The Brookhaven leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1883-1891, 1886-12-30
JEFFERSON'S TOME.
The Shaft Erected Over the Statesman's
Grave Mutilated by Relic-Hunters.


Grave MutiIated by Relic-Hunters.
Colonel Wilson, of the army who
has charge of the monument recently
erected by order of Congress over the
grave Of Thomas jefferson, at Montl-
cello, says that the vandals are already
at work chipping chunks off the stone,
and that if it is to be preserved II MILF
tarv guard will have to he sent down
there. Several years ago Cor"rr~- APP
propriatcd 5000 foI ~" purpose OF re-
storing the cemetery in which Jefferson
j, buried, and erecting a new monu'
mcnt over his grave. This was III the
time of Hayes and the appropriation
was not to be available until the own
prs pf the estate gave qWi-clalm 10
the United States Of a tract OF ground
two rods square surrounding the burial
place. and Il pathway by which access
thereto might he Afforded the public.
jefferson was buried at Monticello
in little cemetery on his own
plantation. and his wife. other
members of his family. and some "t his
old servant, lie beside him. When tho
estate was being laid out at the time he
was President. jefferson wrote to his
oycr,rcr instructing him to sc' apart II
iittlc plot Of ground as a burial place
"Choosc scluc unfrequentcd vale in the
! no,l, " he said. "~herc there is no
so,pd to break the stiffness but the bab-
| bIino of a brook that winu$ among lha
woods, where no mark Of human shape
! i. unless il be the skeleton of some
poor wretch VINO sought ont the spot to
| despair and die in. Let II be among
the venerable oaks. IntcrSpcrsc some
gloomy evergreenS. Appropriate one
half Of it for my family and the
rest tor my servants and strangers
who ma; die in the ncighborhOod. let
the exit look upon Il" Blue Mountains. >
The first stone that was ciCct"d over
Jefferson : grave was an exact copy ~
a diagram he left. and the cpitaph was
as he wrote it. Ii was chipped toPieccs
by relic hunters 4 second one, and Il
fac-simile. va< substituted in 1851 Of
the same material. which he thought no
one would be tempted t" destroy. be-
cause of its great value, but dullng tho
war the ~rl-li"rs camping in that neigh
borhood carried i: oft piccemcal,
until nothing was left but Il sandstone
stump. The wall around the little
cemetery wa, destroyed and the whole
plantation was in 81 state of dilapida-
ton. Then Congress ordered it to be
restored. and. although The hill passed
in 1873. il was not until 1889 thHt the
Secretary Of State was able to get
title to the cemetery. The Secretary
with more Of an eve to the artistic than
wish to comply with his famous
predecessors instructions, rcpudiated
Mr.. Jcilrreon's model and material
and instead Of shaft six feet high
of the sandstone found on the
place, has given him shaft eighteen
feet high OF granite The work was
only recently finished, and Colonel
Wilson. who went down to inspect 1t,
has made report to the Secretary oi
State. in which he recommends that
some means b" taken to protect 1t from
the vamdalS, who have already been nj
work. and have ruined the monument
by chipping off large chunka from the
corners. The Colonel says the iron
fence is sufficient protection against
grown people. for the gate is kept
locked: but small boys squeeze through
, between IN" IRON plckCt-' anu WIN
hammers and hatchets, break the corn
crs off and sell them aS relic, to visitors.
He says the agent at the railway station
told him that only the day before he ar.
rived two wrll-dre,sed ladies appeared
with large piece. of the stone. which
they said they had hired a boy to chip
off for them The way to circumvent
the vandals is to hire men to stay on
the place and watch all who comc.-N.