Founding Gardeners

by Andrea Wulf

  155 “Mr. Donaldson’s Hippopotamus”: GW to Levi Hollingsworth, 20 September 1785, GW Papers CS, vol. 3, p. 268.

  156 “to make a full experiment”: Arthur Donaldson to GW, 1 October 1785; see also GW to Arthur Donaldson, 16 October 1785, GW to George Gilpin, 29 October 1785, GW Papers CS, vol. 3, pp. 286–88, 307, 324; GW, 3 November 1785, GW Diaries, vol. 4, pp. 217–18.

  157 GW’s experiments with fertilizers: GW, 30 January 1786, GW Diaries, vol. 4, p. 269; GW, 1 March 1787, GW Diaries, vol. 5, p. 111; GW, 9 May 1787 but entered in GW, 21 September 1787, GW Diaries, vol. 5, p. 187; GW to George Augustine Washington, 24 July 1787, GW Papers CS, vol. 5, p. 270.

  158 “no Country has carried”: GW to George William Fairfax, 30 June 1785, GW Papers CS, vol. 3, p. 89; for agricultural books see Custis 1861, p. 297, and LibraryThing: George Washington’s Library (online).

  159 “Midas-like”: GW to George William Fairfax, 30 June 1785, GW Papers CS, vol. 3, p. 90.

  160 James Bloxham: GW, 21 April 1786, GW Diaries, vol. 4, p. 315.

  161 “the first farmer”: Robert Hunter, November 1785, Lee 2006, p. 31.

  162 “quite in keeping”: Stephen Duponceau, quoted in Berg 2008, p. 96.

  163 “a rural village”: Jedidiah Morse, 26 March 1786, MV Folder “Early Descriptions ante 1800,” Mount Vernon Library.

  164 “trim, handsome & thriving”: GW to William Pearce, 6 October 1793, GW Papers PS, vol. 14, p. 173.

  165 “brother farmers”: Arthur Young to GW, 7 January 1786, GW Papers CS, vol. 3, p. 499.

  166 “I wish most devoutly”: GW to Arthur Young, 4 December 1788, GW Papers PS, vol. 1, p. 162.

  2 “GARDENS, PECULIARLY WORTH THE ATTENTION OF AN AMERICAN”: THOMAS JEFFERSON’S AND JOHN ADAMS’S ENGLISH GARDEN TOUR

  1 TJ’s garden tour: unless otherwise referenced all descriptions are based on TJ’s Notes of a Tour of English Gardens,” March and April 1786, TJ Papers, vol. 9, pp. 369–75; TJ Memorandum Book, vol. 1, pp. 614–21.

  2 “Come here without”: JA to TJ, 21 February 1786, TJ Papers, vol. 9, p. 295.

  3 “I dare not communicate”: JA to TJ, 21 February 1786, see also TJ to John Jay, 12 March 1786, TJ Papers, vol. 9, pp. 295, 325.

  4 “There is a strong propensity”: JA to Richard Henry Lee, 26 August 1785, MHS AP reel 111.

  5 “Sufficiently insane”: JA to John Jay, 21 October 1785, MHS AP reel 111.

  6 Summary of negotiations: Butterfield 1961, vol. 3, pp. 181–83.

  7 Jefferson’s hating idleness: Edmund Bacon’s Memoir and Isaac Jefferson’s Memoir, Bear 1967, pp. 18, 72–73; Martin 1952, pp. 20–21.

  8 “Ennui”: TJ to Martha Jefferson, 21 May 1787, Betts and Bear 1986, p. 41.

  9 “doubtless is the best”: Daniel Solander to Carl Linnaeus, 14 August 1761, Duyker and Tingbrand 1995, p. 169.

  10 “visit all the notable gardens”: Catherine the Great to Vasily and Pyotr Neyelov, December 1770, Hayden 2005, p. 84.

  11 Franklin’s garden visits: BF to DF, 6 September 1758, BF Papers, vol. 8, p. 145; BF to William Franklin, 3 August 1773, BF Papers, vol. 20, p. 339.

  12 “combining public service”: TJ to Lafayette, 4 August 1781, TJ Papers, vol. 6, p. 112.

  13 “affection in every bud”: TJ to JM, 9 June 1793, TJ Papers, vol. 26, p. 240.

  14 “pair of slippers”: TJ to David Humphreys, 5 January 178[6], TJ Papers, vol. 9, p. 152.

