Founding Gardeners

by Andrea Wulf

  93 JA about renting a simple house: Ibid.

  94 White complains to GW: Alexander White to GW, 10 March 1798, GW Papers RS, vol. 2, pp. 134ff.

  95 rumors about JA and capital: TJ to JM, 29 March 1798, TJ Papers, vol. 30, p. 228.

  96 “the late President always”: Commissioners to JA, 18 April 1798, NA Record Group 42.

  97 “nothing short of insanity”: GW to Alexander White, 25 March 1798, GW Papers RS, vol. 2, p. 159. For JA being overruled by Commissioners, see Alexander White to Commissioners, 11 March 1798, Harris 1995, vol. 1, p. 443; Commissioners to JA, 18 April 1798, NA Record Group 42.

  98 “I may have been inclined to an opinion”: JA to Commissioners, 10 May 1798, MHS AP reel 117; see also Commissioners to JA, 7 May 1798, NA Record Group 42.

  99 problems in Washington and agricultural squatters: Commissioners to Mrs. Young, 24 July 1799; Commissioners to Mrs. Burnes, 24 July 1799, NA Record Group 42.

  100 “to be cut down” and description of GW’s death: Tobias Lear, The Last Illness and Death of General Washington, 14 December 1799, GW Papers RS, vol. 4, pp. 547–49.

  101 “Have me decently buried”: Ibid., p. 551.

  102 GW’s last correspondence: GW to Alexander White, 8 December 1799; GW to William Thornton, 7, 8 December 1799; GW to James Anderson, 13 December 1799; “Washington’s Plans for His River, Union and Muddy Hole Farms,” 10 December 1799, GW Papers RS, vol. 4, pp. 445–46, 449–51, 455–77.

  103 JA’s attention to capital and garden at White House: Benjamin Stoddert to Commissioners, 2 January 1800, NA Record Group 42.

  104 “make it an agreeable place” Benjamin Stoddert to William Thornton, 20 January 1800, Harris 1995, vol. 1, p. 532 (Stoddert recalled a conversation with JA).

  105 Thornton as gardener: Thornton and Washington had often shared their adoration for gardens and exchanged seeds and plants. Thornton did often collect plants on his rides across the district and grafted his own trees, GW to Thornton, 7 October 1797, GW Papers RS, vol. 1, p. 387; GW to Thornton, 14 March 1799, GW Papers RS, vol. 3, p. 419; Anna Thornton, 2 May 1800, Thornton 1907, p. 137.

  106 “large, naked, ugly” and Bingham garden: Benjamin Stoddert to William Thornton, 20 January 1800, Harris 1995, vol. 1, p. 532.

  107 JA’s rooms opposite the Bingham house: Samuel A. Otis to JA, 28 October 1794, MHS AP reel 378. Adams quickly decided that he did not like the rooms and moved again, JA to AA, 9 November 1794, MHS online.

  108 Bingham garden: Simpson 1859, p. 88; see also Julian Ursin Niemcewicz, 22 January 1797, Budka 1965, p. 37; Henry Wansey, 8 June 1794, Wansey 1798, p. 123.

  109 AA sent greenhouse: AA to JA, 12 January 1799, MHS online.

  110 gardening as “Medicine” : JA to AA, 13 March 1797, MHS online.

  111 Thornton and garden at the White House: William Thornton to Benjamin Stoddert, 30 January 1800, Harris 1995, vol. 1, p. 533; see William Thornton, sketch of President’s House and executive offices, DLC.

  112 “in great confusion”: Anna Thornton, 20 March 1800, Thornton 1907, pp. 119–20.

  113 funds very low: Anna Thornton, 30 January 1800, Thornton 1907, p. 101.

  114 “it will not be done”: Anna Thornton, 20 March 1800, Thornton 1907, p. 120.

  115 “much more difficulty and expense” and following quote: William Thornton and Gustavus Scott to Benjamin Stoddert, 19 April 1800, NA Record Group 42. For Thornton’s persistence, see Anna Thornton, 25 April 1800, Thornton 1907, p. 134.

  116 “too extravagant a scale”: William Thornton to Benjamin Stoddert, 30 January 1800, Harris 1995, vol. 1, p. 533.

  117 continuous problems at the White House: Commissioners to Benjamin Stoddert, 9 April 1800, Commissioners to Denis Littleton, 15 April 1800, Commissioners to Harbaugh, Lennox & Bryan, 9 May 1800, NA Record Group 42; Seale 1986, vol. 1, p. 76.

