FAMILY
HISTORY
The tradition in my father's family was, that
their ancestor came to this country from Wales, and from near the
mountain of Snowdon, the highest in Great Britain. …The first
particular information I have of any ancestor was of my grandfather,
who lived at the place in Chesterfield called Ozborne's, and owned
the lands afterwards the glebe of the parish. He had three sons;
Thomas who, died young, Field who settled on the waters of Roanoke
and left numerous descendants, and Peter, my father, who settled on
the lands I still own, called Shadwell, adjoining my present
residence. He was born February 29, 1707-8, and intermarried 1739,
with Jane Randolph, of the age of 19, daughter of Isham Randolph,
one of the seven sons of that name and family, settled at Dungeoness
in Goochland. They trace their pedigree far back in England and
Scotland, to which let every one asribe the faith and merit he
chooses.
My father's education had been quite neglected; but being of a
strong mind, sound judgment, and eager after information, he read
much and improved himself, insomuch that he was chosen, with Joshua
Fry, Professor of Mathematics in William and Mary college, to
continue the boundary line between Virginia and North Carolina,
which had been begun by Colonel Byrd; and was afterwards employed
with the same Mr. Fry, to make the first map of Virginia which had
ever been made, that of Captain Smith being merely a conjectural
sketch. They possessed excellent materials for so much of the
country as is below the Blue Ridge; little being then known beyond
that ridge. He was the third or fourth settler, about the year 1737,
of the part of the country in which I live. He died, August 17th,
1757, leaving my mother a widow, who lived till 1776, with six
daughters and two sons, myself the elder. To my younger brother he
left his estate on James River, called Snowdon, after the supposed
birth-place of the family: to myself, the lands on which I was born
and live. |
Notes
for an Autobiography
6 Jan 1821 |
FAMILY
NEWS
I will talk about Monticello, then, and my own
country, as is the wish expressed in your letter. My daughter
[Martha Jefferson] Randolph, whom you knew in Paris a young girl, is
now the mother of eleven living children, the grandmother of about
half a dozen others, enjoys health and good spirits, and sees the
worth of her husband attested by his being at present Governor of
the State in which we live. Among these, I live like a patriarch of
old. Our friend Trumbull is well, and profitably and honorably
employed by his country in commemorating with his pencil some of its
revolutionary honors. Of Mrs. Cruger I hear nothing, nor for a long
time of Madame de Corny. Such is the present state of our former
coterie: dead, diseased, and dispersed. But "tout ce qui est
differe' n'est pas perdu," says the French proverb, and the
religion you so sincerely profess tells us we shall meet again; and
we have all so lived as to be assured it will be in happiness. Mine
is the next turn, and I shall meet it with good will, for after
one's friends are all gone before them, and our faculties leaving
us, too, one by one, why wish to linger in mere vegetation, as a
solitary trunk in a desolate field, from which all its former
companions have disappeared? |
Maria
Cosway
27 Dec 1820 |
FAMILY
/ RELATIONS
A kind note at the foot of Mr. Adams' letter of
July 15 reminds me of the duty of saluting you with friendship and
respect, a duty long suspended by the unremitting labors of public
engagement and which ought to have been sooner revived, since I am
the proprietor of my own time. And yet so it is, that in no course
of life have I been ever more closely pressed by business than in
the present. Much of this proceeds from my own affairs, much from
the calls of others; leaving little time for indulgence in my
greatest of all amusements, reading. Dr. Franklin used to say that
when he was young and had time to read he had not books; and now
when he has become old and had books, he had no time. Perhaps it is
that when habit has strengthened our sense of duties, they leave us
no time for other things; but when young we neglect them and this
gives us time for anything.
However, I will now take time to ask you how you do, how you have
done? and to express the interest I take in whatever affects your
happiness.
I have compared notes with Mr. Adams on the score of progeny and
find I am ahead of him and think I am in a fair way to keep so. I
have ten and one-half grandchildren, and two and three-fourths
great-grandchildren, and these fractions will ere long become units.
