The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1872-03-28
Ffexas JEFFERSON.

f8Mko SEIEEbpVAs
Jefferson was q STRIPPING Of seven
teen. tai, raw-boned, freckled, and
ssndv-baired, when, in lT60, he came
n Williamsburg from the far west Of
Virginia 70 enter the college Of Will
lam anC Mary. With his large feet
md hards, his thick wrists and prom
fnent check bones and chin, he could
not hay been accounted handsome
or grace al. He Is described, hOWev-
er, as a resh, bright, healthy looking
youth, as straight as q gun barrel, sin
ewy and strong, With that alertnesi
of movement which comes Of early
familiarity with saddle, gun, canoe
minuet, and country dance-that sure
and elastic tread and ease OF bearing
which We still observe in country
bred lads wiio have been exempt from
the rud is Of agriculture, while
enjoying, in full measures the free
dom and the sports Of the country
His teeth, too, were perfect, Whlen
alone redeemed e countenence oestl-
tute Of other charms; his eyes, which
were Of hazel gray, were beaming and
EXPRESSIVE: and his demeanOr gave
assurance OF s gentle heart and sym
pathetic, fnquisitive mind
Such lads, eager and informed, still
couue to college from honest country
homes, in regions where agriculture Is
carried on upon q scale that allows
eoune leisure TO the farmers family,
eonle IiberalitY Of expenditure, books,
music. q tfhctnre Of art, and hOspita-
be habits. How welcome, how dear,
70 instructors worthy Of them, are
such unhacknied minds in bodies IN
impaired
The abode Of this youth was q han
dred and fifty miles to the northwest
Of Williamsburg, among the noun
tains Of Central Virginia near where
the river Rivanna, an important trib-
utary, enters the james His home
was q Dlain, spacious farm-house, q
story and q half high, with four large
rooms and 3 vide entry on the ground
floor, and many garret chambers
above. Tie farm consisted Of nine
teen hundred aeres OF land, part Of IL
densely wooded, and some Of it 50
steep and rocky as to be unfit for cul-
tivatiOn. The fields near the river
were stron land, not yet Though soon
70 bel worn past the profitable culture
u slLolC0f MDaE EAAG 4kHE~A NfaAAA0A-a
were well suited to the grains and
roots familiar to the farmers Of the
Middle States. For sixty years the
staple product Of all that dne noun
tain re gion, with its elevated fields,
its far-reaohing valleys and rapid
streams, was wheat, which the swift
tributaries groa1d lHto fOuT, Gnd the
yellow James bore down it, tranquil
- 80. = -
Jefferson home two days ride. The
rustic Of wheat heads was familiar
music TO Thomas Jefferson from In.
fancy to hoaFy age. g
The farm was TILED, at this period,
by thirty slayes-equivalent to aboui
fifteen farm hands. The circumstan-
ces Of the family we're easy, not adiu-
ent. Almost every common thing
they consumed was grown or made st
hOme-all the common fabrics and or
dinary cIething; and Of homemade
commodities fhey had an abundance;
but the thirty pounds Of sterling per
annum in cash, which the student was
20 expend., ct Williamsburg for his
board and tuition, was not so light q
charge upon the estate as Il sounds to
Us. The expense Of his maintenance
away from home may have been fifty
pounds year; which was not proba-
bly, less than. half the sum could have
been taken properly from the annual
product ofthe farm and shops, after
all the home charges had been paid.
The yeomen Of Virginia, though they
enjoyed profnsion Of the necsssarIes
Of Life, were sometimes sorely put to
1t when a SUM Of money was 70 be
raised.
This student Of seventeen, through
the death q his father three years be-
fore, was already the head Of the lam-
lily, and, Under 8 guardian, the owner
Of the Shadwel farm, the best portion
Of his fatheF's estate. ~ .r+r,
Peter Jgfefsont the father of the
student, Ras sHperb specimen Of q
class nearly extinct II Great Britain,
which used 10 be called yeomen-
farmers who owned the land they TIL
ed, but that had no pretensions to
aristOcratie rEn6-a class intermediate
in parish between the squire and bis
tenants. -In-Old Virginia, yeomen
were farmers who, beginning life with
little capital besides a strong arm and
an energetic win, had taken up a tract
Of land to the westward of the great
tobacco region Of Virginia, and grad
ualiy worked their way to the possess
ion Of q cleared farm and few fami-
lies of slaves. In this manner Peter
Jefferson, and his father before him,
Lad achieved an Independent posi-
ton; staunch yeomen both, of strong
unlettered sense, and Of signal ability
In the conduct Of business;enterprising
and meth0dfcai liberal, but exact I;
good ct figures, with a clear, careful
handwriting, and an aptitude for
mechanics. The family was Of Welsh
extraction. i
From this natural chief of men
Thomas Jefferson derived bis stature,
his erectness, his bodily strength-in
which only bis father exceIled him Of
the men known OF remembered in
that country-his self reliance, his
habits Of waiting on himself, his aver
sion to parade -Rnd ceremony, his ten-
dency TO humane politics, his curious
eXsctness In matters of business, his
strong bias toward mathematics, me-
chanics aud architecture. He may
have derived from him, too, some
traits that limited his ability as an ex-
ecutive chief One Of his fathers
maxims was, ''Never ask another to
do for you what you can do yourself" /"
A man who has to difect extensive ei-
fairs and control many men must re-
verse this maxim, and never dc any
thing himself which he can properly
get another todo. n If
We can hardly imhgine a boy bet
ter placed Tor an equal developement
Of mind, body, character than Thom-
as Jefferson was during his fathers
lifetime. That region combines both
the charms and advantages Of noun
tain and plain; for the heights are not
too difficult OF access, and the low
lands are not insalubrious. He could
shoot wild turkeys, deer and all ffv-
ing game, and without going of his
fathers estate and past his native
fields flowed q river, over which he
wss early taught to swim his horse.
The primeval wilderness covered the
mountains, and waved iuxuriRnt in
many q valley-the most couspicu-
Gus fact Of nature around him TIL he
was long past b0yhood. But by the
time he was 3 well known lad there
were neighbOrs near and numerous
enough for society. His father's Off
ciRl position made him the arbiter of
NN--e~-N-0l1 --~--E anu Tie
justice. The lad must have seen his
father try manysa petty case, and set
tie many difsreRce, as well between
white men as between whites and In
dians. reg Frs
All the important circumstances of
his home come to mind as we brood
over scattered indieations in old and
old and new Virginia books. We see
that giant Of 6 father, stead fast, resery.
cd and even austere, but not unRen-
tie, busy with official labors and the
details of farm and barn during the
day, and IN the evening gfvinp his
boy This only son Tor many vearsl les
sons in bookkeeping and arithme-
tic; two elder sisters, perhaps. taking
their turn at slate and pencil. or sif.
ting with their In0lher plying thei
needle; the father was not 1nfre-
quently treating the group to q favor
ite paper from the SDect0tor. The
morning scene, too, with the raofhoF
aud her servants, we can infer with
much probability from descripfionl.si ~
similar interiors preserved from that
period. va -
he Qavv b,s r,ofI,ar ~ .