THOMAS JEFFERSON.
From Portrait by Gilbert Stuart.
MONTICELLO:—THE WESTERN FRONT.
THE DOMESTIC LIFE
OF
THOMAS JEFFERSON.
COMPILED FROM
FAMILY LETTERS AND REMINISCENCES,
BY HIS GREAT-GRANDDAUGHTER,
SARAH N. RANDOLPH.
NEW YORK:
HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,
FRANKLIN SQUARE.
1871.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871, by
Harper & Brothers,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
PREFACE.
I do not in this volume write of Jefferson either as ofthe great man or as of the statesman. My object is onlyto give a faithful picture of him as he was in private life—toshow that he was, as I have been taught to think ofhim by those who knew and loved him best, a beautifuldomestic character. With this view I have collected thereminiscences of him which have been written by hisdaughter and grandchildren. From his correspondence,published and unpublished, I have culled his familyletters, and here reproduce them as being the most faithfulwitnesses of the warmth of his affections, the elevation ofhis character, and the scrupulous fidelity with which hedischarged the duties of every relation in life.
I am well aware that the tale of Jefferson's life, bothpublic and private, has been well told by the most faithfulof biographers in "Randall's Life of Jefferson," and thatmuch of what is contained in these pages will be found inthat admirable work, which, from the author's zealousdevotion to truth, and his indefatigable industry in collectinghis materials, must ever stand chief among the mostvaluable contributions to American history. I propose,however, to give a sketch of Jefferson's private life in abriefer form than it can be found in either the thirteenvolumes of the two editions of his published correspondence,or in the three stout octavo volumes of his Life byRandall. To give a bird's-eye view of his whole career,[viii]and to preserve unbroken the thread of this narrative, Iquote freely from his Memoir, and from such of his lettersas cast any light upon the subject, filling up the blankswith my own pen.
Jefferson's executor having a few months ago recoveredfrom the United States Government his family letters andprivate papers, which had been exempted from the sale ofhis public manuscripts, I am enabled to give in these pagesmany interesting letters never before published.
No man's private character h