I was glad to learn from Mr. Adams that you have a grandson far
enough advanced in age and acquirements to be reading Greek. These
young scions give us comfortable cares, when we cease to care about
ourselves. Under all circumstances of health or sickness, of
blessing or affliction, I tender you assurances of my sincere
affection and respect. |
Abigail
Adams
22 Aug 1813 |
FATE
The most fortunate of us, in our journey
through life, frequently meet with calamities and misfortunes which
may greatly afflict us; and, to fortify our minds against the
attacks of these calamities and misfortunes, should be one of the
principal studies and endeavors of our lives. The only method of
doing this is to assume a perfect resignation to the Divine will, to
consider that whatever does happen, must happen; and that, by our
uneasiness, we cannot prevent the blow before it does fall, but we
may add to its force after it has fallen. These considerations, and
others such as these, may enable us in some measure to surmount the
difficulties thrown in our way; to bear up with a tolerable degree
of patience under this burthen of life; and to proceed with a pious
and unshaken resignation, till we arrive at our journey's end, when
we may deliver up our trust into the hands of him who gave it, and
receive such reward as to him shall seem proportioned to our merit.
… |
John
Page
15 Jul 1763 |
FEDERAL
CAPITAL / DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
You are desired to proceed to Georgetown, where
you will find Mr. Ellicot employed in making a survey and map of the
federal territory. The special object of asking your aid is to have
drawings of the particular grounds most likely to be approved for
the site of the federal town and buildings. You will therefore be
pleased to begin on the eastern branch, and proceed from thence
upwards, laying down the hills, valleys, morasses, and waters
between that, the Potomac, the Tyber, and the road leading from
Georgetown ~ the eastern branch, and connecting the whole with
certain fixed points of the map Mr. Ellicot is preparing. Some idea
of the height of the hills above the base on which they stand, would
be desirable. For necessary assistance and expenses, be pleased to
apply to the Mayor of Georgetown, who is written to on this subject.
I will beg the favor of you to mark to me your progress about twice
a week, by letter, say every Wednesday and Saturday evening, that I
may be able in proper time to draw your attention to some other
objects, which I have not at this moment sufficient information to
define. |
Major
L-Enfant
Mar 1791 |
FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT / MOVED TO PHILADELPHIA
A motion has been -made in the Senate to remove
the Federal Government to Philadelphia. There was a trial of
strength on a question for a week's postponement. On that it was
found there would be eleven for the removal, and thirteen against
it. The motion was therefore withdrawn and made in the other house,
where it is still depending, and of very uncertain event. |
Thomas
Mann Randolph
30 May 1790 |
FEDERALIST
PAPERS
Mr. Carrington was so kind as to send me the
second volume of the American Philosophical Transactions, the
Federalist, and some other interesting pamphlets; and I am to thank
you for another copy of the Federalist, and the report of the
instructions to the ministers, for negotiating peace. The latter,
unluckily, omitted exactly the passage I wanted, which was what
related to the navigation of the Mississippi. With respect to the
Federalist, the three authors had been named to me. I read it with
care, pleasure and improvement, and was satisfied there was nothing
in it by one of those hands, and not a great deal by a second. It
does the highest honor to the third, as being, in my opinion, the
best commentary on the principles of government, which ever was
written. In some parts, it is discoverable that the author means
only to say what may be best said in defence of opinions, in which
he did not concur. But in general, it establishes firmly the plan of
government. I confess, it has rectified me on several points. As to
the bill of rights, however, I still think it should be added; and I
am glad to see, that three States have at length considered the
perpetual re-eligibility of the President, as an article which
should be amended. I should deprecate with you, indeed, the meeting
of a new convention. I hope they will adopt the mode of amendment by
Congress and the Assemblies, in which case, I should not fear any
dangerous innovation in the plan. But the minorities are too
respectable, not to be entitled to some sacrifice of opinion, in the
majority; especially, when a great proportion of them would be
contented with a bill of rights. |
James
Madison
18 Nov 1788 |
FOREIGN
RELATIONS / ACQUISITION OF FLORIDA
Here all is well. Our government is now so
firmly put on its republican tack that it will not be easily
monarchised by forms. You have made a mighty noise in Europe about
our taking possession of some posts in Florida. The President's
message delivered a few days ago will set you right on that subject,
and show that no wrong was contemplated for a single moment. And
what shows an honorable and comfortable trait in our nation was the
universal uproar of our own people in the first moment of the
apparent aggression and until they saw that their government had no
such thing in view. I was delighted with this proof of moral
principle in our citizens as to the conduct of their foreign
relations and considered it as a pledge that they would never as a
nation approve of any measure swerving from justice. |
Marquis
de Lafayette
23 Nov 1818 |
FOREIGN
RELATIONS / BRITAIN AND FRANCE AT WAR
The war between France and England seems to be
producing an effect not contemplated. All the old spirit of 1776,
rekindling the newspapers from Boston to Charleston, proves this;
and even the monocrat papers are obliged to publish the most furious
philippics against England. A French frigate took a British prize
off the capes of Delaware the other day, and sent her up here. Upon
her coming into sight, thousands and thousands of the yeomanry
of the city crowded and covered the wharves. Never before was such a
crowd seen there; and when the British colors were seen reversed,
and the French flying above them, they burst into peals of
exultation. I wish we may be able to repress the spirit of the
people within the limits of a fair neutrality. In the meantime, H.
