The Southern herald., 1912-12-20

This salon is, indeed, room Of wonders. Mod
eled after the state apartment Of Louis XIV, It
differs from that only in color scheme, for JEFF
ferson chose red for the basic tone in preference
to the original green.
Much has been written of the simplicity of
Jefferson. To many Monticello signifies only
fine example Of Colonial America loominess and
comfort. In fact jefferson furnished his mansion
not with crude manufactures of the Colonies, but
fitted his home with all the ornate richness of
the finest palaces of continental Europe. And
as in the decorating and furnishing of the build
ing, he was equally esthetic In his cara for the
creature comfort Of his guests.
Most of the things that were In Jefferson's
study have been lost track of, but Mr.. Levy still
has few, and on one corner Of the floor there
remain thousands Of ink stains made by Jefer
sons Tipping off the superfuous ink from his
quill.
OF the original articles there remain fiat
writing table made by Jefferson, upon which 1t Is
said he made the first draft of the Declaration of
Independence.
When Jefferson died his relatives and heirs de-
cided they could not afford the great expense Of
keeping open The house as 1t then stood Much
Of the furniture and furnishings we're distributed
by WILL gift or purchase. Mrs Martha Jeffer-
son Randolph, daughter Of the statesman and
executrix Of his will, decided to continue her
home at Edge Hill, the Randolph estate and
was anxious to dispose Of Monticello. The place
was sold to James T. Barclay, missionary, who
held it but short time and then offered It for
sale.
Commodore Uriah Phillips Levy, then lieu
tenant in the navy, drove from New York city to
Monticello to inspect the property and concluded
deal by which he acquired from Barclay the
Jefferson mansion and 218 acres of the original
estate. 1t was run down from lack of attention
and there was little or the original inside fur
nishings left. Sentimental reasons prompted the
commodore to get back the things that had be-
longed to the man who built the wonderful house
and for years he sought to regain the articles
that had been scattered about the country.
Then came the war of the states, and the COM
modore, continuing his allegiance to the Union,
was declared an "alen enemy" by the Confed-
eracy, the estate was confscated and the contents
advertised for sale at public auction. Again the
mansion was partly stripped of its furnishings
and many pieces of furniture were sold at the
con1scation sale to families residing in the neigh.
borhood Some of the articles were returned
after the war
After the war, however, when legal adjust.
ment OF the estate of Commodore Levy was had
and Jefferson NJ Levy inherited the property. Mr..
Levy continued the labors of the commodore in
restoring the home as Jefferson had planned and
left 1t.
majority Of the articles we're recovered. but
those pieces that had been taken from the coun.
try were beyond reach and few Of them were traced
With this as his nucleus, however, Jefferson M.
Levy made thorough search of family records and
documents, as we'll as getting information from
living friends and relatives who had known the
home when Jefferson lived, and from that fist
he has since attempted to get in his many trips
abroad exact duplicates OF the works of art
furniture nrfc nul1u
France by Jefferson. In this Mr.. Levy has sue
ceeded with considerable accuracy, fitting IN
Monticello so exactly as 1t was originally that
Thomas Jefferson might step into the home n
spirit and find II familiar with offsets intimate
with his earthly residenca.