The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1907-04-15
INTERESTING FACTS
ABOUT JEFFERSON
Stories Told of Great Founder
of Democracy
STATESMAN'S DIVERSIONS
jefferson Was Sngularly Modest.
Celebrations in His Honor Were
DistastefuI - Epitaph He
Wrote for His Tomb. Il
STATESMAN'S DIVERSIONS


From the New York Tribune.
One hundred and sixtyfour years ago
Saturday, April 10, Thomas Jefferson was
born at Shadwell Va. Since the time of
his death at Monticello, adjoining Shad-
well, at the age of SO, his birthday ha $
been celebrated almost every year. In
the last two or three decades the Jeffer-
son Day celebrations have generally taken
the form of banquets, arranged by dem
ocratic POLITICAL clubs, and many of them
have been the occasion for the launching
of boom for some particular candi-
date or OF some new policy.
! If Mr.. Jefferson were alive there is
| little doubt that he would frown upon
the whole thing. While he was President
a friend asked him: What Is the date Of
your birth, Mr.. President" "Of what pos
sible concern is that to you?" queried the
great democrat, In reply. I'VE wish to
celebrate it ittingly.' The President said:
For that reason / decline to enlighten
| you. Nothing could be more dstasteful
| to me than what you propose, and when
| you address me | shall be obliged If you
will omit the Mr."
| Such was the man who left behind the
| inscription to be placed on his grave
stone: Here was buried Thomas Jeffer-
| son, Author of the Declaration of Inde-
| pendence, of the Statutes OF Virginia for
| Religious Freedom and Father of the Uni
yerslty OF Virginia" The request was
complied with and the stone which marks
| the last resting place of this great Amer
lean does not disclose the fact that he
was twice President of the United States;
that he was Vice President and secretary
| OF state: that he was governor of Vir-
ginia, or that he had been honored in
many other ways by the people of his
| state and of the new nation which he
| helped to found.
No mention Is made of the fact that
the man buried there was he who broke
whom European nations had paid tribute
| for years; that it was he who EXTENDED
! the dominion of the United States across
the great Mississippi by the Louisiana
| purchase: that 1t was he who claimed
the rich Oregon country for the Stars and
| Stripes by sending his private secretary,
Meriwether Lewis, with Capt. William
Clark to explore the great unknown north
west; that 1T was he who opened up the
| states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and 9TH
| ers of the northwest territory by inducing
the quarrellng states to cIre the terri
| tory to the general government. Nor does
| that simple stone legend record the fact
that under 1t lies buried the man who
drafted a charter for the first republic
of France-the man who led the fight
against the Odous sedition laws enacted
by Congress In a wave OF reaction toward
monarchism. which, II they had been
allowed to stand, would have cut off the
rights of free speech and free press in
| the United States.
Six feet two inches tall with sandy red
| hair, light hazel eyes, an angular face
| and n thin, awkward body, Thomas JEFF
| ferson was not a prepossessing man in
| appearance. In his habits he was method
| incarnate No public man OF America has
| leIL so much in writing OF the history OF
| the tines and of the history OF his own
| thoughts Jefferson seemed to have been
| Writing all the time. lie kept every letter
| or scrap of writing that came into his
! possession and he preserved copy Of
| every letter he wrote. For many years
| especially while on his mission to
| Franco-he kept copies OF his letters by
| means of impressions on wet tissue pa
| per, the ordinary copy press method. I'm
| fortunately, most OF these Impressions
| are so faded that they can not be made
| out. jefferson realized the inadequacy
| OF that method and therefore betook
| himself to the most lrksome and laborious
method possible OF keeping copies OF the
| letters he wrote
| He employed what he called a poly
| graph" but what Is now called "a panta-
| graph, and is used for copying or enlarg-
| ing drawings. This cumbersome instru-
| ment was made OF silver, and was series
of connecting parallelograms working on