it as my choice, in case it should be necessary to make the appointment immediately. otherwise, it would be an accommodation to me to postpone it untill the 20. or 21. of the month, by which time I shall be in Washington.
yr. mo: obt.
Tho. W. Maury
RC (DNA: RG 59, LAR); endorsed by TJ as received 19 Nov. and so recorded in SJL with notation “to be.”
Thomas W. Maury (ca. 1780-1842) was the grandson of the Reverend James Maury, whose Albemarle County school TJ attended. He was admitted to the Albemarle County bar in 1800. Maury’s tenure as receiver at Fort St. Stephens was short-lived, as concern for his health led him to resign in 1807. He returned to Albemarle County, where he oversaw a school, became a justice of the peace, and was elected to two terms in the Virginia House of Delegates. In 1818, he served as secretary of the commission led by TJ that chose the site for the University of Virginia (, 377, 381; Richmond Enquirer, 8 Mch. 1842; , 14:348; , 281, 285; , 4:500n; 13:182–4).