The Elbert County tribune., 1912-11-29

This salon is, indeed, 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
Iuch has been written of the simplicity of
Jefferson. To many Monticello signifies only a
fine example of Colonial America roominess 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
tle finest palaces of continental Europe And,
in tie decorating and furnishing of the build
ing he equally esthetic in his for the
creature comfort Of his guests.
Most of the things that in Jeferson'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 Jeffer
sons Tipping off the superfuous ink from his
quill
OF the original articles there remain fat
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 purchase. Mrs Martha Jetfer-
son Randolph, daughter of the statesman and
executrx of his will. decided to continue her
home at Edge HILL the Randolph estate and
was anxious to dispose OF Monticello. The place
sold to James T. Barclay. missionary, who
held it but short time and then offered 1t for
sale.
commodore Urlah Philips 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 21S of the original
estate. It down from lack of attention
and there was little the original inside fur
nishings left Sentimental reasons prompted the
commodore to get back the things that had be-
longed to the who built the wonderful house.
and for years he sought to regain the articles
that had been scattered about the country.
Then the the states he
hodore continuing his allegiance to the Union.
was declared allen enemy by the Confed-
eracy, the estate confiscated and the contents
advertised for sale at public auction Again the
mansion partly stripped of its furnishings
and many pieces OF furniture were sold at the
conscation sale to families residing In the neigh
borhood Some Of the articles 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 abors of the commodore in
restoring the home Jefferson had planned and
left it.
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 as his nucleus, however, Jefferson NJ
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 list
he has since attempted to get in his many t-ips
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 up
Monticello SO exactly as 1t was originally that
Thomas Jefferson might step into the home in
spirit and find II familiar with objects intimate
with his earthly residence