Documentary History
of the Construction of the Buildings
at the University of Virginia, 1817-1828
Frank Edgar Grizzard, Jr.
Notes
Chapter 10
669. See TJ to Joseph Carrington Cabell, 11 January 1825, in ViU:TJ; see also
Cabell, Early History of the University of Virginia, 330-32, and Randolph, Memoir,
Correspondence, and Miscellanies, from the Papers of Thomas Jefferson, 4:411-12.
670. Brockenbrough was in "utmost distress" for the $5,000 by mid-January, and
the university borrowed the money from a Richmond bank so that it could meet the
obligation. See TJ to Joseph Carrington Cabell, 19 January 1825, in ViU:TJ, and
Brockenbrough's Statement of Funds, 4 March 1825, in ViU:PP; see also Cabell,
Early History of the University of Virginia, 334, and O'Neal, Jefferson's Buildings at
the University of Virginia: The Rotunda, 34.
671. Jefferson estimated that the Anatomical Hall would "take 4,000 bricks for
every foot of it's height from the foundation to the roof" (TJ to Brockenbrough, 9
March 1825, ViU:PP). The Board of Visitors at their meeting on 4-5 March 1825
resolved to build the Anatomical Hall "as nearly as may be on the plan now
exhibited to the board" (ViU:TJ; see also Lipscomb and Bergh, Writings of Thomas
Jefferson, 19:361-499, and TJ to Brockenbrough, 9 March 1825, in ViU:PP).
Jefferson apparently drew the elevation and plans for the Anatomical Hall (located
in ViU:TJ) in February 1825 (see Sherwood and Lasala, "Education and
Architecture: The Evolution of the University of Virginia's Academical Village," in
Wilson, Thomas Jefferson's Academical Village, 44-45, and #365 in Nichols,
Thomas Jefferson's Architectural Drawings).
672. TJ to Joseph Carrington Cabell, 11 January 1825, in ViU:TJ; see also
Lipscomb and Bergh, Writings of Thomas Jefferson, 16:97-100.
673. Dinsmore & Neilson to Brockenbrough, 5 March 1825, ViU:PP; see also
Brockenbrough's Statement of Funds, 4 March 1825, in ViU:PP.
674. TJ to Brockenbrough, 11 March 1825, ViU:PP.
675. See TJ's Statement of University Funds, 15 March, in ViU:TJ, and TJ to the
Board of Visitors, 15 April 1825, in ViU:JHC, ViU:JCC, and DLC:JM; see also
Cabell, Early History of the University of Virginia, 348-50. TJ's draft of the letter to
the Board of Visitors is dated 16 April (DLC:TJ). On 5 March the Board of Visitors
resolved to advance the $6,000 to the university's building fund "for the purpose of
finishing the interior of the library room (Board of Visitors Minutes, that date,
ViU:TJ; see also O'Neal, Jefferson's Buildings at the University of Virginia: The
Rotunda, 34.
676. For the opening of the university and its operation until the time of Jefferson's
death in 1826, see Malone, Jefferson and His Time: The Sage of Monticello, 411-25, 483-88.
677. TJ to Cabell, 11 January 1825, ViU:TJ; see also Cabell, Early History of the
University of Virginia, 330-32, and Lipscomb and Bergh, Writings of Thomas
Jefferson, 16:97-100. On 9 January Jefferson sent Brockenbrough instructions to
insert the advertisement in the Richmond and Fredericksburg papers (ViU:PP).
When writing to Brockenbrough on 11 January to inform him that he was sending
from Richmond the "Books & Instruments, imported by Gilmer, for the University,"
Bernard Peyton said that the "other three Professors have not yet arrived, nor are
they heard from" (ViU:PP).
678. See Cabell to TJ, 30 January 1825, in DLC:TJ; see also Cabell, Early History
of the University of Virginia, 336-37, and Malone, Jefferson and His Time: The
Sage of Monticello, 413.
679. See Robley Dunglison to TJ, 10 February 1825, in Dorsey, Jefferson-Dunglison Letters,
11, the Richmond Enquirer, 17 February 1825, and Cabell to TJ,
18 February 1825, in ViU:JCC; see also Cabell, Early History of the University of
Virginia, 346-47, and Malone, Jefferson and His Time: The Sage of Monticello,
6:413. Bernard Peyton wrote to Brockenbrough on 16 February to say that wagoner
William Mills was headed for the university with "thirteen boxes, three trunks, two
baskets, one bundle & one small leather trunk" belonging to professors (ViU:PP).