is panic-struck, if we refuse our breech to every kick which Great
Britain may choose to give it. He is for proclaiming at once the
most abject principles, such as would invite and merit habitual
insults; and indeed every inch of ground must be fought in our
councils to desperation, in order to hold up the face of even a
sneaking neutrality, for our votes are generally two and a half
against one and a half. Some propositions have come from him which
would astonish Mr. Pitt himself with their boldness. If we preserve
even a sneaking neutrality, we shall be indebted for it to the
President, and not to his counsellors. |
James
Monroe
5 May 1793 |
FOREIGN
RELATIONS / BRITAIN AND FRANCE AT WAR
We are going on here in the same spirit still.
The Anglophobia has seized violently on three members of our
council. This sets almost every day on questions of neutrality.
Everything, my dear Sir, hangs up6n the opinion of a single person,
and that the most indecisive one I ever had to do business with. He
always contrives to agree in principle with one, but in conclusion
with the other. Anglophobia, secret anti-gallomany, a federalisme
outré, and a present ease in his circumstances not usual,
have decided the complexion of our dispositions, and our proceedings
towards the conspirators against human liberty, and the asserters of
it, which is unjustifiable in principle, in interest, and in respect
to the wishes of our constituents. A manly neutrality, claiming the
liberal right ascribed to that condition by the very persons at war,
was the part we should have taken, and would I believe have given
satisfaction to our allies. If anything prevents its being a mere
English neutrality, it will be that the penchant of the President is
not that way, and above all, the ardent spirit of our constituents.
The line is now drawn so clearly as to show on one side, 1. The
fashionable circles of Philadelphia, New York, Boston and
Charleston, (natural aristocrats), 2. Merchants trading on British
capital, 3. Paper men (all the old tories are found in some one of
the three descriptions). On the other side are, 1. Merchants trading
on their own capital. 2. Irish merchants. 3. Tradesmen, mechanics,
farmers, and every other possible description of our citizens. Genet
is not yet arrived though hourly expected. |
James
Madison
13 May 1793 |
FOREIGN
RELATIONS / BRAZIL
My journey into this part of the country
[France] has procured me information which I will take the liberty
of communicating to Congress. In October last I received a letter
dated Montpelier, October the 2d, 1786, announcing to me that the
writer was a foreigner, who had a matter of very great consequence
to communicate to me, and desired I would indicate the channel
through which it might pass safely. I did so.
I received soon after a letter in the following words, omitting
only the formal parts. "I am a native of Brazil. You are not
ignorant of the frightful slavery under which my country groans.
This continually becomes more insupportable since the epoch of your
glorious independence, for the cruel Portuguese omit nothing which
can render our condition more wretched, from an apprehension that we
may follow your example. The conviction, that these usurpers against
the laws of nature and humanity only meditate new oppressions, has
decided us to follow the guiding light which you have held out to
us, to break our chains, to revive our almost expiring liberty,
which is nearly overwhelmed by that force, which is the sole
foundation of the authority that Europeans exercise over American.
