The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1899-04-23
IHOS. JEFFERSON AS HE WAS

! 4.
4 charlottesville. Va. Aorll tz,.
u ,or every one who can. and psr,,crt..,.. -
u aertA OF history. to make p,lrrr.ve, ~
4 ncnies aud haunts OF American s,,,ss..'s. -,
It gives better understanding Oh ,hsI, No.. !
y rr,ns,s, ~ usalizes and humanizcs thei
fs,.. ~. ana teachings and corrects NAV,
Nv c..as', essions that have been acoulre,
~ writer's and thoughtless reading
r rho o"e can visit Monticello. the home /.
'suerson. which occupies the crcs
oeau'liui hill overlooking this city. with
, ps'ne convinced that the so.ealiea Jef
; simplicity was myth. The fahl,
'cnerson riding into Washington or
o'eeoack ana nitchinR his horse TO a san
"nie ns vent Into the CAPITOL TO be in.
Nusaeo president OF the United States nm.
ats nfst In book OF travels written by AN
Snsnnan named Jchn Davis. who yisltel
: ,uo .nitea states from 17ss to 1902. II IL re-.
'a'eu py him In eood faith. but the story
Nas EVIDENTLY told By some wag for the pur-
Vo's Of Undressing him with the queer WAYS
~ cue Americans. There are similar warns
"a 'ne same book without any more founda.
uon' ana tue reader is led 70 believe thai
sne people Mr.. Davis met In Washington and
ELSEWHERE during his journey took an uukins
advantage Of his credulity.
~
ihomas JEFFERSON was inaugurated with the
same pomp and formalities that attended the
incoming OF every other president of his ger-
Grafton. and notwithstanding all he has writ.
ten In support OF democratic IDEAS aud social
equally he was an exclusive. hiEh-toned asis-
tocrat. who. as jefferson Levy. tho present
owner OF Monticello. declares. introduced
into America many OF the frlyoiiies and
fashions he found In France. including the
use OF finger bowls at the dinner table Mr..
JEFFERSON was man OF much manner and
great formality, according 10 all the evi.
dences and traditions TINT remain of him.
ana they are numerous He rode In coach
imported from Paris and drawn by $500
team Of horses; was always served by buffers
and foctmon In livery. and dined with cere
mony of silver plate At one time he had
$4,000 worth of wine in his cellar. and more
than 1000 bottles were found there when he
died.
JEFFERSON was always extravagant and lived
beyond his means. He inherited one of the
largest and most valuable estates in Aneri-
Gu. but was not only penniless when he died.
but his friends were appealed to and the
| legislatures of several Statss appropriated
money to pay his debts. The greater part
of his estate was sold under the hammer.
andd Mrs. Randolph, his daughter. ex-
changed the beautiful mansion of Monticello
for an ordinary two-story brick house Ia
this town which is still standing and was
never worth more than $3.50.
! a man named Barclay took Monticello off
her hands. assumed the MORTGAGE and gave
! her the little house in town. Thus the graves
of Thomas Jefferson and his family passed
into the hands of strangers. and his books
were sold TO the government at the rate Of 50
volume. and formed the nucleus of the con-
greskional library. When he graduated from
college he enjoyed large fortune for those
days. He made much money at the bar. Az
middle life he was estimated TO be one Of the
wealthiest mon in Virginia, but because OF
his lack of simplicity his bad MANAGEMENT
and his extravaganza, when he died he did
not possess an unmortgaged farthing.
~
The Jeffersonian coat OF arms, which az
rssrs frequently, is not an evidence OF demo-
cratic ideas. 1t represents shield bearing
the heads OF three lions above blue Held,
and is surmounted by fourth lions head
with the tongue out. 1t even appears upon
the fence that encloses his tomb. He selected
his own burial place, and tho sketch OF his
monument, the draft OF his epitaph, with in
structions for his funeral. can now be seen at
the state department in Washington In his
own handwriting.
When he was boy, Dabney Carr the son
OF nelghbor was his most intimate friend,
ana there was tender, sentimental affection
tntdt. itcthif oftPn4 IN lie
dreaming in a grove near where Jefferson
afterward erected his mansion, and they
swore holy oath that whoever outliyed the
other should deposit the bones OF the dead at
ttat beautiful spot Cars grave Is there,
with that Of Jeffersons mother and wife and
and several members OF the Randolph family,
who were his descendants. The monument
ttat now marks Jefferson's grave is the third
the has been erected at that place, The two
others have been carried of in small chips by
relic hunters, and the high fence that sur
rounds the little cemetery does not appear to
be a complete protection TO the last. which
was erected by the government, because van
dais have already mutilated 1t.
Jeterson's epitaph is well known. He wrote
Il himself and briefly stated the three achieve
r,ents in which he took the greatest pride
He does not mention his official honors or
political services. He desired to be remem-
be, ed as the author of the Declaration OF In
dependence and of the law guaranteeing re-
ligious liberty to the people of his State, and
as the founder OF the University Of Virginia.
Jefferson was not an orator. lie had con-
stitutional trouble with his throat which i'm
paired his voice and had great difficulty in
making himself heard even in the small court
room where he used to practice law, but he
was a most voluminous writer. His descend-
anita here tell me that there are more than
%, 900 letters in his penmanship. properly au-
thentIcated and preserved, and volumes of
manuscript In the University OF Virginia, the
last one containing record OF tho minutes OF
the board of visitors only few days before
his death. For man who wrote so much be
was a marvellous penman. Every page is neat,
every letter plainly and perfectly formed, 80
that his writing is easy 10 read as print snd
up TO the last It shows frmness and reeu
larlty quite as marked as the pages be wrote
in early manhood.
Jefferson was "lady's man" lie was noted
as gallant ell over Virginia He had one
erious love AFFAIR while in college with
young woman named Belinda, who lived at
Carriers Grove, famous old place near VIII
iismsburg, the scat Of william and Mary col