Thomas Jefferson Papers
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Memorandum Books, 1823

1823.

Jan. 1. Charity to Indians 1.D.
5. Hhd. xp. .50 Ned sewers 1.D. hhd. xp. .25.
10. Assumed Edm. Meek’s order to G. W. Nicholas for 31.72 due Jan. 8. Charity 1.D. Huntington books 1.D. 11. Hhd. xp. .50.
17. Promised to be security for John Gorman for 200 D. payable in 12. months.15
18. Hhd. xp. .50.
22. Executed a bond to The President & masters or professors of the Coll. of Wm. & Mary of Virga. for 24,705.D. of which they are to pay to the bk. US. the 20,000.D. for which I am bound to them as security for W. C. Nicholas decd.16
26. Hhd. xp. 1.75 + .25.
Feb. 1. Hhd. xp. .75. 2. Do. 1.D.
4. James, Ben & Lewis enter & begin with Mr. Hatch @ 50.D. a year each.
Recd. from Th:J. Randolph his ord. on B. Peyton for 400.D.
6. Huntington a book 2.50. 8. Hhd. xp. 1.42.
 
9. Ned sewers 1.D.—hhd. xp. 1.D.
10. Inclosed to B. Peyton Th:J. Randolph’s note in my favor for 400.D.
12. Drew on B. Peyton in favr. Jacobs & Raphael for 375.D.
this pays their last quarter’s bill groceries  83. 25
I now recieve cash 50.
leaving balance in his hands 241. 75
375.
Repd. James Leitch the 19.50 & 25 D. ante and butter bought amounting to 50.D. now paid.
13. Drew on Jacobs & Raphael in favor of
D 
Revd. Mr. Hatch 100.
Thos. W. Maury 40.
G. W. Nicholas ante Jan. 10.  31. 88
Edmd. Meeks in full 38. 69
210. 57
15. Hhd. xp. .25 do. .25—18. Do. 1.D.
19. Do. .75 + .25.
27. Executed bond to Archbd. Robertson for 1918.85 D. with int. from July 31. 1822. for store acct.
Mar. 1. Recd. of Raphael 31.D. 2. Hhd. xp. .37½.
6. Returned to Raphael 21.96 to cover an acct. of Wolf & Raphael 22.14 addnal. to the 83.25 Jacobs & Raphl. ante.
Hhd. exp. 1.D. 9. Ned sewers 1.D. hhd. xp. 1.D.
11. Charity 1.D.
12. Hhd. exp. 2.50. 15. Do. 1.25. 17. Charity 1.D.
18. Hhd. xp. .62½. 21. Hhd. xp. 1.50.
21. Inclosed to B. Peyton notes for renewal in the banks. See 1821. July 6. and 1822. June 27.
1823. Mar. statement of debts17
sum due when
Coffee Wm. J. 99. 27 
pd. Rawlings fire insurance 84. 40
Antrim
Cosby Dabney
Leroy & Bayard 2083. 20  1. y. int.
Lyle Jas. (Tarlton Saunders) 1200.  July 1. 23
Miller B. (Barrett agent) 1150.  May 23
 
Pini 444.
Dodge & Oxnard. wines 200 
Eppes Francis books 45. 89
Eppes John W.
University. machine 25.
Massie Charles 23. 16
Watkins Dr.
Ragland Dr.
Bishop Joseph 39. 13
Lietch Jas. last account
Robertson Archibald 1918. 85  1822.  July 1
Gough
Dawson Martin (for E. Bacon) 80. June 1. 
Winn John. for do. 48. June
Jones John R. for do. 96. 36 June
Branham & Bibb for do. 16. 62 June
Bacon Edmd. for John Bacon  160. 58
Hatch 75.  Aug. 4.
Proctor Hanah 800.  Sep. 1.
Gorman John say  200.  Jan. 17. 24
Higginbotham David  2848. 67  1815. Aug. 1
Carden Youen abt.  160.
Ham Elijah 419. 61  1819. Jan. 23.
Brand’s exrs. 339. 60  1811. Nov. 4
Chisolm Hugh
Nielson John 843. 50  1820. May 31
Yancey Joel
Lietch Jas. bond 5529.  1820. Oct. 28
Welsh. for Mr. Wayles  £684–6–3 1810. Jul. 20
<Hanbury. for do. but qu.?>
1823.
Mar. 21. Recd. from Th:J. Randolph his draught on Bernard Peyton for 100.D.
22. Inclosed it to B. Peyton and desired him to remit the proceeds to Wm. John Coffee at N. Y. to pay his bill for ornaments18 for the Bedford house.
 