  15 TJ on English gardens: TJ to John Page, 4 May 1786, TJ Papers, vol. 9, p. 445.

  16 TJ’s garden books: TJ to John Page, 17 May 1776, TJ Papers, vol. 1, p. 294. This was Thomas Whately’s Observations on Modern Gardening (1770). It seems that Page did not manage to procure the book because TJ bought it eventually in 1785 from Samuel Henley together with George Mason’s Essay on Gardening (1768). (TJ to Samuel Henley, 3 March 1785, TJ Papers, vol. 8, pp. 12–13.)

  17 TJ’s garden ideas: TJ’s plans for Monticello, 1771, Betts 1944, pp. 25–27.

  18 British gardener for TJ: Alexander McCaul to TJ, 8 July 1772, TJ Papers, vol. 1, p. 92.

  19 TJ travel to Wooburn: TJ, 2 and 3 April 1786, TJ Memorandum Book, vol. 1, p. 617.

  20 “But I am not” and following quote: AA2 to JQA, 27 July 1786, AFC, vol. 7, p. 297.

  21 vandalism in gardens: Horace Walpole to William Cole, 16 June 1781, Lewis 1937–61, vol. 2, p. 275; Wulf and Gieben-Gamal 2005, p. 152.

  22 “the savages”: Horace Walpole to William Cole, 16 June 1781, Lewis 1937–61, vol. 2, p. 275.

  23 “spotted cows”: John Parnell’s account of Wooburn Farm, 22 August 1763, transcribed in Sambrook 1979, p. 83.

  24 “simple delights” and the following quotes: Whately 1770, pp. 177, 181.

  25 plants at Wooburn: Laird 1999, pp. 102–3.

  26 GW’s building walls: GW, 10 April 1786, GW Diaries, vol. 4, p. 307.

  27 “With what majesty”: and the following quotes, TJ to Maria Cosway, 12 October 1786, TJ Papers, vol. 10, pp. 447–48.

  28 TJ’s inheritance: Jefferson inherited 2,650 acres on the Rivanna river and around the same elsewhere from his father. In 1774, after his father-in-law’s death, he inherited about 10,000 acres but had to sell half of it to pay off the debts that came with the inheritance. (Malone 1948–81, vol. 1, pp. 439–41.)

  29 TJ and slaves: Randall 1858, vol. 1, p. 11; Malone 1948–81, vol. 1, pp. 439–41; Elkins and McKitrick 1993, p. 202.

  30 TJ’s ornamental farm: See Chapter 8 and TJ’s drawing of fields planted with grasses along the roundabout; TJ’s sketch of ornamental fields (ViU 9090-a); TJ’s sketch of timber zone, N129 K94d, MHS TJ EA.

  31 Carmarthen requested new draft: Mr Fraser to JA, 3 April 1786; JA and TJ to Lord Carmarthen, 4 April 1786, TJ Papers, vol. 9, p. 375.

  32 Summary of negotiations: Butterfield 1961, vol. 3, pp. 181–83; see also JA to John Jay, 21 October 1785, MHS AP reel 111.

  33 “in aweful Pomp”: JA to TJ, 17 February 1786, TJ Papers, vol. 9, p. 286 (unless otherwise referenced, all quotes are from this letter).

  34 $80,000 granted by Congress: JA to John Jay, 16 February 1786, MHS AP reel 112.

  35 “a universal and horrible War”: JA to TJ, 21 February 1786, TJ Papers, vol. 9, p. 295.

  36 “written in their Koran”: JA and TJ to John Jay, 28 March 1786, TJ Papers, vol. 9, p. 358.

  37 “An ambassador from”: London Public Advertiser, quoted in McCullough 2001, p. 333.

  38 “This People cannot”: JA Diary, 30 March 1786, 44:2, MHS online.

  39 British government united in opposition to America: TJ to Richard Henry Lee, 22 April 1786, TJ Papers, vol. 9, p. 398.

  40 “the quantity of animal food”: TJ to AA, 25 September 1785, TJ Papers, vol. 8, pp. 548–49.

  41 “To pay that debt at”: TJ to Alexander McCaul, 17 April 1786, TJ Papers, vol. 9, pp. 388, 390.

  42 “nobility, wealth, and”: TJ to George Wythe, 13 August 1786, TJ Papers, vol. 10, p. 245.

  43 new draft of treaty: JA and TJ to Lord Carmarthen, 4 April 1786; JA and TJ to John Jay, 25 April 1786, TJ Papers, vol. 9, pp. 375, 406.

  44 “lost a great deal of time”: TJ to William Short, 28 March 1786, TJ Papers, vol. 9, p. 362.