But it is necessary that some power should extend assistance to the
Brazilians, since Spain would certainly unite herself with Portugal;
and in spite of our advantages for defence, we could not make it
effectual, or, at least, it would be imprudent to hazard the attempt
without some assurance of success. In this state of affairs, Sir, we
can with propriety look only to the United States, not only because
we are following her example, but, moreover, because nature, in
making us inhabitants of the same continent, has in some sort united
us in the bonds of a common patriotism. On our part, we are prepared
to furnish the necessary supplies of money, and at all times to
acknowledge the debt of gratitude due to our benefactors. …."
…The Noblesse are scarcely known as such. They will, in no
manner, be distinguished from the people. The men of letters are
those most desirous of a revolution. The people are not much under
the influence of their priests, most of them read and write, possess
arms, and are in the habit of using them for hunting. The slaves
will take the side of their masters. In short, as to the question of
revolution, there is but one mind in that country. But there appears
no person capable of conducting a revolution, or willing to venture
himself at its head, without the aid of some powerful nation, as the
people of their own might fail them. There is no printing press in
Brazil. They consider the North American revolution as a precedent
for theirs. They look to the United States as most likely to give
them honest support, and, from a variety of considerations, have the
strongest prejudices in our favor. This informant is a native and
inhabitant of Rio Janeiro, the present metropolis. . .
I took care to impress on him, through the whole of our
conversation, that I had neither instructions nor authority to say a
word to anybody on this subject, and that I could only give him my
own ideas, as a single individual; which were, that we were not in a
condition at present to meddle nationally in any war; that we wished
particularly to cultivate the friendship of Portugal, with whom we
have an advantageous commerce. That yet a successful revolution in
Brazil could not be uninteresting to us. That prospects of lucre
might, possibly draw numbers of individuals to their aid, and purer
motives our officers, among whom are many excellent. That our
citizens being free to leave their own country individually, without
the consent of their governments, are equally free to go to any
other. |
John
Jay
4 May 1787 |
FOREIGN
RELATIONS / BRITAIN / COMMERCIAL TREATY
With respect to a commercial treaty with this
country [England], be assured that this government not only has it
not in contemplation at present to make any, but that they do not
conceive that any circumstances will arise which shall render it
expedient for them to have any political connection with us. They
think we shall be glad of their commerce on their own terms. There
is no party in our favor here, either in power or out of power. Even
the opposition concur with the ministry and the nation in this. I
dined the other day in a company of the ministerial party. A General
Clark, a Scotchman and ministerialist, sat next to me. He introduced
the subject of American affairs, and in the course of the
conversation told me that were America to petition Parliament to be
again received on their former footing, the petition would be very
generally rejected. He was serious in this, and I think it was the
sentiment of the company, and is the sentiment perhaps of the
nation. In this they are wise, but for a foolish reason. They think
they lost more by suffering us to participate of their commercial
privileges, at home and abroad, than they lose by our political
severance. The true reason, however, why such an application should
be rejected is, that in a very short time, we should oblige them to
add another hundred millions to their debt in unsuccessful attempts
to retain the subjection offered to them. |
Richard
Henry Lee
22 Apr 1786 |
FOREIGN
RELATIONS / BRITAIN
I am of opinion that twenty-three thousand
hogsheads of tobacco, the annual consumption of' this country, do
not exceed the amount of those commodities which it is more
advantageous to us to buy here than in England, or elsewhere; and
such a commerce would powerfully reinforce the motives for a
friendship from this country towards ours. This friendship we ought
to cultivate closely, considering the present dispositions of
England towards us.