Two more loads of the professors' possessions were delivered to the university by
wagoners Abraham Danner and Robert Hanna (see Peyton to Brockenbrough, 24,
26 February, in ViU:PP). Simeon B. Chapman, who was to manage Hotel A, told
Brockenbrough in a letter of 22 February that "I have several times seen & am
pleased with the professors now at this city I am detained necessaryly at this place a
few days longer than I expected . . . The Weather here has been such dureing the
greater part of the last 2 weaks that it has been almost impossiable to attend to any
kind of Business, I hope it has not been the case at the U.V." (ViU:PP).
680. For this notice, dated 16 February and signed by Brockenbrough, see the
Richmond Enquirer, 22 February 1825.
681. TJ to Brockenbrough, Notice to Students, 7 March 1825, ViU:PP. Jefferson
instructed the proctor to have the notice printed in the Charlottesville, Richmond,
and Washington papers.
682. See John Van Lew & Co. to Brockenbrough, 28 February 1825, in ViU:PP.
Bernard Peyton wrote to Brockenbrough on 2 March to inform that "the present
incumbent of the Washington Tavern (Mr. Archibald Robertson) is about to
discontinue it, & is desirous of disposing of some thirty Beds & Mattrasses on
reasonable terms" (ViU:PP). In April Brockenbrough ordered stock locks, closet
locks, bells and bell pulls, Venetian tassals, "Japand Norfolk Latches," copper wire,
and tin plate from John Van Lew & Co. (John Van Lew & Co. to Brockenbrough,
19-25 April 1825, ViU:PP).
683. TJ to Coolidge, 12 April 1825, ViU:TJ. Joseph Coolidge, Jr. (d. 1879),
married Jefferson's favorite granddaughter, Eleanora Wayles Randolph (Ellen; d.
1876), in the drawing room of Monticello on 27 May 1825.
684. See Brockenbrough's Balance Sheet, 31 March, and Nathaniel Chamberlain's
Loose Receipts, 22 March, 6 April 1825, in ViU:PP.
685. Brockenbrough had written to Cocke on 7 April to request the slaves
(ViU:JHC).
686. Brockenbrough to Cocke, 13 April 1825, ViU:JHC.
687. Brockenbrough to TJ, 1825, ViU:PP.
688. TJ to Brockenbrough, 16 March 1825, ViU:PP. John Loudon McAdam
(1756-1836), who was born in Scotland, was a prominent New York Loyalist
merchant who became well-known for his crushed-rock method of road paving.
Mcadamized roads became an important feature of the American landscape by the
time of the War Between the States. See Spiro, "John Loudon McAdam in
Revolutionary New York," New York Historical Society Quarterly, 40 (1956), 28-54.
689. Thomas Brockenbrough to Brockenbrough, 4 June 1825, ViU:PP. Thomas
Brockenbrough told his brother that "I have made enquiry of several Mechanicks
about the Sledge hammers on the McAdam road making system, and none of them
appear to know what kind they are--Hutcheson and Humes both say if they had a
proper description of them they should be immediately made--Will you please give
a sketch of them."
690. TJ to Brockenbrough, 31 May 1825, ViU:PP.
691. Committee of superintendence member John Hartwell Cocke explicitly
directed the proctor to use the hired labor to finish "compleating the McAdam ways"
on 16 April 1826 (ViU:TJ), and Brockenbrough wrote to Cocke on 20 August 1826
to inform him that "the McAdamizing of the cross streets will be finished in a day or
two . . . I intend to have another coat of Metal put over such parts of streets as
require it" (ViU:JHC).
