William P. Newby to Thomas Jefferson, 13 January 1812
From William P. Newby
Tufton. January 13th 1812
Sir,
you found on my return that I had not Stated the number of Hogs kill’d we ware not done killing at the time the return was filed. I now present to you the number with the total wt
| No 1. 40 Hogs | wt | 4.9671 | |
| No 2. 22 do | wt | 1.8382 | Small hogs |
| 6.8053 |
Wm P. Newby
Measure of the barn.
30 feet Long
26 feet, wide
2 feet deep with corn
RC (MoSHi: TJC-BC); addressed: “T. Jefferson Monticello”; endorsed by TJ: “Newby Wm P.”; with calculations by TJ adjacent to postscript:
| “26 | ||
| 30 | ||
| 780 | ||
| 2 | ||
| 1560 | f. | |
| − ⅕ | 312 | |
| 1248 | bush | |
| ÷ 5 | 250 | .barr. corn |
| ½ | 125 | .” |
William P. Newby (ca. 1789–1857) was a native of Lancaster County who served as overseer at TJ’s Tufton farm after the departure of William McGehee in mid-November 1811 and before William Ballard took this position at the beginning of December 1813. Negotiations to return Newby to TJ’s employ as an overseer at Poplar Forest in 1815 failed. He settled in Culpeper County and at his death left a personal estate appraised at slightly more than $27,000, including approximately twenty-six slaves (TJ to Thomas Mann Randolph, 26 Aug. 1811; TJ to Newby, 20 Jan., 21 June 1815; Newby to TJ, 22 Apr. 1815; DNA: RG 29, CS, Culpeper Co., 1820, 1850; Culpeper Co. Will Book, T:556–7, U:58–68).
TJ’s papers include a brief, undated memorandum by Newby consisting of measurements for a “New corn house 11 feet wide 11 feet 4 In Long 9½ feet deep” (MS in MoSHi: TJC-BC, in Newby’s hand and signed by him; written on a scrap from one of TJ’s address covers; endorsed by TJ: “Newby Wm P.”).
1. TJ here added a calculation: “128 ℔ averge.” The correct figure is 124 pounds.
2. TJ here added a calculation: “83 ℔ averge.”
3. Below this number TJ added a calculation: “110 ℔ average.”