JEFFERSON NOTES JEFFERSON NOTES is a publication of theThomas Jefferson Heritage Society Richard Dixon Editor 4122 Leonard Drive Fairfax VA 22030
jeffersonnotes@earthlink.net
Fall 2007 No. 3
RESTORED VIRGINIA CAPITOL OPEN
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hen Cornwallis moved from his base at Wilmington and entered Virginia in May 1781, on irginia’s three-year project to restore the Capitol and to the march that would take him to create a visitors center has been completed. An underground Yorktown, the Virginia governextension provides additional media and multipurpose spaces ment fled west from Richmond to and permits visitors to enter from Bank Street. The Capitol is Charlottesville. Cornwallis deopen Monday–Saturday 8:30 a.m.–5 p.m. and Sunday 1 p.m.– tached his British Legion, a com4 p.m. bination of calvary and mounted Virginia moved its capi- infantry, to capture the General tal from Williamsburg to Rich- Assembly along with the govermond in 1780 and the commit- nor, Thomas Jefferson. tee responsible for construction of the new State Capitol wrote Thomas Jefferson, then Minister to France, for suggestions. It was Jefferson’s vision to use classical architecture for public buildings in America. He sent plans drawn by the French architect Charles-Louis Clérisseau based on the magnificent Roman temple at Nîmes, France, the Maison Carrée, described by Jefferson as the “most beautiful morsel of architecture left us by antiquity.” A year later, to be certain the plans were understood, Jefferson sent a plaster model of the Maison Carrée prepared by Jean-Pierre Fouquet. The model, remarkable in detail, was restored by Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and is now on display in the Capitol. In changing the Capitol to Jefferson's design, it was adapted to fit foundations already started and The British force, under the great steps were elimithe command of Banastre Tarlenated to provide space for ton, crossed the South Anna windows at the lower level. AlRiver and continued west through though not completed until Louisa County. Tarleton stopped 1798, the Capitol was first octhat evening at a small tavern in cupied in October, 1788. Cuckoo (at the intersection of It was not until 1906 now Routes 33 and 522).Also at that the steps were added, rethe tavern was Jack Jouett, a Virstoring the impressive portico ginia militia officer, who overto Jefferson's concept. At the heard the British discuss their The Maison Carrée at Nîmes, France same time, the assembly halls plans to capture the members of were added on either side of the the Assembly and Jefferoriginal structure and all the
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COURSES ON JEFFERSON-HEMINGS SLANTED Third in a series. We previously looked at courses given by Wesleyan University, William & Mary, Bridgewater College, Rochester University, Canisius College and Cornelia Strong College (UNC at Greensboro) that require the student to accept as historical fact that Jefferson fathered children by Sally Hemings
University of New Mexico The introduction for this course is confusing. It first states that, “This seminar approaches the enduring fascination with the life and legacy of Thomas Jefferson as a window on the cultural politics of American history. We will define that history as a series of subjects: what happened, what we say happened, how we say it, and why we care.” It then goes on to describe the Jefferson-Hemings relationship as a window on the culture of the times. In the words of the synopsis, “We will evaluate available historical evidence regarding the lives of free and enslaved people in Jefferson's Virginia, and on Jefferson's plantations in particular, and we will assess the ways in which historians have presented and interpreted that evidence.” So, is the intent of the course to study slavery as a social condition, or is it to guide the student to a belief that Jefferson fathered slave children? The reading assignments are instructive: Fawn Brodie, Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History; Joseph Ellis, American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson; Annette Gordon-Reed, Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy; Shannon Lanier and Jane Feldman, Jefferson's Children: The Story of One American Family; Jan Lewis and Peter Onuf, eds., Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson: History, Memory, and Civic Culture; Lucia Stanton, Free Some Day: Slavery at Monticello. Of course, all of these assignments support a Jefferson-Hemings relationship as historical fact. The student is deprived of the challenge of research and independent thought.