John Patterson of Pikesville, Maryland, on 7 June 1826 answered a query from
Brockenbrough about the McAdams "manner of making roads":
"McAdam's plan has been adopted as nearly as the prejudices of our road
makers & managers would permit. And it is simply to break the stone very fine, lay
it on the bed of the road well shaped to let the water pass from it on the sides into
ditched drains. The only road that has been constructed in this state on these
principles, is the Boonsborough road about 12 miles in length, it was done under the
direction of McCorman, & is Said to be a perfect Specimen of excellent
Workmanship--
"as to the Stone or Metal. Our practice is to break it with hammers at 6 lbs
[drawing] 3 to 4 feet of this shape the breakers standing up & the handles somewhat
longer than those of the common axes in use with you. The stones (as I have found
by a close attention to the thorough repair, or rather renewal of 10 miles of the
Rastenstown Turnpike,) are small enough to make a smooth & firm road, when they
will pass thro a reng [renge; a sieve or strainer] of two & a half inches diameter;
they are broken by the perch, what we call the Masons perch 24 feet 9 inches solid
measure. The price of breaking varies according to the hardness of the Stone. For
instance. The white flint, or quartz that abounds in the vicinage of the University
could be broken here for 15 cents a perch And the black hard Stone on the river
between Moores Creek & Milton would cost 60 cents a perch. A road as firm & as
durable & as smooth can be made of the flint, as of the other. A skilful stone
breaker can break 5 or 6 perches of flint in a day, & of the other in proportion to the
price.
"To confine the metal at the edges when put on the road a shoulder of Earth
must be thrown up sufficient[l]y wide, and compact to retain it as thus [drawing]
Stone earth.--Our turnpike has twenty feet of broken stone in the center, from 15 to
20 of earth on the sides when properly done--
"The breaking of Stone is a trade & with the people you will have to employ,
the Same results can not be looked for, as we can attain here where we have been so
long in the practice of the art--
"I would recommend that you use the white flint stone rejecting all yellow flint
or such as on examination, seems proble or Apt to break into Sand with a Stroke of
the hammer, The red angellaceous stone that you have, would grind into mud, &
sand Stone is utterly unfit for the purpose--
"After preparing the bed of the road, put on the metal at three different times, it
will require patience, for before the travel shall have made it smooth there will be
great complaints of its loose, sharp & ugly looks, time however will prove its
fitness--have the tracks made by wheels carefully raked smooth, that they may not
be tempted to continue in one track, that would retain the water & injure the road--I
sent to Genl Cocke some years since McAdams' book on the subject of road
making, you would find many useful suggestions in it" (ViU:PP).
692. TJ to Coolidge, 12 April 1825, ViU:TJ. In the summer of 1832 the
university purchased for $500 a slaved named Lewis Commodore to serve as bell
ringer and janitor. Anatomical Lewis, as he became known, was the subject of a
Board of Visitors resolution on 27 June 1846: "Lewis Commodore the faithful and
valuable servant of this University, with the exception of Drunkeness, which had
well nigh ruined him, having seen his error, & for five months last past, maintained
the steady and consistent course of a reformed man" (ViU:TJ). William Spinner
served as janitor in 1826 and a Mr. Brockman in 1827 and 1828 (see Spinner's
Loose Receipt, 11 February 1826, and Brockman's Loose Receipts, 12, 21 February,
8 May, 4 September, 18 October, and 5 December 1827, 24 January, 5 February, 24
July, 8 October, and 3 November 1828, all in ViU:PP).
693. TJ's Specifications for the Rotunda's Clock and Bell, c. 11 April 1825,
ViU:TJ.
694. Joseph Coolidge, Jr., and Ellen Wayles Randolph Coolidge to TJ, 5 August
1825, ViU:TJ. Jefferson's docket on the letter reads in part "recd. Sep. 2." Coolidge
said that "Mr Willard is universally reputed a very honest and ingenious man; and,
besides many instruments for the University at Cambridge, has made the clock in
the Representatives' Chamber, at washington, and one for New York; both of which
are highly spoken of." Coolidge also told Jefferson that Willard, "to whom, when at
washington, you, yourself, Sir, granted several patents for improvements in
horometry," was "the best clock-maker" in Boston. Simon Willard (1753-1848)
was the more important member of a famous Massachusetts family of clockmakers
that included brothers Benjamin (1743-1803) and Aaron (1757-1844). The
Williards specialized in making "`banjo' clocks, with a circular top, narrow trunk,
and wide rectangular base" (Baillie, Watchmakers and Clockmakers of the World,
382).