  118 AA was “discouraged”: AA to William Cranch, 3 February 1800, MHS AP reel 397; see also AA to Anna Greenleaf Cranch, 17 April 1800, DLC.

  119 JA liked the capital “very well”: JA to AA, 13 June 1800, MHS online.

  120 AA’s reluctance: AA to Catherine Johnson, 20 August 1800, MHS AP reel 398.

  121 “Huge Castle”: AA to Thomas Boylston Adams, 25 December 1800, MHS AP reel 399.

  122 White House bell hanger: Commissioners to William Smith Shaw, 7 November 1800, NA Record Group 42.

  123 East Room to dry laundry: AA to AA2, 21 November 1800, Adams 1848, p. 383.

  124 “because people cannot be found”: AA to AA2, 21 November 1800, Adams 1848, p. 382.

  125 “disgusting egotism” and following quotes: Hamilton 1800, pp. 12, 9, 38.

  126 “would prefer Mr. J.”: JA to AA, 15 November 1800, MHS online.

  127 “that I am disgusted”: AA to Mary Smith Cranch, 26 May 1800, Mitchell 1947, p. 253.

  128 “hideous hermaphroditical character”: James Thomson Callendar in The Prospect Before Us, Bordewich 2008, p. 249; see also McCullough 2001, pp. 536–37, 544.

  129 “An infant city grows apace”: Freneau, Philip, On the Federal City, 1797, Pattee 1907, vol. 3, pp. 184–85.

  130 election results: Larson 2007, pp. 241–44.

  131 “The only Question”: JA to Cotton Tufts, 26 December 1800, MHS AP reel 120.

  132 “farmer John”: JA to William Tudor, 20 January 1801, MHS, Tudor Papers.

  133 “potter in my garden”: JA to Cotton Tufts, 26 December 1800, MHS AP reel 120.

  134 “blackest calumny” and following quote: AA to TJ, 1 July 1804, Cappon 1987, pp. 272–73.

  135 “plain citizen”: Editorial note to TJ’s Inaugural Address, 4 March 1801, TJ Papers, vol. 33, p. 134.

  136 “the original simplicity”: TJ to Volney, 20 April 1802, DLC.

  137 “republican principles”: TJ to Maria Jefferson Eppes, 15 February 1801, TJ Papers, vol. 32, p. 593.

  138 Inaugural Address: TJ, Inaugural Address, 4 March 1801, TJ Papers, vol. 33, pp. 148–52; Ellis 1998, pp. 214–21.

  139 TJ intended to slice expenditures: TJ to Nathaniel Macon, 14 May 1801, TJ Papers, vol. 34, p. 110.

  140 “a plan much too magnificent”: John Williams, quoted in Morales-Vasquez 2004, p. 42.

  141 “fall into a pit”: Young 1966, p. 46.

  142 “numerous dead carcasses”: Albert Gallatin, quoted in Young 1966, p. 42.

  143 fence around the WH and TJ’s laundry: Latrobe, Drawing of White House. Principal Story, 1803, DLC; Walter Muir Whitehill, 1803, Froncek 1977, p. 85.

  144 TJ and lists: TJ Memorandum Book; Betts 1944, p. 4; Cullen 2005, p. 313; TJ, A Statement of the Vegetable market of Washington, during a period of 8. years, wherein the earliest & latest appearance of each article within the whole 8. Years is noted, reproduced in Randall 1858, vol. 1, plate facing p. 44.

  145 “there is not a sprig”: TJ to Martha Jefferson Randolph, 23 December 1790, Betts and Bear 1986, p. 67.

  146 “added wonderfully to”: TJ to John Barnes, 27 April 1809, TJ Papers RS, vol. 1, p. 166.

  147 “but a corner of the mansion”: Moore, Thomas, 1804, quoted in Norton 1976, p. 211; see also TJ to Martha Jefferson Randolph, 28 May 1801, Betts and Bear 1986, p. 202.

  148 “under the tent of heaven”: TJ to Benjamin Hawkins, 22 March 1796, TJ Papers, vol. 29, p. 43.

  149 TJ and invisible government: Margaret Bayard Smith, in Hunt 1906, p. 397.

  150 “Avoid palaces”: William Thornton, 1795–97, MS on National Education, Harris 1995, vol. 1, p. 366.