JACK JOUETT’S RIDE cont’d from page 1
son. Jouett slipped away and galloped forty miles through the night along a back country road to warn of the British threat. Riding through the dark, he was severely lashed by the vines and overhanging branches and carried the scars the rest of his life. Jouett beat the British to Monticello and warned Jefferson before heading off to Charlottesville. In the meantime, Tarleton’s men stopped for breakfast at Castle Hill (the home of Thomas Walker, formerly the guardian of Thomas Jefferson). Walker may have induced the British to take their time and enjoy themselves. Jefferson, watching through his tele
The Madison Hemings interview with a newspaper reporter occurred about 50 years after he left Monticello. This interview is important to the paternity believers. In coming issues of Jefferson Notes, we will examine it. THOSE PARIS YEARS They are the “best-forgotten” years for those who promote the paternity of Sally Hemings’ children by Thomas Jefferson. It was in Paris, according to Madison Hemings, that his mother became pregnant. After her return to Monticello, she gave birth to a baby who “lived but a short time.” On the trip home, Sally was in a cabin convenient to Jefferson’s two daughters. Both daughters later defended their father against the rumors raised by the Callender articles and it is not possible that this pregnancy could have gone unnoticed. There is no mention of this baby in Jefferson’s Monticello records. It also went unnoticed in Paris that Jefferson was in a relationship with Hemings, either by his French acquaintances or by British officials. Jefferson was well-known in French society and undoubtedly by intelligence agents of France and England and no record of suspicion was even made.
scope saw the British ride into Charlottesville, and left only minutes before a British detachment arrived at Monticello. The General Assembly reconvened in Staunton and a number of them wanted to censure Jefferson for the raids that had taken place in Virginia, including an earlier one by the traitor Benedict Arnold which had driven the General Assembly from Williamsburg. Although completely exonerated, Jefferson remained bitter for many years over this personal attack on him. Jack Jouett was viewed as a hero, sometimes referred to as “Virginia‘s Paul Revere.” He was presented a sword and a pair of pistols by the General Assembly for his heroic ride.
Jefferson Notes page 2
THE JEFFERSON IMAGE LAW and THOMAS JEFFERSON (The following is an extract of a longer article, ”Law and Thomas Jefferson, by Richard E. Dixon which appears under Jefferson Image on the webpage of the Thomas Jefferson Heritage Society www.tjheritage.org)
After Thomas Jefferson completed his studies at William and Mary in 1762 he returned to Charlottesville. During his stay there be prepared for the study of law by reading Coke on Littleton. Possibly that was suggested to him by George Wythe who became his preceptor on his return to Williamsburg. Wythe guided Jefferson’s legal studies for two years, for that time quite a long period, and in 1776, he was admitted to the General Court. Jefferson’s entry into the practice of law in 1767 appeared promising. As the only lawyer in Western Virginia authorized to practice in the General Court, he immediately attracted clients. However, the slowness in the courts docket caused many years of delay in resolving the cases. For example, 16 cases originated by Jefferson in his first year of practice were among those turned over to Edmund Randolph when Jefferson quit his law practice in 1774. Advocate of Rights Jefferson’s career as a lawyer was only about eight years, but his organization of thought, and his reliance on reason and logic to reach his conclusions all reflect his legal training. Soon after Jefferson turned over his legal practice, he wrote a Summary View of the Rights of British America, which was essentially a legal argument that Americans were entitled to all of the civil rights of British citizens gained through the long struggle with the crown in England. It was this legalistic pattern of thought that made him the logical choice to write the Declaration of Independence which set forth in measured terms the right of America to dissolve its “bands” with Great Britain. Court Reporter There was no written record of court decisions before the revolution. Jefferson began making summaries of his cases and cases in which he did not participate. He also obtained notes of cases from other practitioners before the General Court. Even after he stopped practice, he continued to revise his notes. These cases now make up volume 1 of the Virginia reports. Constitutionalist After the break with England, the fifth Virginia Convention met in Williamsburg in 1776 to adopt a new constitution. Jefferson could not participate because he was in Philadelphia as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress. Jefferson was concerned there was no legal foundation for a constitution because that had not been the purpose of the convention. He took the position that a constitution could not be created by a legislature, as this was a power that only resided in the people. He tried unsuccessfully for a constitutional convention to address these issues, but it was only after his death in 1830 that a convention was held. Jefferson discussed his concerns over the 1776 Constitution in his “Notes on Virginia.” Manual of Parliamentary Practice Thomas Jefferson became President of the Senate by a virtue of his election to the vice presidency in 1796. As the presiding officer he wanted to follow a “known system of rules.” He prepared for his own guidance a manual of parliamentary law, following the practice of the English Parliament. He solicited the opinions of George Wythe and Edmund Pendleton, but was mainly guided by his own Jefferson Notes page 3
