Animals, Insects, Pets

Scope and Contents The larvae of the Hessian fly (Mayetolia destructor), which destroyed wheat crops, began spreading across America from the Northeast in the late 18th and early 19th centuries (it reached Monticello around 1811 and now resides wherever wheat is grown in the United States). Jefferson took an interest in studying and stopping or eliminating the pest but, overwhelmed by political duties (and Federalist stabs at his scientific pursuits of all kinds), left Thomas Mann Randolph and Samuel L....

Scope and Contents

Jefferson’s expenditures and receipts for the year 1812-1813 serve as a model for his lifetime struggle to balance extravagant expenses of slaves and family, as well as guests to be wined and dined, with a fluctuating income as planter, politician, and retired gentleman.

Scope and Contents In the midst of 1791’s draining political duties as George Washington’s Secretary of State, Jefferson took a month-long journey north with James Madison for "health, recreation and curiosity." During his travels Jefferson studied the Hessian fly for the American Philosophical Society committee and took descriptive but unscientific notes on the flora (such as the sugar maple and other trees), fauna, and bodies of water featured in each area they visited in New York, Vermont, and Connecticut....

Scope and Contents Jefferson had mixed feelings about dogs, as they were both dangerous -- as predators when not properly fed and as disease-carriers when rabid -- and useful farm animals. He obtained Bergère, an intelligent and industrious sheep dog from France, whom the slave Isaac recalls along with some of Jefferson’s other eccentrically named pets and animals. Though Jefferson sympathized with Judge Richard Peters (who in 1810 complained of the dangers of dogs to sheep) and Peter Minor of Albemarle (who...

Scope and Contents The mutual respect and friendship as well as the political partnership between Jefferson and Madison are well documented in the personal letters and exchange of writings (as they were published) and goods during Jefferson’s residence in Paris as Minister to France in 1784. While Madison reported on the Virginia Assembly, the Confederation Congress, and Constitutional Convention, Jefferson enthusiastically bought books and little inventions to send home to his friend. Upon reading and taking...

Scope and Contents Jefferson sought to raise sheep at Monticello and in Washington, D.C. because of his ardent interest in agriculture and animal husbandry. The desire for fine wool in America precipitated an agricultural craze for the importation of Merino sheep from Spain during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Jefferson hoped to profit from the sale of wool, while simultaneously demonstrating his patriotic spirit (by wearing American-made cloth) and scientific interest in adding new stock to existing...

Scope and Contents Jefferson’s passion for the study of birds and climate led him to link the two in the manner of a phenologist. He collected mockingbirds (he owned several as pets and had a special favorite, Dick, who had a remarkable ability to imitate tunes and sounds), studied the winter habits of the purple martin, and enjoyed the sight and song of many others, including swallows and whippoorwills. Jefferson exchanged conjectures regarding the identity of various birds with Alexander Wilson, who sent...

Scope and Contents Jefferson took delight in farming and kept careful accounts of conditions and production, as evident in comments by La Rochefoucauld and in Jefferson’s Farm Book, a topically arranged agricultural book and broad record of his plantations’ activities. This book as well as his Garden Book, the "Mouldboard plow of least resistance," and the concept of the agriculture school are among Jefferson’s contributions to agricultural science. Includes mention of the Agricultural Revolution, George...

Scope and Contents Jefferson attended many lectures and exhibitions, the 18th century proto-museums, at home and abroad. He particularly enjoyed those featuring live creatures such as sea mammals, jungle quadrupeds, and various birds, and was fond of observing unusual or talented hogs and horses. Jefferson made careful study of American mammals to prove that they were not degenerating compared to European mammals (as the Comte de Buffon argued) but were in fact superior in size and strength. He also proposed...