Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1912-11-28

This salon is, indeed, a room Of wonders. Mod
eed after the state apartment of Louis XIV, it
differs from that only in color scheme, for JET
ferson chose red for the basic tone in preference
to the original green.
Much has been written of the simplicity a.
Jefferson To many Monticello signifies only
fine example Of Colonial America TOominess 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 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 ana on one corner Of the floor there
remain thousands of ink stains made by JeffeT-
sons Tipping off the superfiuous ink from his
quill
Of the original articles there remain a fiat
writing table made by Jefferson. upon which it 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 it then stood. Much
of the furniture and furnishings were distributed
by will gift or purchase. Mrs. Martha Jeffer-
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 a lieu
tenant in the navy, drove from New York city to
Monticello to inspect the property and concluded
a deal by which he acquired from Barclay the
Jefferson mansion and 21S acres Of the original
estate. It 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
Ionged 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
mOdOTe continuing his allegiance to the Union.
was declared allen enemy" by the COnfed-
eracy, the estate was confscated and the contents
advertised for sale at public auction. Again the
mansion partly stripped Of its furnishings,
and many pieces of furniture we're sold at the
cOnfscaion sale to families residing in the neigh
bOrhOOd Some of the articles we're 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 laboTs of the commodore in
restoring the home as Jefferson had planned and
left it.
A majority of the articles were recovered. but
those pieces that had been taken from the cOun-
try were beyond reach and few of them were traced
With this his nucleus, however Jefferson NJ
Levy made thorough search Of family records and
documents as well as getting information from
living friends and relatiy es who had known the
home when Jefferson lived, and from that list
he has since attempted to get in his many trips
abroad exact duplicates of the works Of art
furniture and ornaments originally brought from
France By Jefferson. In this Mr. Levy has sue
ceeded with considerable accuracy. fitting VI
Monticello SO exactly as it was originally that
Thomas Jefferson might step into the home in
spirit and ind it familiar with objects intimate
with his earthly residence