Description:

Jefferson Thomas

 

Single page autographed letter, 7.75" x 9.75". Dated "Sep 16 . 12" and signed by Jefferson as "Th Jefferson".  The page is toned with an faint small stain, and expected folds. Strong contrasting ink with a clear vibrant signature. Accompanied by a lovely portrait engraving of Thomas Jefferson, lightly foxed. The two are matted together in a beige linen mat to a completed size of 19.25" x 13.5"

 

An intriguing lengthy letter penned by Jefferson to Mr Peyton regarding a debt while referencing both Gibson and (another) Jefferson. Although the letter offered here references a bill, little other specifics are addressed. However, with research, one can locate a subsequent letter dated October 23, to Gibson and Jefferson written by Thomas Jefferson (and is viewable on the National Archives website) which clarifies the situation as Jefferson was attempting repayment of a debt using the flour from his mills. Shadwell was one of four farms owned by Jefferson and he farmed principally wheat as a cash crop.

 

The ALS offered is shown in full below:

 

 

"Dear Sir                        Monticello Sep 16 . 12

I received yesterday the inclosed letter, and have this day forwarded on the bill it covered to Mr. Hollins of Baltimore by the Northern mail which leaves Milton tomorrow, it will reach him on Saturday whereas I waited to send it thro mess?? Gibson & Jefferson at Richmond it could only have got to Richmond on that day and would have added near a week to the term at which it is payable. Mr Morgan mentions an account inclosed but none was inclosed as the bill was the 2nd of exchange, the letter is a cuplicate & I presume the account is in the original letter, and when convenient to youself we will have a settlement of our accounts, and I will give you an order on G.H. Jefferson for the balance of the bill. I shall also need some order from Dr. Gilmer of that subject . Accept my friendly salutation

                          Th Jefferson

Mr. Peyton"

 

With the follow up letter from Thomas Jefferson to both Gibson and Jefferson dated October 23, 1812 refers to making a "draught" to Craven Peyton for "his portion of the bill" With Jefferson concerned about overdrawing that fund. His follow up letter to Gibson and Jefferson is shown in part below:

 

" I shall have overdrawn that fund. whether I shall have flour in your hands by that time to cover the overdraughts will depend on the state of the two rivers, as I have wheat at the mills both here & in Bedford & a right to call for the flour. I shall go to Bedford within a week or fortnight and shall count on being able to forward flour from thence immediately on my arrival, if that river admits it, which this does not as yet. at any rate the advance which mr Craven’s draught will occasion shall be quickly covered. "

 

The interesting background of Jefferson's Shadwell farm is chronologically displayed below:

 

1794 to 1799. Shadwell was one of four farms (Monticello, Tufton, and Legowere the others) that were part of Jefferson's new agricultural schemes. Wheat replaced tobacco as the cash crop, and a seven-year rotation of principally wheat, corn, and clover was adopted. At Shadwell, there were seven forty-acre fields (Upper, Mountain, Middle, and Chapel Ridge on the north side of present-day Route 250, and West, South, and East fields to the south). The overseer at Shadwell (and Lego) in 1794 and 1795 was Eli Alexander, brought by Jefferson from Maryland in the hope that, because labor there was a mixture of free and slave, a Maryland farmer would "understand the management of negroes on a rational and humane plan."

1799-1813. Because of his return to public service, Jefferson leased Shadwell in 1799 to William Page, its overseer since the tenure of Eli Alexander. He continued to lease it until 1813. The longest lease, to former overseer Alexander in 1805, was for eight fields of forty acres each, at $1 per acre.

1803 December. A 1,200-foot canal and a toll mill were completed on the Rivanna River. This small mill ground grain (mainly corn) for Jefferson's household use, and, for a toll, that of his neighbors.

1807. A large manufacturing mill adjacent to the toll mill was completed and leased by Jefferson for $1,200 a year or its equivalent in flour. This mill, which had two pairs of stones, ground the market wheat of Jefferson and his neighbors, and used the patent labor-saving machinery invented by Oliver Evans. Jefferson's slave coopers probably had their shop for making wheat barrels somewhere in the mill's vicinity.

 

A fantastic, lengthy ALS by Jefferson discussing his finances and repayments using his merchant mill at Shadwell. The Shadwell mill ground wheat into flour and shipped it in barrels down the Rivanna and James Rivers to Richmond to market. The relationship between Jefferson and Gibson is notable on other published records.


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