  151 reduction of WH grounds: Sketch Plan for Landscaping the Grounds of the President’s House, c. 1807, DLC; Seale 1992, p. 40.

  152 GW and TJ as presidents: For a comparison of Washington’s and Jefferson’s presidencies see McDonald 1994, pp. 252–53.

  153 GW’s formality: Ellis 2002, p. 127; Seale 1986, vol. 1, p. 8.

  154 “Levees are done away”: TJ to Nathaniel Macon, 14 May 1801, TJ Papers, vol. 34, p. 110.

  155 TJ’s dinner parties: Cullen 2005; Margaret Bayard Smith, in Hunt 1906, pp. 50, 3
87–88; Manasseh Cutler to Dr. Torrey, 4 January 1802, Cutler 1888, vol. 2, pp. 65–66; JQA, 3 November 1807, Adams 1874–77, vol. 1, p. 473.

  156 JA’s Levee Room became TJ’s study: Latrobe, Drawing of White House. Principal story, 1803, DLC; Inventory of the White House 1801, reprinted in Seale 2000, pp. 30–31.

  157 “When brought together in society”: TJ, “Rules of Etiquette,” November, 1803, Ford 1892–99, vol. 8, p. 276.

  158 “show … that the civil is superior”: Margaret Bayard Smith, in Hunt 1906, p. 397.

  159 “without any tincture”: Samuel Latham Mitchell, 10 January 1802, Mitchell 1879, p. 743.

  160 portraits of TJ and GW: Rembrandt Peale’s portrait of Thomas Jefferson, 1805, and Gilbert Stuart’s portrait of George Washington, 1797.

  161 TJ’s “neglected” hair: Sir Augustus John Foster, 1805–07, Davis 1954, p. 10.

  162 TJ’s “dissheiveled” hair: William Plumer, 29 July 1805, Brown 1923, p. 333.

  163 “down at the heel”: Sir Augustus John Foster, 1805–07, Davis 1954, p. 10.

  164 “with his toes out” and following quotes: William Plumer, 29 July 1805, 10 November 1804, Brown 1923, pp. 193, 333.

  165 “a tall large-boned farmer”: Sir Augustus John Foster, 1805–07, Davis 1954, p. 10.

  166 Washington as a rural retreat and following descriptions: TJ to St. George Tucker, 3 June 1801, TJ Papers, vol. 34, pp. 245–46; William Janson, 1804, Busey 1898, p. 235.

  167 “Excellent snipe shooting” and following quote: Sir Augustus John Foster, 1805–07, Davis 1954, pp. 8, 20.

  168 Mall, wetlands and fishing: William Gunton, 1807, Busey 1898, p. 237.

  169 TJ’s study at the White House: Margaret Bayard Smith, in Hunt 1906, p. 385.

  170 “delight to attend” and following quotes: Margaret Bayard Smith, in Hunt 1906, p. 385; see also TJ to Martha Jefferson Randolph, 23 November 1807, TJ to Ellen Wayles Randolph, 23 February 1808, Betts and Bear 1986, pp. 315, 329.

  171 TJ’s correspondence: Ellis 1998, p. 228.

  172 TJ’s rides in the countryside: Christian Hines, 1801–09, Hines 1981, p. 13; also Margaret Bayard Smith, in Hunt 1906, p. 393; Daniel Brent to TJ, 26 June 1802, Padover 1946, p. 275.

  173 “rural improvements”: Margaret Bayard Smith, in Hunt 1906, p. 395.

  174 “Not a plant from the lowliest weed”: Ibid., p. 393.

  175 trees for ornamental purposes: TJ, 12 October 1803, recollecting the chronology of the building of the capital, Padover 1946, p. 323.

  176 TJ’s suggestion to plant trees: TJ to Thomas Johnson, 8 March 1792, TJ Papers, vol. 23, p. 237.

  177 “cutting wood of any description”: Commissioners to Theophilus Holt, 30 October 1798, NA Record Group 42; for felling of trees see also Christian Hines, 1796–97, Hines 1981, p. 11; Warden 1816, Busey 1898, p. 132. In May 1802, a year after Jefferson’s inauguration, the commissioners sent someone to mark the trees that “as yet are left” on the President’s Square—“2 wild cherry Trees, 2 Walnut Trees, 2 Buttonwood Trees & some black Gum Tree” was the meager spoil. (Commissioners to Mrs. Burnes, 19 and 20 May 1802, NA Record Group 42.)