695. See Board of Visitors Minutes, 7 April 1826, in PPAmP:UVA Minutes, TJ to
Joseph Coolidge, Jr., 4, 15, 22 June 1826, Coolidge to TJ, 15 June 1826, in ViU:TJ,
TJ to Brockenbrough, ca May 1826, in DLC:TJ, 22 June 1826, in ViU:PP, Coolidge
to Brockenbrough, 7, 25 August, 3 October 1826, in ViU:PP, Coolidge to
Alexander Garrett, 7 August, in ViU:PP, Brockenbrough to Henry A. S. Dearborn,
10 July 1826, in ViU:#9927, Dearborn to Brockenbrough, 17 July, 24 September
1826, in ViU:PP, and Coolidge to John Hartwell Cocke, 31 October 1826, in
ViU:JHC.
696. See TJ to Brockenbrough, 3 January 1826. Jefferson wrote Thomas Voight
of Philadelphia on 21 September 1825 to inquire about both the permanent "large
clock and bell, such an one as may be heard 2. miles distinctly and habitually," and
an "8. day clock in a mahogany case neat, without expensive ornaments, but of
excellent workmanship and a loud bell" (ViU:TJ). Voight passed Jefferson's
request on to Coleman Sellers who in turn gave it to Joseph Saxton, the "first rate
workman" at Isaiah Luken's machinist shop at 173 High Street in Philadelphia, who
submitted a bid to the proctor that was rejected because of its high price (Sellers and
Saxton to Brockenbrough, 4 October, in ViU:PP, and TJ to Joseph Coolidge, Jr., 13
October 1825, MHi:TJ; see also Lipscomb and Bergh, Writings of Thomas
Jefferson, 18:342-46). Benjamin Waterhouse wrote Jefferson from Cambridge,
Massachusetts on 22 October 1825 to explain the mechanics of Simon Willard's
clock and bell system and to suggest the possibility of substituting for the bell a
"Chinese Goonge" in order to save money (DLC:TJ), and Jefferson informed his
granddaughter on 14 November that "you may assure the old gentleman [Willard]
from me that he shall have the making of it [the clock]" (TJ to Ellen Wayles
Randolph Coolidge, ViU:TJ; see also Betts and Bear, Family Letters of Thomas
Jefferson, 460-63). Bernard Peyton informed Brockenbrough on 19 October that he
could obtain a clock "with a plain Mahogony case" for $75 (ViU:PP), and on 26
October Peyton wrote again to say that he had ordered the temporary clock, to be
made "of the best materials, except the case, which is to be Pine, or some other
cheap wood, & got read as speedily as possible, say in a month" (ViU:PP). The
temporary clock, placed onboard Captain Thompson Payne's boat at Richmond on
13 February, arrived at Shadwell by 7 March 1826 (see Bernard Peyton to
Brockenbrough, 10 March 1826, in ViU:PP).
697. The history of the bell is taken from the Charlottesville Daily Progress, 25
November 1964. The old bell was stored in one of the Rotunda's coal cellars and,
sometime previous to the fire of 1895, moved to Brooks Hall. "Between 1895 and
1948," the paper also stated, "the identity of the bell had become obscured. It came
to be regarded as a copy of the original bell. During renovation of the Brooks
Museum in 1948, the bell was removed to the basement of the Bayly Memorial
Museum. It was once again removed in 1956 to make room for classes. It was the
last move to Clark Hall that apparently went unrecorded. The bell had been
forgotten and was considered lost." Architectural students Peter Hodson and Calder
Loth discovered the bell in a "subterranean hiding place . . . resting between two
lead statues of Greek maidens" in November 1964 and it was returned to the
Rotunda to be placed on permanent display on 1 December 1964.
698. Emmet to TJ, 12 May 1825, DLC:TJ, and Emmet's Plan for Lecture Room
and Chemical Laboratory, 12 May 1825, DLC:TJ; see also #19-13 and #19-14 in
Lasala, "Thomas Jefferson's Designs for the University of Virginia." John Patton
Emmet (1796-1842), who was born in Dublin, Ireland, was eight years old when his
parents emigrated to New York. He attended West Point but left because of ill
health and spent a year in southern Italy before deciding to return to New York and
enter the College of Physicians and Surgeons, where he took a medical degree in
1822. At the University of Virginia Emmet first served as professor of natural
history and then as professor of chemistry and materia medica. He lived in Pavilion
I, where reportedly he "kept as pets snakes, a white owl, and a friendly bear" until
his marriage in 1829 to Mary Byrd Tucker, a niece of George Tucker, University of
Virginia professor of moral philosophy. Emmet later moved to Morea, an estate to
the west of the university, where he pursued horticultural experiments. See
Clemons, Notes on the Professors for whom the University of Virginia Halls and
Residence Houses are named, 29-34.