Hhd. xp. 1.D.
24. Pd. Callard for 121. ℔ beef 5.D. still owe him 2.25.
25. Pd. him the 2.25 pd. Lee for 128. ℔ do. 7.68.
Borrowed of Jas. Leitch 20.D. pd. a smith .16⅔.
28. Gave Ed. Meeks ord. on Jas. Leitch for 15.D.
30. Hhd. xp. 1.D. 31. Do. 2.31.
Apr. 2. Hhd. xp. .50—4. D. Isaacs butter .50.
6. Ned sewers 1. 7. Hhd. xp. 4.D.
8. Charity 1.D. 9. Do. 1.D.
11. Drew on B. Peyton in favr. Alexr. Garret bursar for 25.D. to refund so much overpd. for hoisting machine Oct. 5. 22.
12. Hhd. xp. 3.D. 16. Do. 1.
18. Drew on Bernard Peyton favr. Jacobs & Raphael 140 D.
Pd. James Lietch 35.D. ante Mar. 25. 28.
19. Pd. Nichs. Lewis for 160.f. plank 1.67 hhd. xp. .25.
Gave Burwell gratuity 20.D.
20. Gave J. Hemings gratuity 20.D. 21. Hhd. xp. 1.10.
22. Sent N. H. Lewis 4/10 to make up short pament ante Apr. 19.
Subscribed to Albemarle library19 4. shares @ 10.D. each.
23. Pd. Wm. Suttle by order of Edmd. Meeks 25.D.
Davy has burnt a kiln of 40. cords yielding 1276. bushels, to wit 32 bushels to the cord, at .05 to the bush. is 1.60 his premium. Note the coal house now built is 10. by 19. clear.
The  body  8 f. high, roof 3.f.
The body holds  1520.  cub.f. =  1213.  bushels
roof  270  =   217 
1790  1430 
24. Inclosed blank notes for renewal at banks to B. Peyton. ante 159. 166.20
26. Hhd. xp. .25—fish 1.D. 27. Hhd. xp. .25.
27. Recd. back from G. Divers the .75 ante Nov. 1. 21. 28. Hhd. xp. 1.D.
30. Hhd. xp. .37½.
May 2. Hhd. xp. .50—4. Do. 1. pd. Davy 1.62 for kiln. ante Apr. 23.
 
4. Pd. Landum 5.32 f. 400 f. plank from Colo. Monroe’s saw mill.
5. Hhd. xp. .12½ pd. Saml. Cobbs sawing in full 9.33.
8. Hhd. exp. 1.D.
9. Sent Robt. Lindsay for 500.f. plank 5.D.

10.
D 
Drew on B. Peyton in favor Jacobs & Raphael  150
 this pays their Quarter’s account 101.75  } 150
 and I now recieve from them cash 48.25 
Cash in hand 48.25 + 11.56 = 59.81.
Ned sewers 1. Hhd. xp. 1.D.
13. Hhd. exp. .50.
14. Set out to Bedford. Cornelia for Vales 2.D.

Warren. Brown’s arrears, lodging &c. 6.62¼. } 22.7021
    ferry. ferrge. & arrearages 2.95.
Mrs. Flood’s. oats, and arrearages 1.50 Patterson’s lodgg. &c. 5.62½.
Hunter’s breakft. & arrearages 3.25 Campbell C. H. oats .75.
15.

