The Pickens sentinel. (Pickens, S.C.) 1911-2016, 1912-07-04
Where Jefferson Wrote the Declara-
ton of independence.


tion Of independence.
horseback. The mansion at Monticel-
10, thanks to Tarleton's orders, es-
capped serious pillage or damage.
Though the house itself was not plum
dered or burned, the rest Of Jefferson's
property suffered severely at the
hands Of the enemy. All the stock
and farm products that might be Of
service were carried off, the rest be-
ing wantonly destroyed.
When Jefferson resigned from the
Washington cabinet in 1704 he re-
turned to Monticello to enjoy a retire
ment which he intended should last
many years. But this was not to be.
He was elected vice-president in
1886. and in 1900 he was chosen pres
ident.
In March, 1909, Jefferson, after a
nearly continuous public service Of
forty-four years, retired to Monticel-
10 and to private life, but he was so
seriously impoverished that he was
not sure of being allowed to leave
Washington without arrest by his
creditors, but this, fortunately, he was
able to prevent. Toward the close of
his life, however, he became distress
ingly embarrassed in his circum-
stances. In 1914 he sold his library to
congress for $4,000, but through in
dorsing a note for friend he was
completely ruined, and was in danger
of being compelled to surrender Mon
ticello and seek shelter for his last
days in another abode. But wealthy
friends came to his assistance with
considerable sum Of money.
"No cent OF this" he wrote, wrung
from the taxpayer. 1t is the pure and
unsolicited offering of love-" In the
last seventeen years of his life Jeffer-
son lived like a patriarch among his
admiring friends. The sage Of Mon
ticello" was the most prominent man
in private life in the country. Even
to the year of his death he was a
great moral force In the land. AS
the former president, the purchase,
Of Louisiana, the chastiser of the Bar
barry pirates, the founder Of the Uni.
yersity of Virginia, as the scholar, the
philosopher and the savant, he was
known the world over.
Every day for at least eight months
in the year brought its contingent OF
guests to Monticello. People of wealth,
fashion. men of Office, professional
men, military and civil, lawyers, doc
tors, Protestant clergy, Catholic
priests, members of congress, foreign
ministers, missionaries, Indian agents,
tourists, artists, strangers, friends.
Some came from affection and respect,
some from curiosity; some to give or
receive advise or instruction, some
from idleness. sc-:e because others
set the example. And everybody who
could not visit the sage of Month
cello" at least gave thought to the
great retired man of the nation.
Jefferson retained his health nearly
to his last days, and had the happiness
Of living to the fiftieth anniversary of
the Declaration of independence. He
died at Monticello at 1910 p. m. on
July 4, 1926. He was buried in his
own graveyard at Monticello, beneath
a stone upon which was engraved an
inscription prepared by his own hand:
Here is buried Thomas Jefferson,
author of the Declaration of Independ-
ence, OF the Statute of Virginia. for
Religious Liberty and Father of the
University of Virginia
The sage of Monticello" stands to
day next to "the father Of his coun-
try" in the esteem of the United
States. And this is as it should be,
for his wise counsel helped to estab-
lish this nation as firmly as did the
arms and craftsmanship of George