Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1878-09-08
mountain pathway three feet deep with

mountain pathway three feet deep Win
snow. Says Mr.. Cooke:
"It was late when they arrived and
chez rless reception awaited them OF
rather 1. ere was no reception at all. The
fires were all out, the servants had gone
to bed and the place was dark and silent
as the grave. Conducting his wife to the
little pavilion, which was the only part
Of the house habitable at the time, Jetfer-
son proceeded to kindle the fine and do
the honors. On shelf behind some
hooks part of bottle of wine was dis
covered, and this formed the supper of
the bride groom and the bride. Far from
being annoyed or discounted by their re-
ception, however, it only served as a
topic Of jest and laughter. The young
lady was as lighthearted as a bird, and
sent her clear voice ringing through the
Dire Try little pavilion as gaily as she had
ever done in the cheerful drawing room
of the Forest, and thus the long hours OF
the winner night fed away like minutes,
winged with laughter, merriment and
song" ;sss.;tsa: sAsaSa
That was 1916 years ago. Bridegroom
and bride now repose i'll the graveyard,
in thick growth Of woods few hun
dred yards to the right Of the road that
leads up to Monticello, an unfrequcnted
slope of the mountain There are some
thirty graves here, partly inclosed by a
brick wall 100 feet square and 10 feet
high, with old and rusty iron gates wide
enough, though seemingly locked with
rust, to admit carriage on the north
and west sides. On the south side the
entire wall has been toppled over by
some storm, and lies Level in its courses
of brick with the ground. Within tine en-
closure every thing at the time of my
visit was the veriest picture of desolation
and decay.
With the exception Of two or three
marble slabs viii IN mark the graves of
some of the decendents of the jefferson
family who were buried as late as ten
years ago, there are not one that was not
broken and defaced, half covered with
weeds and earth or out of its place.
Weeds and stones and bricks covered one
half of the ground and looked as if they
had been undisturbed for generation
On the west wall the "Virginia creepers'
were struggling to grow out of the place
before they put on their scarlet tints of
the autumn, and within the bloom of a
single bush of eglantine only relieved the
scene Of delapidation which met you at
every footstep. There is but one monu
ment in the inclosure, that of Jefferson,
whose grave was dug by his old DO ~
servent, Wormlcy. in the place which
lot ho1 10 lnIr
to the north wall equi-distant from its
sides. 1t is a coarse granite obelisk
about 8 feet high on a base feet square
and marks the head of the grave. There
is not any inch of it that has not been
Clipped and broken by the hand of the
vandal. The edges of the shaft have been
Clipped from base to apex till the corners
present the appearance of rough, I'M
hewn stone. 1.-THE legendary tablets of
the past" have been utterly obliterated by
the DETACHMENT of the inscription, with
the single exception of the words in small
letters at the base. The full epitaph
which Mr.. Jefferson wrote, and rough
pen and-ink sketch of a monument for
himself, were found in g private drawer a
few days after his death. 1t was to be an
obelisk of granite, eight feet high. and to
bear (and subsequently did bear) the fol-
lowing inscription:
'Here was buried Thomas Jefferson,
Author Of the Declaration of American
Independence, of the Statute of Virginia
for Religious Freedom, and Father of
the University of Virgiria.n The in
scr,ption for the base was to be-: "Born
April 2, O. s. 1743, Died. y
His wishes were carried out, the blank in
the last line being filled with "July 4,
1896" All that is visible of the inscrip-
ton to-day are the lines; "Born April 2
o. s. 1743. Died July A. 1896,
There is no trace whatever OF the gave
of the wife of jefferson. 1t was located
on the lower side OF his monument. In
1851 this grave and its slab OF white
marble were visible with the simple in
scription: Martha Jefferson, Born in 1853
o. s. Intermarried with Thomas Jefferson
January 1, 1919. Torn from him by
death September 6, 1882. This monu-
ment of love is Inscribed" On the other
Or upper side IF the obelisk the slab COW
ering the grave of Jeferson's eldest
daughter is partly legible. What is
missing is inserted in parenthesea:
"MarQha Jefferson Randolph), eldest
daughter Of Thomas Jefferson. Born
Sept. II, C772). Intermarried with
Thomas Mann Randolph, FEB. 90, 1890
Died Oct. 10, 1886. She possessed a
strong and cultivated and gentle
temper; warm, atfectionate and self-sac-
riticing in all her duties This Is slight
mark OF the love Borne by her SOD Thorn
as Jefferson Randolph" Mr. Randolph
died but two years ago. In 1872 he pre-
sided ever the Democratic convention
held III Ohio.
In his last days Jefferson wrote to
Madison: Take CAGE OF me when dead
and be assured shall leave with you my
last affections" Although his biographer
intimates that this probably referred to
the defence of a part of his political
record it.nevertheless appeals in Its full
est sense 10 the American people to save
from further dissertation that which
Macaulay tells US is ''the temple efsilence
and reconciliation. It will be useless
for Congress to place new monument
over his grave unless it devises some
means to protect it. It will be located
liz an almost un requented place, where
it can be defaced quite as rapidly as the
present one was by those who neither
revere the memory nor respect the grave
of Jefferson.
IH passing frcm the old burial place