  45 JA willing companion: AA to Mary Smith Cranch, 6 April 1786, AFC, vol. 7, p. 134.

  46 William Hamilton: JA Diary, 30 March 1786, 44:1, MHS online; William Hamilton to George Smith, 30 September 1785, Betts 1979, p. 225.

  47 “the only rival”: TJ to William Hamilton, July 1806, Betts 1944, p. 323.

  48 William Hamilton tried for treason: Jacobs 2006, p. 186.

  49 “tranquil Walks”: JA to Richard Cranch, 27 April 1785, AFC, vol. 6, p. 111.

  50 “putrid Streets”: JA Diary, 17 August 1784, 43:5, MHS online.

  51 “zeal at my Heart”: JA to AA, 9 July 1774, MHS online.

  52 “Such Excursions are”: JA to AA, 17 July 1775, MHS online.

  53 JA and garden visits: JA Diary, 16 January 1766, 12:23; 12 September 1774, 22:9; JA to AA, 17 July 1775; JA Diary 18
September 1775, 24:6, MHS online.

  54 “how the Trees flourish”: AA to Mary Smith Cranch, 24 April 1786, AFC 7, p. 148.

  55 “old swamp … digging”: JA Diary, 24 October 1762, 8:10–11, MHS online.

  56 “an insipid round”: JA to AA2, 14 April 1783, AFC, vol. 5, p. 123.

  57 “to Farming”: JA to AA, 17 July 1783, MHS online.

  58 TJ and JA set off to Wooburn: TJ, 4 April 1786, TJ Memorandum Book, vol. 1, p. 618.

  59 traveling in England: Johanna Schopenhauer in 1803–05, Michaelis-Jena and Merson 1988, p. 1; Carl Philip Moritz in 1782, Nettel 1965, p. 24.

  60 “beautifull”: JA Diary, “Notes on a Tour of English Country Seats & c., with Thomas Jefferson,” April 1786, 44:5, MHS online.

  61 TJ’s and JA’s garden tour: Unless otherwise referenced, descriptions are based on TJ “Notes of a Tour of English Gardens,” March and April 1786, TJ Papers, vol. 9, pp. 369–75; TJ Memorandum Book, vol. 1, pp. 614–21; JA Diary, “Notes on a Tour of English Country Seats & c., with Thomas Jefferson,” April 1786, 44:3–6, MHS online.

  62 “load the memory”: TJ, “Jefferson’s Hints to Americans Travelling in Europe,” 19 June 1788, TJ Papers, vol. 13, p. 268.

  63 “waste my time”: TJ to Philip Mazzei, 4 April 1787, TJ Papers, vol. 11, p. 266.

  64 “remarkeable for their”: TJ “Notes of a Tour of English Gardens,” March and April 1786, TJ Papers, vol. 9, p. 369.

  65 appearance of TJ and JA: Edmund Bacon’s Memoir, Bear 1967, p. 71; JA to Skelton Jones, 11 March 1809, Adams 1850–56, vol. 9, p. 612; see also AA to Mary Smith Cranch, 24 April 1786, AFC, vol. 7, p. 147; Mather Brown’s portrait of TJ, 1786–88, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian; see also Wilson and Chew 2002, pp. 21–22; Mather Brown’s portrait of JA, 1788, the Boston Athenaeum.

  66 candlestick and cannonball: Ellis 1998, p. 76.

  67 TJ to hairdresser: TJ, 7 April 1786, TJ Memorandum Book, vol. 1, p. 619.

  68 “but what is American”: JA Diary, 3 May 1785, 43:13, MHS online.

  69 “always an honest Man”: BF to Robert Livingston, 22 July 1783, BF online.

  70 “vain” and “irritable”: TJ to JM, 30 January 1787, TJ Papers, vol. 11, p. 94.

  71 “abhorrence of dispute”: TJ to GW, 8 May 1791, TJ Papers, vol. 20, p. 292.

  72 “the man must be of rock”: TJ to AA, 25 September 1785, TJ Papers, vol. 8, p. 548.

  73 “I keep what I feel”: McCullough 2001, p. 312.

  74 “confined himself from the world”: 27 January 1785, Smith 1841–42, vol. 1, p. 45.

  75 never “ruffled”: Edmund Bacon’s Memoir, Bear 1967, p. 71.

  76 JA envied GW, BF, TJ: JA Diary, June–July 1776, Butterfield 1961, vol. 3, p. 336.

  77 “Fool! Fool!”: McCullough 2001, pp. 619–20.