699. Brockenbrough to TJ, 6 June 1825, ViU:PP; see also O'Neal, Jefferson's
Buildings at the University of Virginia: The Rotunda, 35-36. A pair of ovens
recessed in the north wall of the basement's east oval room were designed for
Emmet's use in his chemistry experiments. The small fireplaces were covered
during Stanford White's reconstruction of the Rotunda following the fire of 1896
and revealed during the building's restoration in the 1970s, and can be viewed in the
museum room. See Vaughan and Gianniny, Thomas Jefferson's Rotunda Restored,
85, 91.
700. TJ to Brockenbrough, 7 June 1825, ViU:PP; O'Neal, Jefferson's Buildings at
the University of Virginia: The Rotunda, 36. At its meeting on 3 October 1826 the
Board of Visitors resolved "to cause the small room on the first floor of the rotunda
to be finished & fitted for the reception of the natural and artificial curiosities given
to the University by the late venerable Rector; and to have them suitably arranged
for preservation & exhibition" (ViU:TJ).
701. Emmet to Brockenbrough, 5 January 1826, ViU: Tucker-Harrison Papers.
Emmet complained to the proctor on 12 April 1826 that "the Students have forced
their way into the Museum in Consequence of the imperfection of the door--a
Suitable door has been made for months and I wish it were put up as every thing in
the room is now at the mercy of the Students. I wish also that the doors for my
lower rooms were put up as I want more light in the passage and more Security to
the property--When my Class have Commenced their operations it will be greatly
inconvenient to be interrupted" (ViU:PP).
702. Brockenbrough to TJ, 6 June 1825, ViU:PP.
703. TJ to Brockenbrough, 7 June 1825, ViU:PP; see also O'Neal, Jefferson's
Buildings at the University of Virginia: The Rotunda, 36. The "beautiful form of a
balluster" has not been identified but see #17-14 in Lasala, "Thomas Jefferson's
Designs for the University of Virginia." Jefferson informed his granddaughter Ellen
Wayles Randolph Coolidge on 27 August that his health had prevented him from
stepping out of is house for several weeks past "except to take the turn of the
Roundabout twice; nor have of any definite prospect when it will be otherwise"
(ViU:TJ; see also Lipscomb and Bergh, Writings of Thomas Jefferson, 18:340-42).
On 13 October Jefferson informed Ellen's husband Joseph Coolidge, Jr., that "I had
sensibly improved, insomuch as to be able to ride 2. or 3. miles a day, in a carriage,
and on our level Roundabouts. but going backwards and forwards on the rough
roads to the University for five days successively, has brought on me again a great
degree of sufferance, which some days of rest and recumbence will, I hope, relieve"
(MHi:TJ).
704. Brockenbrough to TJ, 9 June 1825, ViU:PP; see also O'Neal, Jefferson's
Buildings at the University of Virginia: The Rotunda, 36. Brockenbrough wrote
John Hartwell Cocke on 20 August 1826: "I find D & Neilson will not be able to
get up the hand rail & Balasters to the Stairs so as to secure the room in a fortnight
from this agreeable to their own acct.--if we are to be governed by their former
promises and engagements, it will probably be double that time--there are a
sufficiency of Book cases made to begin with and as it will take some four or five
weeks to get them in place, perhaps it would be better that a temporary partition be
put up at the head of the Stairs, if you approve of this plan, you can direct D & N. to
have it done" (ViU:JHC). Jefferson wrote Brockenbrough on 3 January 1826 that
"it is high time to have our bookcases in hand" (ViU:PP).