LAW AND THOMAS JEFFERSON
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research. It is regarded as the best statement of Parliamentary Law as it existed at that time. Jefferson recognized that it might be inaccurate in some “minor forms” and in some instance incomplete, but he felt that he provided a “sketch” which those who followed him could “correct and fill out.” Two important areas of law Jefferson addressed in the manual were treaties and impeachment. Reviser of Colonial Statutes After the colonies declared their independence from Great Britain, Virginia appointed a committee to revise its laws. Among the committee members, George Wythe contributed much, but the bulk of this laborious work fell to Jefferson. It was decided to leave the English common law intact, but to reorganize the statutes so they would accord with the new “Republican spirit.” The revisers submitted 126 bills in 1779. By this time, Jefferson had become governor and some of these bills were quickly passed, but others lingered on the Assembly’s docket, and once Jefferson left for France, the task of shepherding them fell to James Madison. Jefferson was later ambivalent about the impact of the law revisal, but did single out the importance of the Bill Concerning Religious Freedom. It remains a part of the Virginia code today. Another was a Bill for the More General Defusion of Knowledge in which Jefferson laid out a system of education from “grammar schools” to the university level. Jefferson would not live to see his bill for public education approved, but in 1819, he did get his new “university.” Legal Educator While governor in 1779, Jefferson was instrumental in the decision of the Board of Visitors at the College of William & Mary to establish a Chair of Law. This became the nation’s first law school and the first law professor was Jefferson’s former mentor, George Wythe. Jefferson’s ideas for public education were never supported by the General Assembly, so in his declining years, he conceived of building a college in Charlottesville. Jefferson designed an “academical village” for this new Central College and along with James Madison and James Monroe, he set the cornerstone for the beginning of Pavilion VII. At the same time, there was a movement in the Assembly to establish a new state university. The Board of Visitors for Central College offered to donate the site in Charlottesville. At a meeting at Rockfish gap the offer was accepted and Central College became the University of Virginia. By 1824, the school was ready for the appointment of a faculty. Francis Walker Gilmore was a committee of one to recruit a faculty in England and Scotland. He met with little enthusiasm from the British academics both because of the low salary and the unknown certainty of life at a new university. Miraculously, he returned home with all the positions filled except the Professor of Law. Jefferson’s plan for the new law school was to teach common and statute law, equity, federal law, civil and mercantile law, jurisprudence and international law, and the principles of government and political science. He intended it to be a two-year course but students could cram all the courses into one year. It was of great concern to the Board of visitors that the law professor hold the Republican political view of the quote “general principles of liberty and the rights of man.” Jefferson was content to let the professors pick their textbooks, except the law professor. He was to conform to Jefferson’s list to avoid any “political bias” toward federalism. At the admonition of James Madison, Jefferson finally agreed to moderate the list to avoid “framing a political greed” and raising an issue that the law school would be controlled by political orthodoxy and excite a prejudice against the university which might cause parents to withdraw their sons. The first professor at the law school was John Tayloe Lomax. Jefferson lived to see Lomax’s appointment, but died the day before he joined the faculty on July 5, 1826. Jefferson Notes page 4 Jefferson Notes page 4
RESTORED VIRGINIA CAPITOL OPEN cont’d from page 1
JEFFERSON’S TOMBSTONE IN MISSOURI
buildings were painted white. It remains in use today, the second oldest working Capitol in the United States. While in France, Jefferson selected the sculptor Jean Antoine Houdon to create a statue of George Washington. Carved from Carrara marble, it was completed in 1788 and was first exhibited in the Louvre. It stands today in the Rotunda of the State Capitol, an incomparable likeness. In 1930, the General Assembly commissioned busts of the seven other Virginia presidents, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, Zachary Taylor and Woodrow Wilson, and these surround Washington, displayed in niches in the Rotunda wall.
