The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1836-1851, 1841-09-01
From the Sapannah Georgi0n 81 81 -
ORIGINAL LETTER OF JEFFERSON

OhlUNAL LIE lClSyOF. FREDERICKSBURG
AT the meeting 4oflhe Georgia EHistori.
cal Socidty on the 9th inst. Dr. Stevens.
ia behalf of the Hon., ,Asbury Hull, ssof
Athens, presented to the Society an. Eori.s
ginal letter of Thos. Jefferson, written be-.
fore he went to Gollege. We have been.
favored with copy of il to lay before olE3
readers. as an interesting specimen tepis-
tolary writing by youth ofsixteen, The fu-j
ture signer oflbe Dcclaraiion$pfI Indepen-
dence. II shows great force and Sdifect-
ness ofmind. and exhibits the faci shst
even then his aspirations cached into sthesl
shadowy future. -. S s9s; Be
4coPY) s@S ssss
SHADWELL, January 14tha a760.
.sSir-I was at Colo. Peter RanlpIpf !
about Fortnight. ago, antEmy, schooling
falling into discourse, he said he thought
it would be to my advantage TO 60 to. thee
College and was .desirousd should sas !.
indeedI am myselffo for, several reaspns.s:
In the first place as long asI stay at the.
Mountains the loss Of one fourth Of my!
time is inevitable, by company's coming
here and detaining me from school. And
likewise my absence willin a great IDea-
sure put a stop to SO much Company and }
by that Means lessen the Expenses of fsihes Z
Estate in Housekeeping. And on the:
other Hand bygoing to the College
shall gel more universal Acquainlance,s
which may hereafter be yseryiceable 10 mel
and I suppose can pursue my studies 10 Z
the Greek g. Latin ss well there as here, 1
& likewise learn something Of the Mathe- Z
mstics. / shall be glad Of your opinion
and remain Sir, - Z. 80: s.isszsy .yi3ssyy,
Your most humble serv't =
THOS. JEFFERSON, Junr. i
To Mr. John Harvey
at - Er{sSFr{ ~ 'sseesss-s ~
Bellemont. a53 53zss
Jefferson was born a Shadwell, Alber- s
marie Co., Va, April 2d,sO.S. I7d3. and 3
was therefore not quite seventeen when
The letter was penned. This; appealsto Z:
Col. Harvey, who was his guardian, his ]
father having died when he.was buttwelyes +
years old, was successful, andxsin the
spring Of fl760. he entered William and S
Mary College, which, at that time, was s:un.
der most excellent management. Why he
signs his name Thomas Jefferson, Junior,sFTi
is matter Of doubt. His fathers name 3
was Peter and though the name of one of
his uncles was Thomas, yethe died beforese
Young Jefferson was born. The only =
solution is, that there might have been, s
another perhaps a relative of the same
name, and instead Of following the new
England plan in such cases aud saying
Thomas Jefferson lst and Thomas Jeffer-
son 2d, he wrote Thomas Jefferson, Junior, I
Our friend, Mr. Teft, has in his splen-
did collection of autographs, eight or ten
letters of.Jefferson, but the earliest date
in his collection, is an order Of Jefferson's
while governor of Virginia, dated Rich
mond, sth May, 1881. This order was
given at the request ofLafaye.le, 10 facili.
tate the movement of an officer whom he
had despatched TO break down the bridge
to retard the enemy. The style of pen.
is similar in all, though rather
more corsive and easy in the meridian and
close oflife. Col. Harvey, the gentleman
the letter Is addressed. and the !;
guardian OF yonng Jefferson. was sthe Z