705. Sturtevant to Brockenbrough, 18 June 1825, ViU:PP. Sturtevant said that the
size of the composite capitals was "14¾ inches at the Smallest Part of the Collum";
Brockenbrough wrote a more detailed description of their sizes on the document's
verso on 14 July after consulting with housejoiner John Neilson. Sturtevant wrote
on 26 February to inform the proctor that he hoped to have "a parte of the Capitals
Ready the 19 or 20 of March and the Ballance alonge as fast as you will Probely Get
them up in waggons if you Should Know of any in the neabourhood you will Pleas
ask them to Call about that time" (ViU:PP). When Bernard Peyton wrote
Brockenbrough on 19 April 1826, he informed the proctor that "I cald. on Sturtevant
about the Wooden Capitals, who tells me they will be done on friday next, & that
some person had cald. for them, if they are not forwarded by this person, whoever
he may be, I will send them forward by the next Boat, with a charge to keep them
dry as you wish" (ViU:PP). Maine pine lumber was exported as far south as
Alexandria by former Revolutionary War Major General Benjamin Lincoln during
the 1780s (see Mattern, Benjamin Lincoln and the American Revolution, 151-52).
706. Sturtevant to Brockenbrough, 5 November 1826, ViU:PP. By mid-July 1826
Sturtevant had earned $700 for carving capitals (see Sturtevant to Brockenbrough,
13 July 1826, in ViU:PP).
707. See O'Neal, Pictorial History of the University of Virginia, 76, 77.
708. Coffee to Brockenbrough, 12 July 1825, ViU:PP. The drawings for the
interior ornaments of the Rotunda apparently have not survived (see #17-16 in
Lasala, "Thomas Jefferson's Designs for the University"), although John Neilson's
undated Architectural Detail of a Modillion Block is in ViU:PP. Lasala calls
Neilson's drawing "the only known drawing to have survived showing a detail of
one of the classical features at the University of Virginia" (#17-15).
709. Brockenbrough to TJ, 23 July 1825, ViU:PP.
710. See TJ to Brockenbrough, 24 July, and Coffee to Brockenbrough, 26 July, 4,
25 September, in ViU:PP, Coffee to TJ, 19 August, in DLC:TJ, and Brockenbrough
to TJ, 1 October 1825, in ViU:PP; see also Brockenbrough's undated Memorandum
of Frieze Ornaments for the Rotunda, and TJ to the Board of Visitors, 12 October
1825, in ViU:PP, and O'Neal, Jefferson's Buildings at the University of Virginia:
The Rotunda, 36-37, 41-43.
711. Jefferson informed Joseph Carrington Cabell on 4 February 1826 that the
library "must remain unopened until the room is ready, which unfortunately cannot
be till the season will admit of plaistering" (ViU:JCC; see also Cabell, Early History
of the University of Virginia, 363-64). John Hartwell Cocke and Alexander
Garrett's Demands of the Resources of the University, 31 May 1826, shows a charge
of $250 for the "Cost of Plaistering" the library room (DLC:TJ).
712. Brockenbrough to TJ, 27 June 1825, ViU:PP. The proctor's address on the
letter indicates that a servant named "John" took the letter to Monticello and
returned with Jefferson's reply.
713. TJ to Brockenbrough, 27 June 1825, ViU:PP. John Hartwell Cocke and
Alexander Garrett's Demands of the Resources of the University, 31 May 1826,
shows that $40.25 was owed on "Stables" (DLC:TJ).
714. Dunglison to Brockenbrough, 8 September 1826, ViU:PP; see also Sherwood
and Lasala, in "Education and Architecture: The Evolution of the University of
Virginia's Academical Village," in Wilson, Thomas Jefferson's Academical Village,
44. One Bremo slave, Nelson, apparently worked as a "stable servant" and gardener
for professor Dunglison following his removal from house service in the professor's
pavilion because of "his inability to do his duties," and General Cocke seems to
have rented slaves to some of the other professors as well (Dunglison to John
Hartwell Cocke, 25 December 1826, ViU:JHC).
715. Sturtevant to Brockenbrough, 18 June 1825, ViU:PP.
716. Joseph Pitt to Brockenbrough, 5 August 1825, ViU:PP.
717. Crawford to Brockenbrough, 6 August 1825, ViU:PP.
718. John W. Simpson to Brockenbrough, 8 August 1825, ViU:PP.
719. See John Patton Emmet to Brockenbrough, 20 September 1827, in ViU:PP.
720. See TJ to the Board of Visitors, 12 October 1825, ViU:PP, Brockenbrough's
Statement of the Debts and Resources of the University as of 1 October 1826, in his
letter to the Rector and Board of Visitors, 11 December 1826, and Nicholas P. W.
