184371Editorial Note (Jefferson Papers)
In the latter part of 1815 Jefferson made two lengthy visits to his Bedford County estate, Poplar Forest , a principal goal of which was observing and calculating the height and latitude of the nearby Peaks of Otter . This group of travel receipts documents a portion of the first of these trips. Jefferson had arrived at Poplar Forest on 21 Aug. 1815 for a prolonged stay. On about 10 Sept. he...
184372Editorial Note (Jefferson Papers)
Following his September visit to Bedford County and surrounding areas with José Corrêa da Serra and Francis W. Gilmer , Jefferson returned in November 1815 to expand on his earlier scientific observations and make more extensive geometrical calculations of the altitude of the Peaks of Otter . For this purpose he brought surveying tools from Monticello , including a theodolite made by the...
184373Editorial Note (Jefferson Papers)
While drafting his 10 Jan. 1816 response to Horatio G. Spafford’s letter of 25 Dec. 1815 , Jefferson digressed from comments on Spafford ’s enclosed manuscript to what he here describes to Thomas Ritchie as a “tirade” on a religious publication sent to him by Benjamin Waterhouse on 14 Dec. 1815 . The work in question, Lyman Beecher ’s pamphlet On the Importance of Assisting Young Men of Piety...
184374Editorial Note (Jefferson Papers)
Virginia adopted its first written constitution by a unanimous vote on 29 June 1776 at a convention held in Williamsburg . Not surprisingly, considering the new state’s experiences as a British colony, the charter greatly restricted executive power and gave the legislature the authority not only to pass laws, but to appoint the governor, Council of State , attorney general, and all state...
184375Editorial Note (Jefferson Papers)
In 1806 an act of the Virginia General Assembly established the Rivanna Company in order to improve the navigation of the Rivanna River between Milton and Charlottesville . This section of the river included property owned by Jefferson. After receiving title to this tract under his father ’s will, he spent many years and thousands of dollars building a canal, mills, and a dam along the Rivanna...
184376Editorial Note (Jefferson Papers)
The bill establishing Central College became law on 14 Feb. 1816, and on 25 Mar. of that year Frank Carr , who had served as secretary for the trustees of the Albemarle Academy , submitted recommendations to Virginia governor Wilson Cary Nicholas for appointments to the new college’s Board of Visitors . Carr told Nicholas that several former Albemarle Academy trustees had drawn up the list,...
184377Editorial Note (Jefferson Papers)
On or about 13 Aug. 1817 Jefferson set out from Poplar Forest to visit Natural Bridge with his granddaughters Ellen W. Randolph (Coolidge) and Cornelia J. Randolph . Jefferson had most recently visited his Rockbridge County possession in 1815 with his friends José Corrêa da Serra and Francis W. Gilmer . On that occasion Jefferson measured the latitude of Natural Bridge
184378Editorial Note (Jefferson Papers)
Following the chartering of Central College early in 1816, the purchase the next summer of land just west of Charlottesville , and an ongoing subscription campaign to raise funds for the educational institution, construction began in the summer of 1817. Rather than building one large edifice, Jefferson designed an “academical village” with two rows of pavilions and student dormitories flanking...
184379Editorial Note (Jefferson Papers)
During a monthlong visit to Poplar Forest , 19 Nov.–20 Dec. 1817, Jefferson attempted to clarify some of the boundary lines between his estate in Bedford County and those of his neighbors. As early as 1812 he had begun investigating the division between his land and that of the deceased William Cobbs , particularly as he wished to acquire “a handsome little tract of 100 or two acres, belonging...
184380Editorial Note (Jefferson Papers)
Early in his tenure as secretary of state, Jefferson began to preserve his reactions to national events. He recorded discussions in and out of government, gossiped about his political enemies, and documented his growing suspicion that Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton was employing corrupt means to steer the American republic in a more monarchical and elitist direction. In these “ragged,...