  78 “Nothing was too small”: Edmund Bacon’s Memoir, Bear 1967, p. 78.

  79 “The departure of”: TJ to JA, 25 May 1785, TJ Papers, vol. 8, p. 164.

  80 gardens at Stowe and Whig politics: Wulf and Gieben-Gamal 2005, pp. 87–130.

  81 Whigs and the influence in America: Wood 1987, pp. 14ff.

  82 “opposes … systematic despotism”: Uvedale Price to GW, 31 March 1798, GW Papers RS, vol. 2, p. 165. Price sent GW a copy of his Essay on the Picturesque.

  83 “Freedom was given”: Walpole, Horace, 1780, Charlesworth 1993, vol. 2, p. 403.

  84 “still too much of art”: TJ “Notes of a Tour of English Gardens,” March and April 1786, TJ Papers, vol. 9, pp. 369, 370, 372.

  85 Stowe guidebook: Seeley’s Description of Stowe, 1783; TJ, 6 April 1786, TJ Memorandum Book, vol. 1, p. 618; TJ, 1789 Catalog of Books, MHS.

  86 paths of vice and virtue: Wulf and Gieben-Gamal 2005, pp. 96ff; Wheeler, Richard, “Icons and Emblems,” unpublished conference paper, Stowe Estate Office (n.d.). Adams had proposed a depiction of the “Choice of Hercules” for a seal that commemorated the British defeat in Boston. (Wood 1987, p. 49.)

  87 “Mysterious Orgies”: West 1732, l. 168.

  88 “quite unnecessary as”: JA Diary, “Notes on a Tour of English Country Seats & c., with Thomas Jefferson,” April 1786, 44:5, MHS online.

  89 TJ and JA reading Addison: JA Diary, 9 February 1761, MHS online; TJ, 1783 Book Catalogue, MHS; TJ to Robert Skipwith, 3 August 1771, TJ Papers, vol. 1, p. 79. Joseph Addison’s essay was published in Tatler, no.123, 21 January 1710.

  90 “the good of their country”: Addison, Joseph, Tatler, no. 123, 21 January 1710; for Stowe and Addison, see Wulf and Gieben-Gamal 2005, pp. 105–13; Clarke 1970, pp. 113–21.

  91 “most corrupt and unprincipled government”: TJ to William Duane, 13 November 1810, TJ Papers RS, vol. 3, p. 208.

  92 “My dear Country men”: JA to AA, 3 June 1778, MHS online.

  93 “a great deal of ill”: TJ to Henry Skipwith, 6 May 1786, TJ Papers, vol. 9, p. 465.

  94 “bewitching Charms”: JA to AA, 3 June 1778, MHS online.

  95 “the only Foundation”: JA to Mercy Warren, 16 April 1776, Adams 1917, vol. 1, p. 222.

  96 TJ’s pantheon of heroes: Already on 8 February 1786 Jefferson had suggested to Madison to commission several busts for the new Capitol of Virginia, but it was in Stowe that he first saw “worthies” in a private context. (TJ to JM, 8 February 1786, TJ Papers, vol. 9, pp. 266–67.)

  97 “my trinity”: TJ to Benjamin Rush, 16 January 1811, TJ Papers RS, vol. 3, p. 305. TJ was recalling a conversation he had with Alexander Hamilton in April 1791 in Philadelphia; for Shakespeare and John Hampden see John Trumbull to TJ, 5 February 1789, TJ Papers, vol. 14, p. 525; for Raleigh see TJ to William Stephens Smith, 22 October 1786, TJ Papers, vol. 10, p. 479.

  98 “our country should not be without”: TJ to Joseph Delaplaine, 3 May 1814, DLC.

  99 “to add it to”: TJ to William Stephens Smith, 22 October 1786, TJ Papers, vol. 10, p. 479; TJ’s Instructions to Adrien Petit, circa 2 July 1787, TJ Papers, vol. 11, p. 531.

  100 portraits and busts of BF, GW, JM and Thomas Paine: TJ, 10 September 1786, TJ Memorandum Book, vol. 1, p. 638; Dickson 1976, pp. 111, 116; Stein 1993, pp. 73–74.

  101 “my American worthies”: TJ to William Short, 6 April 1790, TJ Papers, vol. 16, p. 318; TJ to Joseph Delaplaine, 3 May 1814, DLC.

  102 ha-ha: For a more detailed discussion on the ha-ha, see Wulf and Gieben-Gamal 2005, pp. 93–94; and Dézallier d’Argenville 1709.