Trist to Brockenbrough, with enclosure, Questions and Answers, 1826, in ViU:PP.
721. Blackford to Brockenbrough, 15 August 1825, ViU:PP.
722. TJ and Brockenbrough, Queries and Answers, 19 September 1825, DLC:TJ.
Brockenbrough's estimate varies somewhat from that given in his General Statement
of Finances of 30 September, which estimated the "Balance as required to complete
the Rotunda & Anatomical Hall" at $25,535.32 (ViU:PP). That document also
shows debts of $30,000 owed "to Carpenters, Plasters, Stone cutters, Painter &c for
work on the Rotunda."
723. The board did rule on a proposal respecting space for gardens and livestock
for university officers: "The board being of opinion that so much of the grounds of
the University as can be conveniently applied to that purpose, should be laid off in
lots for the uses of the Professors, the Proctor, and Keepers of the Hotels, rent free,
but to be enclosed and improved at there expense, therefore Resolved that the
Proctor under the direction of the Executive Committee do cause such lots to be laid
off and assigned to the several Pavilions & Hotels and to the Proctors house"
(PPAmP:UVA Minutes, 5 October 1825).
724. Board of Visitors Annual Report to the Literary Fund, 7 October 1825,
PPAmP:UVA Minutes; see also Cabell, Early History of the University of Virginia,
483-87. The Board of Visitors at its spring meeting on 4-5 March 1825 had
resolved to build the Anatomical Hall as soon as funds became available (ViU:TJ;
see TJ to Brockenbrough, 9 March 1825, in ViU:PP).
725. See William B. Phillips' Loose Receipts of 18 December 1825 for $100 "on
acct of Brick work on the Anat: Hall &c" and of 31 March 1826 for $76.56
(ViU:PP); John Hartwell Cocke and Alexander Garrett's Demands of the Resources
of the University, 31 May 1826, shows a figure of $1,250 for "Phillips' Accot. for
Anat. Hall," part of the total $1,736.30 "Paid towards the Anat. Hall" by that date
(DLC:TJ).
726. TJ to Joseph Carrington Cabell, 4 February 1826, ViU:JCC; see also Cabell,
Early History of the University of Virginia, 363-64. The Board of Visitors claimed
when drafting its Annual Report to the President and Directors of the Literary Fund
on 7 October 1826 that the "Liberary Room in the Rotunda has been nearly
completed, and the books put into it. Two rooms for the Professors of natural
Philosophy and Chemistry, and one large lecture room have also been fitted for use"
(ViU:TJ). On the verso of a letter that Coleman Sellers of Philadelphia wrote to
Brockenbrough about city commissioner Joseph Morris the proctor made this
memorandum about hardware for some of the Rotunda's cabinets: "40 Flat back
best quality book case locks for our Library with Keys alike that one may open all
or nearly so--at any rate not more than 4 or 5 different Kinds--the doors are 1¼
Thick--a Sufficiency of Suitable Screws--2 Doz Desk lock for Emmets Mineral
cases" (ViU:PP). Morris's Loose Receipt of 16 December 1826 for $24.12½ worth
of locks and keys, written at Philadelphia, is in ViU:PP.
727. TJ to Brockenbrough, 7 April 1826, DLC:TJ
728. Bonnycastle to Brockenbrough, 10 April 1826, ViU:PP. Jefferson met with
Bonnycastle on 20 April to discuss the lecture room and the following day wrote to
the professor: "I omitted, in conversn with you yesterday to observe on the
arrangement of the Elliptical lecturing room that one third of the whole Area may be
saved by the use of lap boards for writing on instead of tables, the room will hold
half as many again, and the expence & lumber of tables be spared. a bit of thin
board 12. I. square covered or not with cloth to every person is really a more
convenient way of writing than a table[.] I am now writing on such an one, and
often use it of preference[.] it may be left always on the sitting bench so as to be
ready at hand when wanted" (ViU:TJ). Jefferson wrote Brockenbrough on 5 May
promising to "send you soon a drawing of the Library tables for the Rotunda"
(ViU:PP), but Lasala suggests that Jefferson's last illness may have prevented him
from sketching the designs for the dome room's curved library tables (see #17-18 in
"Thomas Jefferson's Designs for the University of Virginia").
