by Andrea Wulf
132 TJ’s shopping in London: TJ Memorandum Book, vol. 1, pp. 614–17, 620–23.
133 Osterley House and Syon House: TJ, 20 April 1786, TJ Memorandum Book, vol. 1, p. 622.
134 “All the Evergreens”: JA Diary, 20 April 1786, 44:9, MHS online; for plants in the shrubberies see Laird 1999, p. 142.
135 “6 weeks have elapsed”: TJ to John Jay, 23 April 1786, TJ Papers, vol. 9, p. 402.
136 “We are young”: TJ to C.W.F. Dumas, 6 May 1786, TJ Papers, vol. 9, p. 463; TJ on mission being futile see TJ to William Carmichael, 5 May 1786, TJ Papers, vol. 9, pp. 448–49.
137 “tedious and expensive”: JA and TJ to John Jay, 25 April 1786, TJ Papers, vol. 9, p. 407; for treaty with Portugal see “Negotiations for a Treaty of Amity and Commerce with Portugal,” March–April 1786, TJ Papers, vol. 9, pp. 410ff.
138 “drop in the bucket”: TJ to William Carmichael, 5 May 1786, TJ Papers, vol. 9, p. 448.
139 United States and Barbary States: Brandt 2006, p. 75.
140 Vineyard nursery: Willson 1982, pp. 35ff.
141 exotics at The Vineyard nursery: Nelson 1983, p. 350; Lady Mary Coke, 26 August 1771, Coke 1970, vol. 3, p. 443; Catalogue of Plants and Seeds, sold by Kennedy and Lee, Nursery and Seedsmen at the Vineyard, 1774.
142 TJ and American species: TJ, 26 April 1785, TJ Memorandum Book, vol. 1, p. 623; for English nurseries and their specialization in American plants, see Wulf 2009, pp. 135–37.
143 TJ and Vineyard nursery: Seed catalogue in LibraryThing: Thomas Jefferson’s Library (online); TJ, 1783 Book Catalogue, MHS; Invoice James Lee & Co, 24 April 1786, Betts 1944, p. 115.
144 plant transport to U.S: TJ to Andrew Limozin, 11 February 1787, TJ Papers, vol. 11, p. 138.
145 “It is now a fashion”: Münchhausen 1770, vol. 5, p. 224.
146 JA garden visits in UK: JA to TJ, 25 June 1786, TJ Papers, vol. 10, p. 86; JA Diary, 26 June and 24 July 1786, 44:12 and 45:1–2, MHS online; AA to Elizabeth Cranch, 18 July 1786, AFC, vol. 7, pp. 256–58; AA to Lucy Cranch, 3 October 1787, AFC, vol. 8, pp. 177–80.
147 JA and Whately’s Observations: AA to Elizabeth Cranch, 18 July 1786, AFC, vol. 7, p. 257; LibraryThing: John Adams’s Library (online).
148 “We wished for your Company”: JA to TJ, 25 June 1786, TJ Papers, vol. 10, p. 86.
149 JA at Thorndon: JA Diary, 24 July 1786, 45:1, MHS online.
150 “Living Pencils”: Peter Collinson to Philip Southcote, 9 October 1752, Armstrong 2002, p. 159; Miller 1739, entry “Wilderness”; and Petre at Thorndon: Philip Southcote on Petre, after 1751, Osborn 1966, vol. 1, point 603; Wulf 2009, pp. 85ff.
151 “when I walk amongst”: Peter Collinson to JB, 1 September 1741, Berkeley and Smith Berkeley 1992, p. 167.
152 “a List of these Trees”: JA Diary, 24 July 1786, 45:2, MHS online.
153 “indifferent to their Beauties”: Ibid.
154 “beauty, Convenience, and”: JA Diary, 20 April 1786, 44:10, MHS online.
155 JA garden visits in UK: JA saw for example Painshill, Thorndon, The Hyde, Blenheim: JA to TJ, 25 June 1786, TJ Papers, vol. 10, p. 68; JA Diary, 26 June and 24 July 1786, 44:12 and 45:1–2, MHS online; AA to Elizabeth Cranch, 18 July 1786, AFC, vol. 7, pp. 256–58; AA to Lucy Cranch, 3 October 1787 AFC, vol. 8, pp. 177–80.
156 TJ’s daily rambles in Bois: TJ to Madame de Corny, 30 June 1787, TJ Papers, vol. 11, p. 509; TJ saw the English gardens at La Chartreuse, Folie de Saint James, Louveciennes, Desert, Bagatelle, TJ Memorandum Book, vol. 1, pp. 573, 628, 638, 639, 712.
157 JA and seeds; lists to U.S.: AA to Thomas Brand Hollis, 5 April 1788; Thomas Brand Hollis to AA, 7 April 1788, AFC, vol. 8, pp. 252–53.
158 “many places”: and following quotes, AA to Elizabeth Cranch, 18 July 1786, AFC, vol. 7, p. 257.
159 “improveing my Garden”: AA to TJ, 26 February 1788, AFC, vol. 8, p. 238.
160 gardens important for Americans: TJ, “Jefferson’s Hints to Americans Travelling in Europe,” 19 June 1788, TJ Papers, vol. 13, p. 269.
161 “surpasses all the”: TJ to John Page, 4 May 1786, TJ Papers, vol. 9, p. 445.