16.
Cash in hand 35.19.
23. Gave order on B. Peyton to pay for Bac.’s Abr. for F. Eppes (nevr. usd. post Oct. 20.22
25. Campbell C. H. oats .62½ Hunter’s do. .37½ H. Flood’s lodging &c. 3.75.
26. Mrs. Flood’s brkft. 2. Warren. Serjeant ferrge. 1.19 Brown’s oats .37½.
27. Enniscorthy vales 1.50 all = 9.81½ Cash in hand = 24.75.
29. Hhd. xp. 1.
June 1. Do. .25. 4. Charity 5.D. Hhd. exp. 1.D.
6. Hhd. exp. .50 assumed to Wm. Watson on E. Bacon’s order 23.D.
Ned sewers 1. 8. Hhd. xp. 4.D. 13. Do. 1. 14. Do. 1.
18. Nigrin. silversmith .25. 24. Hhd. exp. 1.D.
26. Withdrew insurance of my houses at Milton.
29. Hhd. xp. 2.D.
Sales of tobo. by Bernard Peyton
 D
 Monticello 4.  hhds.  5771.  @ 6.05.  nett proceeds =  349.38
 Pop. Forest  10. 14229.  @ 6.36 904.14
 
30. Hhd. xp. .25.
July 4. Plan of University23 .50. hhd. xp. 1.25 Do. 1.
5. Sales of 9. hhds. P. F. tobo. by B. Peyton 11,814. ℔ nett 708.33 to wit sales 795.96 – 87.63 charges at 6.D.
6. Hhd. xp. .19.
12. Drew on B. Peyton in favor Jacobs & Raphael 100 D.
Recd. cash 55.D. pd.  Benson 7. pr. cotton stockgs. 6.12½.
13. B. Peyton has pd. curtail of 200.D. on my smaller note in Farmer’s bk. which reduces it to 1600.D.
Ned sewers 1.D. Hhd. xp. 1.D. 14. Do. 1.25.
B. Peyton about this time remits 125 D. to Leroy and Bayard for me.
See post Sep. 27. Pini. 15. Gave ord. on Jacobs & Raphael in favor of Charles J. Meriwether24
for 45.D. and paid him cash 2.11 makg.
47.11 amt. of his bill of sawing.
Inclosed to John Laval Phila. 10.D. for books.
Inclosed to Henry Niles 5.D. for the Weekly Register.
Hhd. exp. 3.80 pd. Mr. Winn for a gun for Benjamin 18.D.
16. Hhd. exp. 1.D.
Aug. 2. Desired B. Peyton to remit to J. H. Hall of Phila. 25.D. for me as a charity to Colo. Russell.25
3. Moses26 sewers 1.D. hhd. xp. .50.
4. Gave Charles Massey ord. on Jas. Leitch 23.17 D. for cyder.
5. Drew on B. Peyton in favr. Jacobs & Raphael for 140.D. to wit 73.42 their bill of last quarter + 66.58.
8. Hhd. xp. .25. 9. Do. 2.D. Do. 1. 10. Do. 1.25.
15. Recd. of Raphael the 66.58 ante Aug. 5.
Repd. James Leitch 23.17 ante Aug. 4. Huntington books 7.D.
Pd. Leschot garters and chrystal .75.
 
16. Inclosed to John Laval Philada. 10.D. on acct. for books.
17. Hhd. xp. 2. + .32.
18. Th:J. Randolph has pd. Wm. Watson the 23.D. ante June 6. also an order of E. Bacon on me for 15.D. to Overton
Maupin and we direct Dabney Terril to pay Bacon  100.D.  in his hands
138
this leaves  22.38 27 still due to him. See ante Oct. 16. 22.
+ interest 8.84 to wit on 160.58. to Sep. 1. 23
31.42 with int. from Sep. 1. till paid.
Hhd. exp. 1.D.
Aug. 19. Accepted E. Meeks’s order in favr. Norman Roberts for 25.D. as if now due & 20. + int. from Apr. 1. 2. months hence.
22. Plan Univty. .25. 23. Gratuity to Chisolm’s Lewis 1.D.
24. Hhd. xp. .20.
25. Inclosed to B. Peyton notes for renewal in bk.
26. Gave ord. on James Leitch for 15.D. favr. of A. S. Brockenbro for a book purchased from Richard Ware.28
Hhd. exp. 1.D.
29. Gave Branham & Bibb ord. on Jas. Leitch for 16.62 my assumpsit for E. Bacon ante Oct. 16. 21.29
Sep. 3. Hhd. xp. .93½. 6. Do. 1. 7. Moses sewers 1.D. hhd. xp. 2.50.
11. Hhd. exp. 1.
12. Pd. Haskeill30 candles 7.45. borrowd. J. Leitch 10 D.
14. Hhd. xp. 2.50 do. 2.50.
15. Charge John Perry 5. bar. flour delivd. him 1822 by T. E. Randolph on my order.
T. E. Randolph charges me the following paimts. to T. J. Randolph
 D
 1822.  Feb.  6.  cash 300
July 1. allowed him credit on acct. 123.60
allowed Dr. Ragland’s acct. agt. Th:J.R.  306.50
730.10
21. Hhd. expences 2.50. 22. Do. .75.
26. Drew on B. Peyton in favor Jacobs & Raphael 200 D.
Desired him to pay Jos. Bishop my acct. Sadlery from Jan. 29. 21 76.46 D.
Recd. from Raphael 15.D.
 