I am lately returned from a visit to that country. The spirit of
hostility to us has always existed in the mind of the King, but it
has now extended itself through the whole mass of the people, and
the majority in the public councils. in a country, where the voice
of the people influence so much the measures of administration, and
where it coincides with the private temper of the King, there is no
pronouncing on future events. It is true they have nothing to gain,
and much to lose by a war with us. But interest is not the strongest
passion in the human breast. There are difficult points, too, still
unsettled between us. They have not withdrawn their armies out of
our country, nor given satisfaction for the property they brought
off. On our part, we have not paid our debts, and it will take time
to pay them. In conferences with some distinguished mercantile
characters, I found them sensible of the impossibility of our paying
these debts at once, and that an endeavor to force universal and
immediate payment, would render debts desperate, which are good in
themselves. I think we should not have differed in the term
necessary. We differed essentially in the article of interest. For
while the principal, and interest preceding and subsequent to the
war seem justly due from us, that which accrued during the war does
not. Interest is a compensation for the use of money. Their money,
in our hands, was in the form of lands and negroes. Tobacco, the
produce of these lands and negroes (or as I may call it, the
interest of them), being almost impossible of conveyance to the
markets of consumption, because taken by themselves in its way
there, sold during the war, at five or six shillings the hundred.
This did not pay taxes, and for tools and other plantation charges.
A man who should have attempted to remit to his creditor tobacco,
for either principal or interest, must have remitted it three times
before one cargo would have arrived safe; and this from the
depredations of their own nation, and often of the creditor himself;
for some of the merchants entered deeply into the privateering
business. The individuals, who did not, say they have lost this
interest; the debtor replies, that he has not gained it, and that it
is a case, where a Toss having been incurred, every one tries to
shift it from himself. The known bias of the human mind from motives
of interest should lessen the confidence of each party in the
justice of their reasoning; but it is difficult to say, which of
them should make the sacrifice, both of reason and interest. Our
conferences were intended as preparatory to some arrangement. It is
uncertain how far we should have been able to accommodate our
opinions. But the absolute aversion of the government to enter into
any arrangement prevented the object from being pursued. Each
country is left to do justice to itself and to the other, according
to its own ideas, as to what is past; and to scramble for the
future, as well as they can; to regulate their commerce by duties
and prohibitions, and perhaps by cannons and mortars; in which
event, we must abandon the ocean, where we are weak, leaving to
neutral nations the carriage of our commodities; and measure with
them on land, where they alone can lose. Farewell, then, all our
useful improvements of canals and roads, reformations of laws, and
other rational employments. |
James
Ross
8 May 1786 |
FOREIGN
RELATIONS / BRITAIN
We are in suspense here to see the fate and
effect of Mr. Pitt's bill against democratic societies. I wish
extremely to get at the true history of this effort to suppress
freedom of meeting, speaking, writing and printing. Your
acquaintance with Sedgwick will enable you to do it. Pray get the
outlines of the bill he intended to have brought in for this
purpose. This will enable us to judge whether we have the merit of
the invention; whether we were really beforehand with the British
minister on this subject; whether he took his hint from our
proposition, or whether the concurrence in the sentiment is merely
the result of the general truth that great men will think alike and
act alike, though without intercommunication. I am serious in
desiring extremely the outlines of the bill intended for us.
|
William
B. Giles
19 Mar 1796 |
FOREIGN
RELATIONS / BRITAIN
The late change in the ministry I consider as
insuring us a just settlement of our differences, and we ask no
more. . . . No two countries upon earth have so many points of
common interest and friendship; and their rulers must be great
bunglers indeed, if, with such dispositions, they break them
asunder. The only rivalry that can arise is on the ocean. England
may, by petty larceny thwartings, check us on that element a little,
but nothing she can do will retard us there one year's growth.
|
James
Monroe
4 May 1806 |
FOREIGN
RELATIONS / BRITAIN
I have to acknowledge your favor of the 9th,
and to thank you for the political information it contained. Reading
the newspapers but little and that little but as the romance of the
day, a word of truth now and then comes like the drop of water on
the tongue of Dives. If the British ministry are changing their
policy towards us, it is because their nation, or rather the city of
London, which is the nation to them, is shaken as usual, by the late
reverses in Spain. |
James
Madison
19 Apr 1809 |
FOREIGN
RELATIONS / BRITAIN
The infatuation of the British government and
nation is beyond everything imaginable. A thousand circumstances
announce that they are on the point of being blown up, and they
still proceed with the same madness and increased wickedness.
|
James
Madison
26 Nov 1809 |
|
