Thomas Jefferson to Bernard Peyton, 25 May 1822
To Bernard Peyton
Poplar Forest May 25. 1822.
Dear Sir
I recieve here your favr of the 16th and am equally mortified at my own inattention to furnish you renewals of my notes before I left home1 as at Jefferson’s2 failures to do what was regular and3 necessary to enable you to receive4 the money expected. by this date however all is surely brought to rights, and the inconveniencies relieved to which these irregularities have exposed you. I found my people here all but without bread, corn scarce in the nbhood and at 4.D. cash. from necessity as well as in full confidence you will have recieved our money, I have drawn on you this day in favr Archib. Robertson for 150.D. to pay for our corn. the preparns for a tobo crop here are beyond any thing I ever had. 300,000. hills, four fifths of them in ground newly cleared, and nearly all planted by the favr of the season will I hope make amends for the crop of wheat which is not promising. kindly5 seasons may still help it. the last year’s tobo now prising will be late at market, as it comes be so good as to pay the carriage.6 I leave this on the 28th for Monticello where I hope to find a letter of revival from you. when in cash be so good as to send to that place a cofe of Bourbon or Java coffee, for I believe it comes in Cofes of about 100. weight which with us is but a 4. months supply. let it be securely boxed or barreled agt the pilferings of the boatmen.7
Th:J.
Dft (MHi); on verso of left half of reused address cover of Nathaniel Bowditch to TJ, 30 Oct. 1820; adjacent to salutation: “Colo B. Peyton”; endorsed by TJ. Enclosed in TJ to Archibald Robertson, 25 May 1822.
jefferson’s: Thomas Jefferson Randolph’s. A couffe (cofe) is a woven sack of varying size (L. Raymond Balthasard Maiseau, Annuaire du Commerce maritime [1833–34], vol. 2, pt. 2, sect. 10, p. xxxii; Pierre Larousse, ed., Grand Dictionnaire Universel du XIXe Siècle [1866–90], 5:297).
1. Preceding four words interlined.
2. TJ here canceled “repeated.”
3. Preceding two words interlined.
4. Manuscript: “recive.”
5. Manuscript: “kindy.”
6. Sentence interlined.
7. Sentence interlined.
Index Entries
- boats; carriage to and from Richmond search
- bread; scarcity of search
- coffee; Bourbon search
- coffee; East India search
- coffee; TJ purchases search
- corn; as food search
- corn; price of search
- corn; TJ buys search
- food; bread search
- Literary Fund; and loan to T. J. Randolph search
- Peyton, Bernard; and goods for TJ search
- Peyton, Bernard; and T. J. Randolph’s loan from Va. Literary Fund search
- Peyton, Bernard; and TJ’s bank notes search
- Peyton, Bernard; and TJ’s tobacco search
- Peyton, Bernard; letters to search
- Peyton, Bernard; payments made for TJ search
- Poplar Forest (TJ’s Bedford Co. estate); slaves at search
- Poplar Forest (TJ’s Bedford Co. estate); TJ visits search
- Poplar Forest (TJ’s Bedford Co. estate); tobacco grown at search
- Poplar Forest (TJ’s Bedford Co. estate); wheat grown at search
- Randolph, Thomas Jefferson (1792–1875) (TJ’s grandson; Jane Hollins Nicholas Randolph’s husband); and loan from Va. Literary Fund search
- Richmond, Va.; boat carriage to and from search
- Robertson, Archibald; TJ pays search
- slaves; bread for search
- tobacco; grown at Poplar Forest search
- wheat; at Poplar Forest search