27. Inclosed to Mr. Bowman31 10.D. for burial service of W. M. Cary.
Hhd. xp. 1.75 + 1.50 + 1.D.
B. Peyton on the 15th. of July remitted a bill of Joseph Marx and co. drawn on George Marx of London in favr. Saml. Williams of London for £99–18 sterl. costing here 470.64 to pay to Thos. Appleton for M. & Me. Pini 444.D. interest of last year on my debt to them, excha. 6. p. ct.
29. Hhd. xp. 1.
Gave order on Raphael in favr. Jas. W. Ford for 50 D. for 2 portraits.32
Oct. 3. Recd. from Raphael 58.54 balance of the 200. ante Sep. 26.
5. Moses sewers 1. 8. Hhd. xp. 3.D.
Paid Dr. Watkins 50.D. medical services.
9. Drew on B. Peyton in favr. Jacobs & Raphael for 200 D.
Recd. from Raphael 200.D.
10. Pd. F. Hatch half year’s tuition of James, Ben & Lewis 75.D.
Repd. Mr. Leitch 41.62 for the loans ante Aug. 26. 29. Sep. 12.
Drew on B. Peyton for 113.12 favr. Sheriff Albemarle for public dues of this year.
Recd. of Wm. Watson 15.D. by Joe for smith’s work.
11. Gave Joe his portion of do. 2.50.
12. Pd. D. M. Randolph33 50.D. as witness agt. the Hudsons.
Hhd. xp. .50 + .50 + [ ] Do. 1.
Inclosed to Philip Barber 10.D. for opinion in Fr. Eppes’s case.34
 
14. Mr. Lindsay vales .50. 15. Jas. Barber’s do. 1.D.
16. Mr. Madison’s .50 Th:J.’s Titus 1.D.
18. Leschot chrystal .50. 19. Hhd. exp. 1.D.
20. Hhd. exp. 1.75.
Oct. 20. Recd. back from Dav. M. Randolph 20.D. part of the 50.D. ante Oct. 12. as so much overpaid. 23. Hhd. exp. 1.D.
25. Pd. Edmd. Meeks 10.D. 26. Hhd. xp. .25 + .50.
28. Haskill 5. pr. stockings 2.87½. 31. Hhd. xp. 1.
Nov. 1. Paid for mending coffee pot 10.D.
3. Pd. Leschot mendg. watch 1.D.
Assume for Edmd. Meeks to pay to G. W. Nicholas whatever balance I may owe him at the end of the year.
Hhd. xp. .50. 4. TMR’s Isaac stone work .50.
5. Gave Andrew Ziegler ord. on Jas. Leitch for 24.D. for 2. pumps.
6. Hhd. xp. .37½. 8. Hhd. xp. 6.D. 9. Do. 1.
15. Edm. Meeks cooking for Johnson 4.25.
Moses sewers 1.D.
20. Gave Francis Eppes order on B. Peyton for 45.89 and took in the order ante May 23 which he had not used.
23. Hhd. xp. 1.50 + 1. Do. 1.
25. Inclosed to B. Peyton notes for renewal in banks.
28. Desired Jas. Leitch to pay 20 D. to Norman Roberts on acct. of the assumpsit for E. Meeks ante Aug. 19. Hhd. exp. 1.D.
30. Hhd. xp. 2.D. + 1.D.
Dec. 2. Hhd. xp. .75. 8. Do. 1.D.
9. Gave Edm. Meeks ord. on Jas. Leitch for 5.D.’s worth of goods to reimburse him that sum spent of his own money going to Bedford. He left off work Nov. 30.
12. Hhd. xp. 1.75. 14. Moses sewers 1.D.
16. Gave W. B. Philips35 order on Jas. Leitch for 5.50 for brickwork.
19. Recd. from Charles Massey 151. galls. of cyder.
23. Hhd. exp. 1.D.
24. Borrowed of Jas. Leitch 15.D. 25. Hhd. xp. 2.D.
25. The boys to see Ventriloquist 2.D. 26. Charity 3.D.
 
