Lexington weekly intelligencer., 1886-05-22
RURAL LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON
AND HIS SERVICES To AMERI-
CAN AGRICULTURE.
BY JAMES PARTON.


[From the American Agrculturist.l
OF all the men of whom | have ac-
Iuired intimate knowledge. / should ,
ay that Thomas jefferson, viewing his ,
life as a whole, was the happiest. Be-
side possessing in abundance all the
ordinary sources of well-belng, such as
health, liberal fortune and a
home, he had at command
all those delights which come from cul-
turc, knowledge, taste and art.
Music lent its charm TO his existence
He came from musical family. His
sisters sang beautifully and he was
himself a skillful player upon the
violin. But | know not whether he
derived from any of his pursuits
pleasures more exquisite, more varied
or longer sustained than from the
OF the soil. He was ali ell
thusiastic farmer for sixty years, for
even in his youth he took the lead in
his native county in Introducing new
products and new methods of culture.
One of his managers said of him: 81
have rode over the plantation, | reckon,
Il thousand times with Mr.. Jefferson,
and when he was not talking he was |
nearly always humning some tune, or
singing in low tone to himself. And
it was just so with his daughter, Mrs.
Randolph. AS she was attending to
her duties about the house she seemed |
to be always in a happy mood. She
had always her fathers pleasant smile
and was nearly always humming some
tune. have never seen her at all dis
turbed by any amount of care and
trouble"
1t was so with all the Jeffersons.
People in that county used to speak of
the Jefferson temper when they
wished to convey the idea of uniform
good nature.
The estate of Monticello, Mr.. Jeffer-
sons favOrite abode during most OF his
life, lies very near the geographical
center of the state of Virginia, in the
county of Albemarle, on a branch OF
the James river. lie inherited tract
there of several thousand acres; and
his father, being surveyor, was good
Judge of land. Much of tins tract was
of excellent quality, but the estate was
too large for profitable working with
the means and facilities then IN exist
ence. 1t was divided into four planta-
tions, each with its own gang Of
negroes and its special Overseer; but
the estate as a whole never yielded
anything near the profit it was suppos-
ed to yield 1t was, moreover, one of
those estates which require at all times
the presence and mind OF the master.
For forty years or more Mr.. Jefferson
was public man, and, of course, alb
sent from home part of the time on
public service as member OF congress,
as minister to France, as cabinet min
lister, vice-president and president; and
though he had usually an intelligent
and competent steward. he seldom
found the income of his estate sufficient
to exc out the meager salaries attached
to his public stations.
He used to say, that of all the offices
he ever held, the only one the salary OF
which was equal to the expenses in
Cured was the vice-presidency, which
detained him from home only portion
of the year. and did not compel him to
keep house nor give expensive enter,
tainments. Every other Office cost him
more than he got from it.
) The word Monticello is Italian fol
Little Mount. Two miles from Shad.
well, his birthplace, there is the little
mount to which he afterward gave the
name of Monticello; perhaps because s
company of Italians had settled neal
by under the lead of Philip Mazzei, fol
the purpose of CARRYING on the culture
of the grape on a large scale. Jeffer-
son was constantly associated will
MaZZei and his band of Italian garden
ers, encouraging and assisting them il
every way, and possibly it was from
them he first heard the pretty wore
which he gave to his mountain.
When he was student at law thi
mountain, shaped like q sugar-loaf,wa
covered to the very summit with TIN
+ primeval forest. 1t is five hundred ant
eighty feet high and contains abou
l three hundred acres of land, the sum
3 init being almost a plain, about sil
acres in extent. According to the ira
e dition of the neighbOrhood, yOun,
g Jeff. rs III and his future brother-in. law
e Dabney Carr, had constructed near TIN
$ summit, under an ancient oak of grea
: size, rustic seat, to which they oul'
D repair in the summer mornings ,carryin,
D their law books with them on thei
r horses, and pass the whole day there il
study and conversation. 1t was tn
s time of sentimental friendships. The
h whichever of them died first should b
a buried by the other under the oak tree
4 And there, at this hour, their dust re
& poses. The little mount was chosen b.
II Mr.. Jefferson as the site of his new
1 home, and the place shaded by tn
: mighty oak was selected as the famil
It burial place.
u In the course of time the summit wa
e cleared and leveled, but the trees o
y the rest of the mountains " ere careful
II n ly preserved during the whole of MI
:. Jetferson's life. No manager cut Q
- pruned a tree except by his orders.
u was one of his constant and vivi
- pleasures to improve his mountai
y park, and make it more accessible. .
winding road rendered the ascent tol
II erably easy, and the inmates of tn
II house which he built there were lifte
- - above the summers heats, and, as MI
q Jefferson delighted to boast, above ii
tormenting ravages of the summer il
. sects.
: After the return of peace the servic,
ei OF all able men were required in adj jus
l. ing the country to the new condition.
and thus for many year Jefferson ws
a little more than visitor to his ow
e. nome. He was able, however, to rel
W der signal and lasting service to Amer
y can agriculture when he was farthe
he away from his native soil When /
:. was minister to France he made a
h extensive tour in the southern parts
: Europe, observing closely and recOr,
= ing minutely methods of culture, ii
d, systems of land tenure, the agriculture
W implements, the habits of the peOp
and their condition in the various pro,
he inces. To use his own language, |
&c 'lerreted out the people in their hovel:
N looked into their kettles, ate the
TO bread, .."d loled on their beds to fin
/. if they were soft" He was moved
he compassion by his observation. III
er people in France, he thought, wei
l. ground to POWDER" not by the bs
he disposition of their rulers, but by Il
erroneous system of government und,
ly which they lived He never used su,
Sc strong language in his lite as when
ut was describing the misery of the F'ren,
IL peasantry.
~
y.
ne He sent home from this tour gre
vs. many nuts, plants and seeds to frien,
ali in Virginia, with the minutest possih
IirnrtinnS fn M mr. o. hn a 20