River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1878-09-12
MONTICELLO,
DesOlatiOn and tss-.-ay a the ola Home of
JeHer.oe.

Correspondence ofthe n. Y. World
Monticello sand should be-as Ia
mlliar ana as honored a name in Amcri
can ears as is Mount Vernon or tine Her
mltage. But how scaut respect has been
shown 10 either ofthe homes of the writer
of the Declaration-tha where he lived
that in which he now lies | visited it not
long since, Just before the passage of the
appropriation of $1,000 for the erection
OF monument over the neglected grave
and found the tomb levelled with the
earth, the stone above it deiaced beyond
recognition and the diiapidated hoEIe-
stead in the possession Of tramp.
Monticello. to which President jeff n.
son retired at he conclusion of his sec
ond term, is on the summit of hill neal
Charlottesville. AIbamarie, county. Va,
''the very seat from which, lifted above
the worlds turmoil, one who has exhaust
ed what it can bestOw of emiuencc might
look down, withdraw from its persolai
troubles: bat cOntem plating at leisure the
distant animation Of the scene" On the
spiTe OF the Blue Ridve, whose varying
outlines stretched away till they sre lost
to The sight, with sylvan scene OF unsur-
passed LONELINESS in the vale below, the
quiet Rivanna meandering through rich
fields on one side, the pleasant village
dotted the other, while tine 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
h4E- E.s.E. ssst-
at almost every moment, and bewltches
You with perpetual novelty.
Monticello two generations ago was
more than mausion-it was a communi-
". The $4,000 acres of the estate were
carefully titled by a small army Of labor
ers. 1t was Jetferson's boast that his car
rage and the tools with which it was
mad3 were alike manufactured upon the
estate. The house was spacilds, richly
furnished and commodious, with
an extensive and rich library, in which,
seated in low Spanish chair, the Sage
of Monticello 'held forth to his visitors
in an almost endless flow Of fine dis
course" There is a graphic picture OF
him given by a writer who saw him at
eighty one, representing him as dressed
40 longer in the red breeches which were
once famous as his favorite and rather
conspicuous attire, but still vindicati1g
by sanguine waist-cOat his attachment
10 that republican color; in gray shorts.
small silver knee-bucKles, gray woOlien
stockings black slippers, blue body
coat. surmouuted by a gray spencer"
He was tall. aad though 1.-the ana decjd-
edly graceful aud agile, long and ILL.,
HI, u.
lug ana striking, though bad, and his
face most animated ami agreea lie
though remarkably ugly His leg had
never been conscious of a calf, but he
walked we'll and swiftly and with light
ness, and spriDginess OF tread ,urh as few
young men have. lie mounted his horse
without assistance and rode some ten
miles day; dismounting AZ a fence
breast-high he would leap over it. only
,placibz his hand on the toDmost rail.
o. Jefferson rs he appeared sixtythree
years before, when he was student as
Williamsburg, Va. john E,ten Cooke hae
given a description as Interesting. lie
Wa, saws Mr. Co Ike. tall aud thu spd ms
face was angular and far from beautiful
His complexion was sunburned. his
hair of a 9, ndy red. aud bis eyes gray.
flecked with hAZei-add indication gen
er4l Y ct intellect He dressed
sNmewh4t after the fashion of beau, in
lowered waiscoat, a silk coat, stockings
confined at the knee by fancifu,ly workt
carriers. ana used powder, carried his
fine lace has h peath his arm, bowed low,
paid gallant com piimen's 10 the fair sex
and danced at every assembly. lie was
"A hard student, working fifteen hours Il
dsr. aad was an exc slient performer on
IIIe violin. "Of'.Ossion ; poetry, then just
given 90 tRe literary world, he Tagei; h'
fpteuted ai1iE;a2 Gaelic 81 as to fead
ans greatest Of !ssTds IN the original.
lie was q speratelv ia 1--we wifh X becca /
i2urwelf. lis "2e india . daughter OF
I.swis Bur~uIl OF Whsts Marsh, lett 81
orphan ut ten, aud no less distinguished
Of character lie wrote IL TREND thar
ne hau thought OF " the ceverest plan OF
life. that could he imagined "Yon ex-
Grange your lands for f 1ehiii be said.
''or nine for Fairfield ,: y9u mary y. T.. !
marry r. b., ia ami get pole chair and /
= tj;ir OF keen horses, practice the law In
the same courts and orgye about TO al
lhc dzaees in the country together"
Arcadiaa pan, but not to be carried ou',
tor lsster lezter 5lys: "With regard TO
the scheme wbica ] proposed to yod
some time since | am sorry To tell II l.
totally frustrated by Miss r. Rs mar
age with Iacgulin Ambler which the peu-
pie here tell me they daily expect
We'll, the Lord bless her. | say Mr.
Ambter was treasurer of Virginia; his
Brother Edward married Miss Cary
b.,1 al 5fi1faH
future president-W Washington, to- wit.
b linda had been married many years
when her old admifer, then approaching
30. met NJ trtua Skelton OF the Foresr,
Charles City, DAUGHTER OF Mr.. John
Wavles. an eminent lawyer A. the age
OF II she had married in 1856 Mfr. Bath
alrSt SHELTON, who died two years later
Al % the widow vas "a little above the
medium height, slender, but elegantly
formezi," with tair cOmplt xlon, delicate
Nv tinted: large hazel eyes, full of life
and feeling luxgTiant hair of rich, soft
auburn; she rode al danced with ele-
giant ease. sang and played VeTY sweetly.
naG excellent sense. admirable caiti@s-
aoa, 8 YARN heart and large fortune
WEh Mrs sketch Jefferson fell IN love
He had two rivals. and one historian
records that they 4 abnd0ned the heidto
him when one night (when probably each
asd come resolved to put his fortune Il
ths ,Cuchl they met on the doc step aud
aeafd : it4in Tetfersons violin and song.
accompanying the lady in apIainttve voice
ON New Years dav, 1872, Jefferson ans
s,ss we're married. aud soon after they seq
ont Tor Monticello. which the groom has
begun to build in Ii69, just before the
burning of his patri monial home o.
Sn I'd veil. AS they advanced towards tba
NOM, qit;s II came ON 10 snow, snd at lass
fb,v had to lesve the coach and take to
horses. Al Benheim, CD. Carriers estate,
where they stopped TO rest, they found
no one but an oyerseer. and iear!o.l II NJ
sunset they Tesolu ely faced ta~ards
Monticello, eight miles distant, ai2nG a
mountain pathway three feet deep "itA
snow S.ss Mr. C1Dke:
1t was late When they arrived anu
a "a ress r ceptjon awaited tbom u
rather l.rre vas 40 reception At ali. 'Fhe
fires were ali out, tue servants had gone
a Ded and The place was DARK and siieat
As the grave. Conducting his wife to tie
}ittie pavilion. which Nss the only pat
o. the house habitablu At the ti.se. JeittF
sou proceeded 70 kind,e the fac and 3"
she honors. On shelf behind s0rpe
books psrt OF q bottle Of Wine was d's
aN.. zz.g