26. Drew on B. Peyton in favr. Jas. Leitch to repay the articles ante Nov. 5. 28. Dec. 16. 24. = 64.50.
Drew on do. in favr. of Jacobs & Raphael for 200.D. to pay their balance of the last quarter 160.76 the balance to be held at my order.
29. Recd. of I. Raphael 39.25. 30. Gave in charity 25.D.36

15This money, which was paid to James Leitch, covered the cost of John Gorman’s making and installing capitals and bases of the columns of Monticello’s west portico (Gorman account, 30 Aug. 1823, MHi; TJ’s “Observns. on Mr. Gorman’s account,” undated, MHi).

16This loan, the money for which was derived from the sale of Wilson C. Nicholas’ Warren property, on which the College of William and Mary had a lien, was actually made to TJR—as Nicholas’ executor and on TJ’s behalf. The final payment on TJR’s indebtedness to the College was not made until 1878 (Indenture, 22 Jan. 1823, ViU; Vance, “TJR,” p. 83; MB 1 May 1818).

17The total of the given figures, not including the £684–6–3 owed on the Wakelin Welch debt, is $18,929.84. In ViU is a more complete list of debts, dated 1 Apr. 1823, which fills in some of the blanks here, calculates interest owed, and includes TJ’s major debts and bank loans, which do not appear here. By this tabulation TJ owed more than $73,000, again not including the Welch debt: over $42,000 in principal debts and interest, $21,200 on the W. C. Nicholas debt, and close to $10,000 in mostly small accounts due in 1823. By an extraordinary exercise in wishful thinking, TJ then drew up a schedule of repayment, based on underestimated expenses and visionary profits, in which he calculated that the proceeds of his farms would enable him to make annual payments of almost $8,000. These, plus $20,000 realized from a planned sale of eighty slaves, would pay off his own debts by 1827, the Nicholas debt by 1830, and, as he wrote, “the lands will all be saved.”

18 William J. Coffee had made classical composition ornaments for the friezes of two rooms at Poplar Forest as well as for the University of Virginia (TJ to Coffee, 14 June 1822, 22 Mch. 1823; Frederick D. Nichols, “Jefferson’s Retreat: Poplar Forest,” The Iron Worker, xxxviii, No. 2 [1974], 11).

19Organized in Mch. 1823 and incorporated in 1824, the Albemarle Library Society opened a circulating library on Court Square in Charlottesville in the summer of 1823. TJ, who was a member of the committee to prepare a catalogue of books, recommended that novels be excluded from the collection (Newton Bond Jones, “Charlottesville and Albemarle County, Virginia, 1819-1860,” Ph.D. diss., University of Virginia, 1950, p. 134-5; Rawlings, Early Charlottesville, p. 22-3 description begins Mary Rawlings, ed., Early Charlottesville: Recollections of James Alexander 1828-1874, Charlottesville, Va., 1942 description ends ; TJ to Frederick W. Hatch, 13 Mch. 1823).

20TJ’s page numbers refer to MB entries at 6 July 1821 and 27 June 1822.

21Total includes vales of 14 Mch.

22Actually MB 20 Nov. 1823. “Bac.’s Abr.” is Matthew Bacon’s A New Abridgement of the Law (see MB 7 May 1771, cash accounts).

23This is the first of several recorded purchases of the well-known engraving of the ground plan of the University of Virginia by Peter Maverick (1780-1831), first published in 1822. TJ, who had arranged for this advertisement for his academical village, had made the studies for the drawing by John Neilson on which this print was based (Edwin M. Betts, “Groundplans and Prints of the University of Virginia, 1822-1826,” Procs. Amer. Phil. Soc., xc, No. 2 [1946], 81-90; Nichols, Nos. 382-5 description begins Thomas Jefferson’s Architectural Drawings, ed. Frederick D. Nichols, 4th ed., Charlottesville, Va., 1978 description ends ; William B. O’Neal, ed., American Association of Architectural Bibliographers, Papers vi [Charlottesville, Va., 1969], p. 75-8).

