Jefferson at Monticello : Recollections of a Monticello Slave and of a Monticello Overseer
This volume reproduces two out-of-print accounts which are 'the only substantial contemporary documents' treating the domestic life of Thomas Jefferson at Monticello....These two accounts, one by a slave and the other by an overseer, give glimpses of 'Mr. Jefferson' at close range. The narratives tend to complement each other and are in basic agreement in their treatment of the master of Monticello. The editor's copious notes enhance the value of this publication.(Journal of Southern History)The view of the master of Monticello from the eyes of a slave provides an unusual and engaging glimpse of the domestic life of Jefferson. Less familiar than the memoirs of Isaac....is the account based on the reminiscences of Edmund Bacon, who served as overseer or, as Jefferson called him, farm manager at Monticello from 1806 to 1822....The narratives serve to broaden the picture left by contemporary records of Jefferson's personal characteristics and his private life at Monticello.(Noble E. Cunningham, Jr.North Carolina Historical Review)