Thomas Jefferson Papers

Notes by Thomas Jefferson Randolph and Thomas Jefferson on a Land Purchase, [ca. January 1817]

Notes by Thomas Jefferson Randolph and Thomas Jefferson on a Land Purchase

[ca. Jan. 1817]

The lots of Lucy1 Nancy2 & Frances3 below the town at $25 per acre Lucys lot No 14 between the town & the river at the same

The three lots5 in the upper field at $20 per acre

The ends of lots No 3.4.5 back lots taken by Alexander the balance to be purchased at 20 shillings per acre

$300 to be paid February court, the balance of the first half six months after, the second half in twelve months

Wood to relinquish his life estate and his part of the 2nd payment to remain in the hands of the purchaser untill his wifes conveyance is had

[in TJ’s hand at foot of text:]

acres
Lower field. Nancy C.  No 3.  5½ }       D  D
19. as @ 25 = 475
Lucy 4.  5¾
Frances 8.  5¾
between town & river Lucy 1.  2
Upper field Frances 5   5 } 15. as @ 20 = 300
Lucy 6   5
Nancy C. 7   5
back lots Lucy 3  102
Frances 5  102
Nancy 8  102
306
of No 4  [50]
[256] acres @ 20/

MS (ViU: TJP); in Thomas Jefferson Randolph’s hand, with notes and additions by TJ; undated; two numbers faint; with undated, apparently unrelated note from Randolph to “My dear Peyton” (Bernard Peyton or Craven Peyton) on verso (one word editorially corrected): “Since I saw you I have thou[g]ht on the subject of the sale you proposed to me. I will take them on the terms you proposed one half on the first of January 1818 and the other on the first of January 1819.”

Late in January 1817, after paying the back rent on the lands belonging through inheritance to three of Bennett Henderson’s children, Frances Hornsby, Lucy Wood, and Nancy C. Nelson, TJ decided once again to purchase a portion of their property, which had subsequently been procured by Eli alexander, TJ’s former overseer, possibly at his behest. His actual acquisition from Alexander was a bit smaller than that proposed above, primarily because TJ only bought 68¾ and 73¼ acres of back lots 3 and 5. Among other alterations, lot 8 in the lower field totaled 6, not 5¾ acres, and the deduction for lot 4 in the back lands (property that TJ had purchased from Sarah Henderson Kerr and was now deeding to Alexander as a part of the agreement) was 25½, not 50 acres. In all, TJ obtained 252¾ acres for $1,520.18. To clear this obligation to Alexander, TJ paid him $300 in January 1817 through Thomas Jefferson Randolph, $500 in July 1817 through Martin Dawson, and $720 on 28 Mar. 1818 through Gibson & Jefferson (TJ’s Notes on Purchase of Henderson Property, Jan. 1817–28 Mar. 1818 [MS in ViU: TJP; on verso of portion of reused address cover to TJ; in TJ’s hand, with corrections and emendations in an unidentified hand; undated]; MB description begins James A. Bear Jr. and Lucia C. Stanton, eds., Jefferson’s Memorandum Books: Accounts, with Legal Records and Miscellany, 1767–1826, 1997, The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Second Series description ends , 2:1330, 1336, 1342; Conveyance of Henderson Land by Alexander to TJ, 28 Mar. 1818).

1Above this name TJ added “No 4. 5¾ as.”

2Above this name TJ added (damaged at crease) “No [3]. 5½.”

3Above this name TJ added “No 8. 5¾.”

4TJ here interlined “2. as.”

5Above preceding two words TJ added “No 5.6.7. 15 as.”

Index Entries

  • Alexander, Eli; and Henderson lands search
  • Dawson, Martin; and Milton lands search
  • Gibson & Jefferson (Richmond firm); payments made for TJ search
  • Henderson, Bennett; legatees of search
  • Henderson case; claims by minor heirs search
  • Hornsby, Frances Henderson (Bennett Henderson’s daughter; Thomas Walker Hornsby’s wife); and Milton lands search
  • Jefferson, Thomas; Business & Financial Affairs; Notes by Thomas Jefferson Randolph and Thomas Jefferson on a Land Purchase search
  • Kerr, Sarah Henderson (Bennett Henderson’s daughter; John B. Kerr’s wife) search
  • Nelson, Nancy Crawford Henderson (Bennett Henderson’s daughter; Matthew Nelson’s wife); and Milton lands search
  • Randolph, Thomas Jefferson (TJ’s grandson; Jane Hollins Nicholas Randolph’s husband); and Henderson case search
  • Randolph, Thomas Jefferson (TJ’s grandson; Jane Hollins Nicholas Randolph’s husband); Notes by Thomas Jefferson Randolph and Thomas Jefferson on a Land Purchase search
  • rent; due from Henderson lands search
  • Wood, John T.; and Milton lands search
  • Wood, Lucy Henderson (Bennett Henderson’s daughter; John T. Wood’s wife); and Milton lands search