24 Charles J. Meriwether, son of William D. Meriwether, lived just west of Monticello at Mooresbrook (Woods, Albemarle, p. 272-3 description begins Edgar Woods, Albemarle County in Virginia, 1901, repr. Bridgewater, Va., n.d. description ends ).

25A group of Philadelphians had asked TJ to come to the aid of Colonel Russell, who was a native Virginian and Revolutionary War veteran who had lost all his property by fire; he was not known to TJ (J. H. Hall et al. to TJ, 20 July 1823; TJ to Hall, 2 Aug. 1823).

26Probably Moses (b. 1803), son of Ned and Jenny.

27Correctly $22.58.

28Philadelphia carpenter and house joiner Richard Ware had built a number of the structures at the University of Virginia (TJ letter of recommendation for Ware, 13 Aug. 1823; O’Neal, “Workmen,” p. 14, 31-5).

29Correctly 1822.

30 Alexander St. Clair Heiskell was a general merchant near the University of Virginia (AlCDB, xxiii, 343 description begins Albemarle County Deed Books, Albemarle County Courthouse, Charlottesville, Va. description ends ; Charlottesville Central Gazette, 25 Dec. 1824).

31Charlottesville’s Presbyterian pastor Rev. Francis Bowman officiated at the Monticello burial of Wilson Jefferson Cary, who had died 5 Sep. at Carysbrook (Rawlings, Early Charlottesville, p. 37 description begins Mary Rawlings, ed., Early Charlottesville: Recollections of James Alexander 1828-1874, Charlottesville, Va., 1942 description ends ; Monticello Association Papers, p. 253 description begins Collected Papers to Commemorate Fifty Years of the Monticello Association of Descendants of Thomas Jefferson, ed. George Green Shackelford, Princeton, N.J., 1965 description ends ).

32TJ paid itinerant portrait painter James Westhall Ford (1806-1868) for portraits of MJR and James Monroe. The former is now at Monticello and the latter, which TJ described as “among the best likenesses which has been taken” of the president, is now unlocated (TJ letter of recommendation for Ford, 30 Sep. 1823; Mary Givens Kane, “James Westhall Ford,” The Magazine Antiques [Aug. 1956], p. 136-8).

33 David Meade Randolph (1760-1830), son of Richard Randolph of Curles and husband of TMR’s sister Mary, had travelled to Albemarle County from Richmond to appear in court for TJ. Randolph, a Federalist who had become one of TJ’s bitter enemies after his dismissal as U.S. marshal for Virginia in 1801, expressed his gratification at the “restoration of social harmony with yourself and family” provided by this legal occasion (Randolph to TJ, 17 Oct. 1823; Jonathan Daniels, The Randolphs of Virginia [Garden City, N.Y., 1972], p. 196-202; Norfleet, Saint-Mémin, p. 201-2 description begins Fillmore Norfleet, Saint-Mémin in Virginia: Portraits and Biographies, Richmond, Va., 1942 description ends ).

34Because of some knotty problems in the settlement of JWE’s estate, TJ addressed a series of questions to attorney Philip Barbour (TJ to Barbour, 12 Oct. 1823). The questions, with Barbour’s answers, are in ViU at the end of 1823. See also Francis Eppes to TJ, 23 Apr. 1824; and TJ to Eppes, 1 May 1824.

35 William B. Philips (d. 1861) was a Richmond brickmaker and mason who worked on the University of Virginia and settled in Charlottesville (Woods, Albemarle, p. 296 description begins Edgar Woods, Albemarle County in Virginia, 1901, repr. Bridgewater, Va., n.d. description ends ; O’Neal, “Workmen,” p. 7, 28).

36TJ responded to an appeal from Mary Dougherty, who had asked for financial aid without the knowledge of her husband, TJ’s former coachman Joseph Dougherty (Mary Dougherty to TJ, 25 Oct., 7 Dec. 1823, 27 Jan. 1824; TJ to Rev. William Matthews, 30 Dec. 1823).

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