  103 GW’s ha-ha: GW to Lund Washington, 10–17 December 1776, GW Papers RWS, vol. 7, p. 291; GW, 3 April 1787, GW Diaries, vol. 5, p. 127.

  104 Stowe was “superb”: JA Diary, “Notes on a Tour of English Country Seats & c., with Thomas Jefferson,” April 1786, 44:5, MHS online.

  105 “We have Seen”: JA to AA, 5 April 1786, AFC, vol. 7, pp. 132–33.

  106 food in taverns: TJ, Tavern Bills, April 1786, ViU.

  107 “to estimate the expence”: TJ “Notes of a Tour of English Gardens,” March and April 1786, TJ Papers, vol. 9, p. 369.

  108 “the highest Entertainment”: JA Diary, “Notes on a Tour of English Country Seats & c., with Thomas Jefferson,” April 1786, 44:5, MHS online.

  109 TJ and Shenstone: TJ purchased the book on 11 October 1765, Virginia Gazette Daybooks, 1764–66, ViU.

  110 “I had lords and ladies”: Matthew Boulton to J. L. Baumgarten, August 1767, Uglow 2002, p. 211.

  111 “manufactory of Paintings”: JA Diary, “Notes on a Tour of English Country Seats & c., with Thomas Jefferson,” April 1786, 44:5, MHS online.

  112 “it would be a waste”: TJ, “Jefferson’s Hints to Americans Travelling in Europe,” 19 June 1788, TJ Papers, vol. 13, p. 269.

  113 “I make a job of it”: TJ to Lafayette, 11 April 1787, TJ Papers, vol. 11, p. 283.

  114 TJ and JA reading Pope: LibraryThing: John Adams’s Library (online); LibraryThing: Thomas Jefferson’s Library (online); TJ, 1783 Book Catalogue, MHS. Both Adams and Jefferson also read Virgil and Homer in the original.

  115 TJ and Shenstone: LibraryThing: Thomas Jefferson�
�s Library (online); TJ, 1783 Book Catalogue, MHS; Beiswanger 1983, p. 173.

  116 TJ’s books at The Leasowes: TJ, 7 April 1786, TJ Memorandum Book, vol. 1, p. 619.

  117 “blue distant mountains”: Dodsley’s Description of The Leasowes, in Shenstone 1764, p. 349.

  118 “landscape at No. 18”: TJ “Notes of a Tour of English Gardens,” March and April 1786, TJ Papers, vol. 9, p. 371.

  119 “not even an ornamented farm”: Ibid.

  120 “Variety of Beauties”: JA Diary, “Notes on a Tour of English Country Seats & c., with Thomas Jefferson,” April 1786, 44:6, MHS online.

  121 American species in English gardens: See Wulf 2009, in particular pp. 247–65. One of the gardens that was famous for its large amount of American species was Painshill in Surrey, but Adams and Jefferson visited it separately on another occasion. (TJ, 2 April 1786, TJ Memorandum Book, vol. 1, p. 617; TJ “Notes of a Tour of English Gardens,” March and April 1786, TJ Papers, vol. 9, p. 370; JA Diary, 26 June 1786, 44:12, MHS online.)

  122 John Bartram: Wulf 2009; Berkeley and Smith Berkeley 1992.

  123 American species at Stowe: Wulf and Gieben-Gamal 2005, p. 109; Laird 1999, p. 152.

  124 “We have only to”: TJ, “Jefferson’s Hints to Americans Travelling in Europe,” 19 June 1788, TJ Papers, vol. 13, p. 269.

  125 “rare Shrubbs and Trees”: JA Diary, 24 July 1786, 45:2, MHS online.

  126 American species at The Leasowes: James Woodhouse’s poem “The Leasowes” (1763), quoted in Laird 1999, p. 114.

  127 Hagley and Blenheim: TJ “Notes of a Tour of English Gardens,” March and April 1786, TJ Papers, vol. 9, p. 372.

  128 “the greatest Curiosities”: JA to Thomas Boylston Adams, 29 June 1795, Albany Institute of History and Art.

  129 “far beyond my ideas”: TJ to John Page, 4 May 1786, TJ Papers, vol. 9, p. 445.

  130 “charmd with the beauties”: AA to Elizabeth Smith Shaw, 24 April 1786, APC, vol. 7, p. 149.

  131 “absolutely fruitless”: TJ to Nicholas Lewis, 22 April 1786, TJ Papers, vol. 9, p. 399.