Manuscripts
Thomas Jefferson collection
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Correspondence and documents
Manuscripts
This series contains correspondence and documents dating from 1773 to 1826 and pertaining to various aspects of Thomas Jefferson's political career, family life, and interests. Correspondence includes letters to Jefferson as well as letters from him, which are mostly letterpress and polygraph copies of outgoing letters created by him; some of Jefferson's letters are written in the third person. Also present are financial records such as accounts, estimates, bills, and receipts; and some writings, notes, ships' papers, and a trigonometry exercise. Letters written during Jefferson's tenure as governor of Virginia concern state government and military matters. Correspondence from the periods Jefferson served as U.S. minister to France, secretary of state, and vice president of the U.S. primarily relate to foreign relations; letters written by Jefferson while minister to France also concern instructions to consuls, activities in Europe, and his family, including daughter Mary's journey to France. Correspondence from Jefferson's presidency pertain to political parties, activities in Congress, foreign relations and a trade embargo, naval operations, issues of nationalism and sectionalism, the Burr conspiracy, and requests for appointments, pardons, and assistance. Many letters to him are from senders of gifts, publications and writings, and information on products and inventions. Much of Jefferson's post-presidency correspondence concerns the founding of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville with many letters from the school's first proctor Arthur S. Brockenbrough and librarian John V. Kean, among others. This series contains numerous letters from Jefferson to various family members, especially daughters Martha ("Patsy") Jefferson Randolph and Mary ("Maria," "Polly") Jefferson Eppes and their husbands Thomas Mann Randolph Jr. and John Wayles Eppes; some later letters are to grandchildren Francis Wayles Eppes and Anne Cary Randolph. Letters concern family activities, education, travel plans, and health. Many letters and documents in this series pertain to Jefferson's properties and estates, especially Monticello and Poplar Forest, and concern horticulture, crops and tobacco, and seeds, as well as household accounts, finances, and goods. Items also concern his father Peter Jefferson's estate and Virginia properties given to his daughters and their families, including Pantops. Many letters about operations at Monticello were written to the property's overseer Edmund Bacon during Jefferson's presidency while in Washington, D.C. Several Jefferson letters discuss slavery and enslaved persons, who are usually not referred to by name. These include letters to Francis Eppes (1787 July 30), Mary Jefferson Eppes (1798 December 8), Thomas Mann Randolph Jr. (1798 June 14 and 1802 November 25), William A. Burwell (1805 January 28), and Edmund Bacon (1807 December 8). His letter to daughter Mary mentions Lucy, an enslaved woman who had recently given birth. In his letter to William A. Burwell, Jefferson states "I have long since given up the expectation of any early provision for the extinguishment of slavery among us." A number of items in this series relate to Native Americans including Jefferson's memoranda on Virginia history (approximately 1781), which contains a list of local nations with additional statistics and information on locations and alliances; several items regarding missionary efforts in the Ohio Valley (1804 October); a letter from Jefferson to Dog Soldier, who he identifies as the second chief of the Little Osage (1804 July 16); and a letter to Jefferson from John Wood (1805 November 26) proposing funding the education of an unnamed member of the Sac Nation. Letterpress and polygraph copies of Jefferson's outgoing letters are of autograph letters signed unless noted otherwise. Most letterpress copies have been encapsulated.
mssJefferson
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Architectural drawings, plans, surveys
Manuscripts
This series contains architectural drawings, plans, surveys, and notes; autograph manuscripts are in Jefferson's hand unless noted otherwise. Architectural drawings and plans are for Jefferson's properties including Monticello and Elk Hill, the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, the Virginia capitol and the city of Richmond, and the Hôtel de Langeac in Paris. Surveys are of lands in Virginia, primarily in Albemarle County and the Monticello area. Also present are Jefferson's working drawings of a polygraph machine and other devices. In addition, this series has some related notes, estimates and calculations, including architectural memoranda on the President's House (White House) in Washington, D.C.
mssJefferson
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Thomas Jefferson indenture/ marriage settlement for Mary Jefferson
Manuscripts
Autograph draft. Indenture between Francis and Elizabeth Eppes, their son John Wayles Eppes, and Thomas Jefferson and his daughter Mary Jefferson, regarding her marriage to John Wayles Eppes. Draft version omits names of enslaved persons, see more complete version in Founders Online. (3 pages)
HM 5676
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Thomas Jefferson, Monticello, letter to John Wayles Eppes
Manuscripts
Polygraph copy; endorsed by Jefferson. Includes contract by Jefferson to send enslaved persons worth $4000 to Eppes. (2 pages)
HM 5902
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Thomas Jefferson, Philadelphia, letter to Thomas Mann Randolph Jr. (postscript)
Manuscripts
Letterpress copy. Postscript only, item was housed with Jefferson letterpress copy to John Wayles Eppes, 1801 March 28.
HM 5708
Thomas Jefferson, Monticello, letter to John Wayles Eppes
Manuscripts
Polygraph copy; endorsed by Jefferson. Includes contract by Jefferson to send enslaved persons worth $4000 to Eppes. (2 pages)
mssJefferson