729. Antrim to Brockenbrough, 7 August 1826, ViU:PP. John Hartwell Cocke
wrote to the proctor on 27 September 1826 respecting the "internal Cornice of the
rotunda now to be done, get the prices pr. foot of Dinsmore & Neilson to execute
them in wood & the prices of Antrim to execute them in plaister--with details of
their models, respectively" (ViU:PP).
730. Brockenbrough to John Hartwell Cocke, 20 August 1826, ViU:JHC.
731. Dunglison to Brockenbrough, 8 September 1826, ViU:PP.
732. Peyton to Brockenbrough, 6 and 13 May 1825, ViU:PP.
733. TJ to General T. Smith, 22 October 1825, PHi:Simon Gratz Autograph
Collection.
734. TJ to Brockenbrough, 12 November 1825, ViU:PP. Robley Dunglison,
professor of anatomy and medicine, lived in Pavilion X; George Tucker, professor
of ethics, in Pavilion IX; and John Patton Emmet, professor of natural history, in
Pavilion I (see Sherwood and Lasala, "Education and Architecture: The Evolution
of the University of Virginia's Academical Village," in Wilson, Thomas Jefferson's
Academical Village, 44).
735. TJ to Brockenbrough, 15 November 1825, ViU:PP.
736. See Brockenbrough's Statement of the Debts and Resources of the University
as of 1 October 1826, in his letter to the Rector and Board of Visitors, 11 December
1826, in ViU:PP.
737. See Henry A. S. Dearborn to TJ, 6 September, in ViU:TJ, and 20 September,
in DLC:TJ, and Jonathan Thompson to TJ, 9 September, and 3 October 1825, in
ViU:PP.
738. In fact two vessels refused to transport the marble from Leghorn (see TJ to
Brockenbrough, 13 September 1825, in ViU:PP).
739. For the transportation and payment of the marble capitals from Leghorn to
the university, including Peyton's efforts, see Thomas Appleton to TJ, 4-12 May, in
DLC:TJ, Appleton's Account for Marble Capitals, 4 May, in ViU:PP, Appleton's
Bill for Marble Columns, 22 June, in DLC:TJ, TJ to Brockenbrough, 24 July, 30
August, in ViU:PP, TJ to Thomas Appleton, 10 August, ViU:TJ, Bernard Peyton to
Brockenbrough, 3 September, 8, 17, 19, 26 October, 12 November 1825, 10, 24
March, 8, 19, 22 April, 3 May 1826, in ViU:PP; Henry A. S. Dearborn to TJ, 6
September, in ViU:TJ, 20 September 1825, 25 April, 21 June 1826, in DLC:TJ, 22
September, 21 October 1825, in ViU:PP; TJ to Dearborn, 12 September 1825, in
ViU:TJ, 3 May 1826, in DLC:TJ; Dearborn to Brockenbrough, 17 July 1826, in
ViU:PP; Brockenbrough to Dearborn, 10 July 1826, in ViU:#9927; Jonathan
Thompson to TJ, 9 September, 3 October, 17 November 1825, in ViU:PP; TJ to
Brockenbrough, 13 September, 9 October 1825, 2, 5 May 1826, in ViU:PP, 8
November 1825, in DLC:TJ; TJ to William Cabell Rives and Littleton Waller
Tazewell, 25 November 1825, in DLC:TJ; TJ to Rives, 22 April 1826, in DLC:TJ;
Rives to TJ, 30 November 1825, in DLC:TJ, 13 March, 13 May 1826, in ViU:TJ;
Board of Visitors Minutes, 7 April 1826, in PPAmP:UVA Minutes; John Patton
Emmet to Brockenbrough, 2 May 1826, in ViU:PP; John Brockenbrough to
Brockenbrough, 9 May 1826, in ViU:PP; TJ to John Hartwell Cocke, 20 May 1826,
in ViU:JHC; Cocke and Alexander Garrett, Demands of the Resources of the
University, 31 May 1826, in DLC:TJ.
740. See John Hartwell Cocke and Alexander Garrett, Demands of the Resources
of the University, 31 May 1826, in DLC:TJ, which lists figures against the
university of $120 for William B. Phillips' bricklaying account for "Portico
Columns," $500 for Joseph Antrim's "finishing" of the same, and $100 for John
Gorman "Setting Bases & Capitals."
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