  178 “ornamented Trees”: Commissioners to Daniel Carroll, 21 June 1793, NA Record Group 42.

  179 trees continued to disappear: Augustus John Foster to Lady Elizabeth Foster, 8/15 February 1805, Parr 2000, p. 82; Commissioners to Leonard Harbaugh, 31 July 1800; Commissioners to Mrs. Burnes, 19 May 1802; Commissioners to Mrs. Burnes, 20 May 1802, NA Record Group 42.

  180 tulip poplars “girdled”: Margaret Bayard Smith, in Hunt 1906, p. 11.

  181 Thornton and trees: William Thornton to GW, 1 October 1796, Harris 1995, vol. 1, p. 401.

  182 “spite to them who cherished”: Lord Francis Jeffrey, Journal from his Visit to the United States, 1813, copies at the Office of the Curator, White House (original in the National Library of Scotland).

  183 “a crime little short of murder” and following quote: Margaret Bayard Smith, in Hunt 1906, pp. 11–12.

  184 TJ’s work on the roads: Commissioners to TJ, 24 August 1801; TJ to Commissioners, 29 August 1801; Commissioners to TJ, 15 October 1801, TJ Papers, vol. 35, pp. 131, 167–68, 450.

  185 trees at Pennsylvania Avenue: Thomas Munroe to TJ, 14 March 1803; TJ to Thomas Munroe, 21 March 1803, Padover 1946, pp. 297–300; Christian Hines, 1803, Hines 1981, p. 21; Margaret Bayard Smith, in Hunt 1906, p. 394; TJ to Thomas Munroe, 21 March 1803; Padover 1946, p. 300.

  186 Lombardy poplars: Scott 2006, p. 22; Hunt 1906, p. 394; TJ to Thomas Munroe, 17 June 1807, Padover 1946, p. 393.

  187 vegetable market in Washington: TJ Proclamation, 1802, Padover 1946, p. 283.

  188 TJ and seeds in Washington and following references: Margaret Bayard Smith, in Hunt 1906, p. 394; see also Nicholas King to TJ, 11 September 1806, Betts 1944, p. 325; TJ to Robert Bailey, 10 October 1803; TJ to Bernard McMahon, 8 January 1809, Betts 1944, pp. 287, 401; TJ to William Johnson, 17 March 1810, TJ Papers RS, vol. 2, pp. 301–2.

  189 “This … was the means” and following quote: Margaret Bayard Smith, in Hunt 1906, p. 394.

  190 plants for Monticello: TJ to Robert Bailey, 19 October 1803; John Threlkeld to TJ, 25 March 1807, Betts 1944, pp. 287, 353; TJ, 11 February 1794; TJ to Mrs Bailey, 7 March 1805; TJ, 2 March 1808; TJ Memorandum Book, vol. 2, pp. 913, 1147, 1220; TJ to Martha Jefferson Randolph, 23 November 1807, Betts and Bear 1986, p. 315.

  191 funds for roads and Capitol: Latrobe to TJ, 20 February 1804, Padover 1946, p. 338.

  192 building work on White House: Latrobe to TJ, 1 December 1804, Padover 1946, pp. 347–50; Latrobe, Report on the Public Buildings, 11 December 1809, Latrobe to Stephen Row Bradley, c. 13–21 December 1808, Van Horne 1984–88, vol. 2, pp. 686–87, 797–98. The wings were built between 1805 and 1811 but never connected to the Treasury and War Department. (Seale 1992, p. 47; Seale 1986, vol. 1, pp. 109ff.)

  193 “often threaten[ing] your”: Charles Janson, 1806, Reps 1991, p. 64.

  194 travelers at the center of D.C.: John Melish, 3 October 1806, Busey 1898, p. 235.

  195 “like glue”: Young 1966, p. 44.

  196 “either los[ing] one’s shoes”: Sir Augustus John Foster, 1805–07, Davis 1954, p. 86.

  197 congressmen getting lost in Washington: Margaret Bayard Smith, in Hunt 1906, pp. 9–10.

  198 “out of sight or hearing”: Young 1966, p. 75.

  199 TJ and Latrobe discussing the garden: Latrobe to Mary Elizabeth Latrobe, 18 March 1807, Van Horne 1984–88, vol. 2, p. 396.

  200 “dressed in black”: Sir Augustus John Foster, 1805–07, Davis 1954, p. 15.

  201 election results: McDougall 2005, p. 396.