The following is part of a clarification we received from Steven Corneliussen regarding his views which we discussed in our Spring 2007 Jefferson Notes article, “Conception Theory Re-examined.”
The newsletter says that I "dispute the entire basis of the 'conception theory,'" but in fact what I dispute is the misuse of science to overstate, grossly and irresponsibly, what I believe can in fact be learned from the conception theory. In my qualitative view, what we can learn from comparing the records of Mr. Jefferson's stays at Monticello with the records of Sally Hemings's childbearing is that these data -qualitatively, mind you -- offer some interesting though highly inconclusive circumstantial evidence favoring the pro-paternity side in the debate. In my quantitative view, on the other hand, what we can learn from Dr. Neiman's attempt to quantify that inconclusive circumstantial evidence is nothing. I don't mean that I believe we can't learn much from his purportedly scientific work. I mean that we can't learn anything at all. In my quantitative view, based on the technical analysis of the two distinguished scientists whom I consulted, his work is nonsense.
T
homas Jefferson is buried at Monticello but the tombstone that was placed over his gravesite is now at the University of Missouri. Before his death, Jefferson left a document with a sketch of a tombstone and an inscription. Monticello had already been taken from the family because of Jefferson's debts, but the graveyard remained in the hands of “Jefferson descendants.” During the next fifty years, souvenir hunters chipped away at the tombstone and the graveyard fell into a state of deJefferson left a document with a sketch of a tombstone and an inscription.
cay. Fortunately, the marble plaque on which the inscription had been placed was taken by the owner Uriah Levy and given to Jefferson's grandson, Thomas Jefferson Randolph, who kept it at Edgehill, the Randolph family plantation. Finally, in 1883, Congress appropriated the money to restore the graveyard and replace the obelisk. Unfortunately, no institution in Virginia was interested in the tombstone. It was decided by the great grandchildren of Thomas Jefferson to donate both the obelisk and the plaque to the University of Missouri, the first state university created in the Louisiana Territory. They were accepted by the University in a ceremony on July 4, 1885. The obelisk stands today on a walkway on Francis Quadrangle. The plaque, which is brought out for special occasions, displays Jefferson’s words:
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HERE WAS BURIED THOMAS JEFFERSON AUTHOR OF THE DECLARATION OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE OF THE STATUTE OF VIRGINIA FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND FATHER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA.”
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We welcome your support for the work of the Thomas Jefferson Heritage Society. Please make donations to TJHS and forward to Box 4482, Charlottesville, VA 22905 Little Mountain $ 25.00 Rotunda 100.00 Memorial 250.00 All contributors will receive a copy of The Jefferson-Hemings Myth: An American Travesty. Rotunda and Memorial contributors will also receive Jefferson Vindicated. Visit our website at www.tjheritage.org
BARGER RECEIVES FOUNDERS AWARD Herbert Barger is the 2007 recipient of the Founder’s Award of the Thomas Jefferson Heritage Society. Mr. Barger through his experience as the Jefferson Family Historian and from participating in the Jefferson-Hemings DNA study recognized that Mr. Jefferson's legacy was purposely being denigrated by misinterpretation of the DNA results. He conceived the idea of creating an organization that could refute the efforts of those who would try to destroy one of America’s greatest founders. Through his many contacts and his perseverance a group was formed that subsequently became the board of directors of this society. He is truly the founder of the Thomas Jefferson Heritage Society and we so honor him for this and for his continued tireless efforts in this cause.
JEFFERSON LEGACY AWARD TO REBECCA AND JAMES MCMURRY Rebecca L. McMurry and James E. McMurry Jr. are the 2007 recipients of the Jefferson Legacy Award from the Thomas Jefferson Heritage Society in recognition of the publication of their book, “Anatomy of a Scandal,” which has significantly contributed to the knowledge and understanding of Thomas Jefferson’s legacy. Their exhaustive and thorough research has been able to disprove many rumors and slanderous charges against Mr. Jefferson which otherwise would have been accepted as the truth by historians and the public. It is an honor to show this appreciation for their contribution.
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