Evening star., 1951-03-04

Thomas Jefferson, always an early
riser, came down to breakfast as
usual at Conrad's clearinghouse
hardly the Capitol AS he en-
tered the dining room, the wife
of Senator John Brown of Ken
lucky, from an impulse which
she said she could not resist" rose
and offered her accustomed seat
at the head of the long table to
the President-elect. Jefferson,
however, graciously declined the
honor and proceeded to his Gus
tomary place at the foot of the
table near the door. Mrs. Brown
later said that for a moment she
almost hated the leveling prin-
ciples of democracy, Least Of
JefferSon's concerns was the mat
ter of precedence, which he was
soon to Danish from the Presi-
dents Mansion.
Crowds began pouring into the
Capital early in the morning.
Clerks, farmers, mechanics, ar
tisans laid aside their chores and
set out for the scene of the big
show. The town was in a holiday
mood. The roads from Maryland
and Virginia were packed with
wagons, carriages and pedestrians
all headed for the same place, the
Capitol. Even before breakfast a
crowd Of men, women and chill
dren had gathered outside Of JET
ferson's lodgings cheering and
singing the campaign song. "Jef-
ferson and Liberty" At 10 o'clock
company of riflemen from Alex
andria came swinging through the
mud up Capitol Hill to present
arms and parade in front of Con-
RAIDS clearinghouse in honor of
their fellow Virginian soon to be-
come head of the Nation.
Measured by modern standards
the newspaper coverage of Jefer-
sons Inauguration was woefully
inadequate. The only really au-
thentic report of this historic
event was given by Washington's
first real newspaper. The National
1ntelligencer. whose enterprising
editor. Samuel Harrison Smith,
had established himself in Wash
ington at the suggestion of
Thomas jefferson. The National
Intelligencer's report of the day
began in this succinct fashion: "At
an early hour on Wednesday the
City Of Washington presented a
spectacle Of uncommon animation,
occasioned. by the addition to its
usual population of a large body
of citizens from adjacent dis
tricts."
Shortly before noon Thomas
Jefferson stepped from his board
lnghouse and headed uncere-
moniously. with Jeffersonian SIM
plicity, across a muddy field to-
ward the Capitol 100 yards away.
AS he left his lodgings a watcher
on the roof of the Capitol sighted
him and darted downstairs to in
form the officials of the Senate
that the President-elect was on his
way. At the moment the Senate
chamber was packed with Sena-
tors, Representatives and visitors,
including the four members of the
diplomatic corps from Denmark.
England. France and Spain.
Walked to Capitol
The myth that Jefferson mount
ed his horse. rode to the Capitol
and tied his mount to the fence
still persists. The author of this
much-used fiction was an English
traveller, John Davis, who left this
fanciful description of the scene
he is supposed to have witnessed:
His dress was Of plain cloth. and
he rode horseback to the Capitol
without a single guard or even
servant in his train, dismounted
without assistance and hitched the
bride OF his horse to the pali-
sades."
Jefferson had only a hundred
yards or so to walk to the Capitol.
Had he ridden this short distance
the observant editor of the Ma
tional Intelligencer would certain
ly have reported this fact. In
stead, he wrote. "At IL o'clock
Thomas Jefferson. attended by a
number Of his fellow citizens,