  202 TJ decided to retire: TJ to William Hamilton, July 1806, Betts 1944, p. 323.

  203 “require but a moderate sum”: TJ to Latrobe, 22 May 1807, Van Horne 1984–88, vol. 2, p. 432.

  204 enclose grounds at White House: Latrobe to TJ, 17 March 1807, 29 April 1807 (sent on 21 May 1807), 13 August 1807; TJ to Latrobe, 22 May 1807, Van Horne 1984–88, vol. 2, pp. 394–95, 432–33, 461–62; Latrobe to TJ, 2 September 1807, DLC.

  205 “for the use of the Pts House”: Joseph Elgar to JQA, 30 July 1825, NA Record Group 42.

  206 “exclusively with Trees … indigenous” and following quote: Margaret Bayard Smith, in Hunt 1906, p. 393.

  207 “Large trees for Single trees”: List of Trees & Shrubs for the Presidents Garden, 31 March 1809, JM Papers PS, vol. 1. pp. 93–94.

  208 levelling and walls: TJ to Latrobe, 22 May 1807, 25 April 1808, Van Horne 1984–88, vol. 2, pp. 432, 612. There are many letters between TJ and Latrobe regarding the walls. The wall was completed (except the coping) at the end of 1808. (Latrobe to TJ, 18 November 1808.) For work done during TJ’s presidency: Latrobe to Stephen Row Bradley, c. 13–21 December 1808; Latrobe, Report on the Public Buildings, 11 December 1809, Van Horne 1984–88, vol. 2, pp. 672, 686–87, 797–98.

  209 White House garden and JM: Latrobe to JM, 14 March 1809; List of Trees & Shrubs
for the Presidents Garden, 31 March 1809, JM Papers PS, vol. 1, pp. 48, 93–94; Joseph Dougherty to TJ, 15 May 1809, TJ Papers RS, vol. 1, p. 199; Latrobe, Report on Public Buildings, 28 December 1810, Van Horne 1984–88, vol. 2, p. 946.

  210 “scarcely fit for”: William Thornton to Samuel Harrison Smith, 20 April 1808, Washington Federalist, 30 April 1808, Van Horne 1984–88, vol. 2, p. 605. See also the drawing of the arch by Baroness Hyde de Neuville from circa 1820 reprinted in Seale 1992, p. 47. Thornton felt no reason to be nice to Latrobe as the two architects were involved in a vicious public row about their architectural merits.

  211 TJ’s plans for White House garden: Sketch Plan for Landscaping the Grounds of the President’s House, c. 1807, DLC; see also matching plan for topography of the grounds Survey Map of the White House Grounds, c. 1807, DLC; Latrobe, View of the East front of the President’s House, 1807, and Latrobe, Elevation of the South Front of the President’s House, 1807, DLC; Fazio and Snadon 2000, p. 40.

  212 Poplar Forest: Work started with brick making in 1805. Brown 1990; McDonald 2006.

  213 digging sunken parterre: TJ to Hugh Chisholm, 5 June 1807, Brown 1990, p. 126.

  214 planting Poplar Forest: TJ, Notes on Poplar Forest Plantings and Geography, 1811–1816, TJ Papers RS, vol. 3, pp. 353–54; for planned planting at White House see List of Trees & Shrubs for the Presidents Garden, 31 March 1809, JM Papers PS, vol. 1, pp. 93–94.

  215 “vermin of all filths”: JQA, 12 August 1819, Adams 1874–77, vol. 4, p. 409.

  216 carriages stuck in mud: JQA, 4 April 1818, Adams 1874–77, vol. 4, p. 74.

  217 “a very agreeable country residence”: TJ to Thomas Mann Randolph, 28 May 1801, TJ Papers, vol. 34, p. 257.

  7 “EMPIRE OF LIBERTY”: JEFFERSON’S WESTERN EXPANSION

  1 Descriptions of the celebrations of Independence Day 1803: Hunt 1906, pp. 38–39; 398–99.

  2 “the only birthday”: Hunt 1906, p. 398.

  3 trees on Pennsylvania Avenue: Thomas Munroe to TJ, 14 March 1803, TJ to Thomas Munroe, 15 March 1803; Padover 1946, pp. 297–300.

  4 news of Louisiana Purchase: TJ to Thomas Mann Randolph, 5 July 1803, DLC; for Louisiana Purchase, see McCoy 1989, pp. 196–208.