Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1878-09-12
MONTIUELLO,
Desolation and Decay At tho Old Home
1NAeFoOn,

MONTICELLO.
and Decay At tho Old Ao-ae Of
1Nf1eroOn,
of the N. Y. World
Monticello ls-and should be-as ia
miliar and as honored name In Ameri
can ears as is Mount Vernon or tue Her.
mitage. But how scant respect has been
shown to either of the homes of the writer |
of the Declaration-that where he lived. |
that in which he now lies I visited it not |
long SINCE, Just before the passage Of the !
appropriation of $4,000 tor the erection
of Il monument over the neglected grave,
and found the tomb lcvellcl with the
earth, the stone above it dofaced beyond
recognition and the dilapidated home
stead in the possession Of tramp.
Monticello, to which President Jeffer-
son retired at the conclusion of his Sec
ond term, is on the summit of hill near
Charlottesville, Albemarle, county, Va,
"tho very seat from which, lifted above
the worlds turmoil, one who has exhaust
cd what it can bestow of emiuence might
look down, withdraw from its personal
troubles: but contemplating at leisure the
distant animation of the scene" On the
spire OF the Blue Hid &c, whose varying
outlines stretched away till they are lost
to the sight, with sylvan scene Of unsur-
passed loneliness in the vale below, the
quiet Rivanna M,eandering through rich
fields on one side, the pleasant village
| dotted the other, while the porticoes and
| domes OF the university rise in the dis
lance behind, it overlooked, says Mr..
Goodwin, "a combination of natural pic
lures that are rarely found in one spot"
The sky above" says another writer, sis
not more shifting than the scene you may
have before you. It takes a new aspect
ut almost every moment, and bewitches
| you with q perpetual novelty"
Monticello two generations ago was
more than mansion-it was commune
| ty. The A. 900 acres of the estate were
/ carefully titled by a small army Of labor
ers. It was Jetferson's boast that his car
rage and the tools with which it was
made were alike manufactured upon the
estate. The house was spacious, richly
furnished and commodious, with
an extensive and rich library, in which,
seated in q low Spanish chair, the Sage
Of Monticello "held forth to his visitors
in an almost endless flow Of fine dis
course" There is graphic picture of
him given by writer who saw him at
eighty-one, representing him as "dressed
no longer in the red breeches which were
once famous as his favorite and rather
conspicuous attire, but still vindicating
By u sanguine waist-coat his attachment
to that republican color; in gray shorts
small silver knee.buckles, gray wooller
stockings. black slippers, 4 blue body.
coat, surmountcd by G gray spencer
He was tall, and though 1.-the and decid
edly graceful and agile, long and i'll.
limbed. Yet his figure was ':command.
ing and striking, though bad, and his
face most animated and agreeable
though remarkably ugly His leg had
never been conscious of calf, but he
walked we'll and swiftly and with light
ness, and springiness of tread such as few
young men have. He mounted his horse
without assistance and rode some ter
miles q day; dismounting at fence
breast-high he would leap over it, only
placing his hand on the tODmost rail.
! OF Jefferson as he appeared sixty-three
years before, when he was student as
Williamsburg, Va. John Esten Cooke has
given description as interesting. He
was, says Mr.. Cooke, tall and thin and his
face was angular and far from beautiful
His complexion was sunburned, his
hair Of a sandy red, and his eyes g1ay
flecked with hazel-add indication gen.
orally of intellect. * He dressed
somewhat after the fashion of beau, in
lowered waiscoat, silk coat, stockings
confined at the knee by fancifully worked
carriers, and used powder, carried his
fine lace hat beneath his arm, bowed low
paii gallant com pliments to the fair sex
and danced at every assembly," He wa:
a hard student, working fifteen hours {
day, and was an excellent performer or
The violin. "Of "Ossian's" poetry then JUS
} given to the literary world, he raved; he
iptented studying Gaelic so as to reac
this greatest of bards in the original
He was desperately in love with Rebecce
Burwell, his Belinda" daughter Of
! Lewis Burwel OF White Marsh, left al
orphan at ten, and no less distinguished
of character. He wrote to friend tina
!: he had thought of the cleverest plan O.
life.' that could be imagined. "You ex
change your lands for Edgehill," he said
''or mine fol. Fairfield S; you mary S. P.
marry R. B., join and get pole chair anc
apair OF keen horses, practice the law il
! the same courts and drive about to al
tho dances in the country together
Arcadian plan, but not to be carried out
for later letter says: "With regard t.
the scheme which I proposed to 20,
+ some time since / am sorry to tell it i
! totally frustrated by Miss R. BIS MARI
age with Jacqulin Amber which the PEG
pie here tell me they daily expect
Well, the Lord bless her, say!' Nh
Amber was treasurer Of Virginia; hi
brother Edward married Miss Cary
who tradition asserts, had also Tilted
future president Washington, to-wit.
; Belinda had been married many year
when her old admirer, then approaching
80, met Martha Shelton Of The Forest
Charles City, daughter of Mr.. job,
Wayles, an eminent lawyer. At the agt
of II she had married in 1886 Mr.. Bath
urst Shelton, who died two years later
At % the widow was "a little above tn,
medium height, slender, but elegantly
formed" with fair compl. xion, delicate
ly tinted; large hazel eyes, full of lif,
and feeling; luxuriant hair of rich, sof
auburn; she rode and danced with ele
giant ease, sang and played very sweetly
had excellent sense, admirable cultiva
ion, warm heart and large fortune
With Mrs. Shelton Jefferson fell in love
He had two rivals, and one historian
records that they Abandoned the 6eldto
him when one night when probably each
had come resolved to put his fortune tt
the toucD they met on the doc: step and
heard within Jeferson's violin and song
accompanying the lady in aplaintive voice
On New Years day, 1872, Jefferson and
she were married, and soon after they sci
ont for Monticello, which the groom had
begun to build in 1859, just before the
burning of his patrimonial home OF
Shadwell. AS they advanced towards the
mountains 1t came on to snow, and at last
they had to leave the coach and take to
horses. At Blenheim, Col. Carriers estate
rr,ho~o Abo,~ n>>,-o1 4. ...A :