William H. Crawford to Thomas Jefferson, 18 July 1821
From William H. Crawford
Washington. 18th July 1821
Dear Sir.
My friend Colo Thos F. Foster, intends to take Montecello in his way from this place to Georgia. Like the great body of American Citizens he is desirous of Paying his respects, to the man, who more than any one now living, has contributed to raise the Character of the American Republic.
Any attentions which you may be able to shew him, will add to the many obligations conferred upon Dr Sir
Wm H Crawford
RC (DLC); endorsed by TJ as received 21 July 1821 “by mr Foster” and so recorded in SJL. RC (MHi); address cover only; with PoC of TJ to James F. Dana, 9 Oct. 1822, on verso; addressed: “Thos. Jefferson late President of the US Montecello Albemarle Cty Virginia.”
Thomas Flournoy Foster (1796–1848), attorney and public official, was born in Greensboro, Georgia, and studied at an academy there before attending Franklin College (later the University of Georgia), from which he graduated in 1812. He then studied law, first in Greensboro and then in 1816 under Tapping Reeve and James Gould in Litchfield, Connecticut. Foster was admitted to the bar that same year and established a practice in Greensboro. In 1821 he visited TJ at Monticello. After serving in the Georgia House of Representatives, 1822–25, Foster sat in the United States House of Representatives, 1829–35. He moved permanently in 1835 to Columbus, Georgia, where he continued practicing law and was elected as a Whig to the United States House of Representatives, serving from 1841 to 1843. Foster was a trustee of Franklin College, 1836–45. He owned forty-one slaves in 1840 (Stephen F. Miller, The Bench and Bar of Georgia: Memoirs and Sketches [1858], 2:51–62; The Litchfield Law School, 1784–1833 [1900], 17; Catalogue of the Trustees, Officers, Alumni and Matriculates of the University of Georgia, at Athens, Georgia, from 1785 to 1906 [1906], 5, 18; DNA: RG 29, CS, Ga., Muscogee Co., Columbus, 1840; Washington Daily National Intelligencer, 25 Sept. 1848; gravestone inscription in Linwood Cemetery, Columbus).