3 “A NURSERY OF AMERICAN STATESMEN”: THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION IN 1787 AND A GARDEN VISIT
1 GW’s arrival: 13 May 1787, Bicentennial Daybook; 13 May 1787, GW Diaries, vol. 5.
2 GW’s journey: GW’s diary from 9–13 May 1787, GW Diaries, vol. 5.
3 Constitutional Convention: Farrand 1911; Bicentennial Daybook; Bowen 1986; Berkin 2002.
4 “every minute you run the risk”: Baron de Montlezun, 13 September 1816, Moffat and Carrière 1945, vol. 42, no. 2, p. 114.
5 “our downfal as a Nation”: GW to Benjamin Harrison, 18 January 1784, GW Papers CS, vol. 1, p. 56.
6 “diplomatic assembly”: JA Defence, Adams 1850–56, vol. 4, p. 579.
7 “threaten to blast”: John Jay to GW, 16 March 1786, GW Papers CS, vol. 3, p. 601.
8 “no bigger than half a piece”: Bowen 1986, p. 13; see also for JM’s appearance and voice Ketcham 1990, pp. 89, 471. Madison’s voice was so quiet that he was often asked to speak up when he gave a speech.
9 “so much mind in so little matter”: Richmond Enquirer, July 1836, in McCoy 1989, p. xiii.
10 “great little Madison”: Dolley Madison, May 1794, in Ketcham 1990, p. 376.
11 “dangerous defects in”: JM to TJ, 4 December 1786, TJ Papers, vol. 10, p. 574.
12 JM ordered books from TJ: JM to TJ, 16 March 1784, TJ Papers, vol. 7, p. 37.
13 JM’s two essays: Morton Smith 1995, vol. 1, pp. 440–41.
14 “a patient bleeding”: JM, Preface to Debates in the Convention of 1787, Farrand 1911, vol. 3, p. 542.
15 “disinterested & dispassionate”: and JM’s preference for strong federal government, JM to GW, 16 April 1787, GW Papers CS, vol. 5, p. 146.
16 JM luring GW away from Mount Vernon: JM to GW, 8 November 1786, 7 December 1786, 21 February 1787, GW Papers CS, vol. 4, pp. 344–45, 448–49; vol. 5, pp. 92–94; JM also visited Mount Vernon several times, for example on 23–25 October 1786 and 25–26 January 1787. (GW, 23 October 1786 and 25 January 1787, GW Diaries, vol. 5, pp. 56, 98; GW to Edmund Randolph, 28 March 1787, GW Papers CS, vol. 5, p. 113; JM to TJ, 23 April 1787, TJ Papers, vol. 11, p. 310.)
17 “National character”: GW to JM, 5 November 1786, GW Papers CS, vol. 4, p. 331.
18 “We are either”: GW to JM, 30 November 1785, GW Papers CS, vol. 3, p. 420.
19 biographical information for the delegates: Berkin 2002, pp. 211–26; Bicentennial Daybook.
20 Husbandmen “the best basis”: JM, “Republican Distribution of Citizens,” National Gazette, 2 March 1792.
21 “degeneracy of America”: Jefferson 1982; Cohen 1995, pp. 72–79; Thomson 2008a, pp. 54–72; Pauly 2007, pp. 20–32; Martin 1952, pp. 162–87.
22 French scientists: These were Comte de Buffon, Abbé Raynal and Cornélius de Pauw.
23 “shrink and diminish”: Buffon, quoted in Martin 1952, p. 157.
24 TJ consulted books: Jefferson 1982, p. 53; TJ to Francis Hopkinson, 14 August 1786, TJ Papers, vol. 10, p. 250; Humphry Marshall was John Bartram’s cousin. Jefferson and Washington both owned a copy of the book and it was dedicated to Franklin, who proudly dispatched it to his friends in France. Botany, Marshall wrote in the introduction, was a subject that demanded “the attention and encouragement of every patriotic and liberal mind.” (Marshall 1785, p. v; BF to Jean-Baptiste Le Roy, 27 March 1786; Duc de La Rochefoucauld to BF, 14 February 1787, BF online.) TJ’s copy: LibraryThing: Thomas Jefferson’s Library (online); TJ, 1783 Book Catalogue, MHS (although dated 1783, TJ continued to add book titles to this catalogue); GW’s copy: LibraryThing: George Washington’s Library (online); BF’s copy: LibraryThing: Benjamin Franklin’s Library (online).
25 “the heaviest weights”: TJ to Thomas Walker, 25 September 1783, TJ Papers, vol. 6, p. 340.
26 “Let both parties rise” and following quotes: TJ to Robert Walsh, 4 December 1818, with Anecdotes about Benjamin Franklin,
DLC.
27 “uncommonly large panther skin”: TJ in conversation with Daniel Webster, December 1824, Webster 1903, vol. 1, p. 371.
28 moose from Vermont: TJ’s correspondence with John Sullivan, 12 March 1784; 7 January 1786; 26 January 1787; 16 April 1787; 5 October 1787; and also TJ to William Stephens Smith, 31 August and 28 September 1787; TJ to Buffon, 1 October 1787, TJ Papers, vol. 12, pp. 71–72, 193–95. The skin and bones of the moose arrived in September 1787 in Paris: TJ Memorandum Book, vol. 1, p. 677.
29 “length of nails”: JM to TJ, 19 June 1786, TJ Papers, vol. 9, p. 663.
30 Notes on the State of Virginia: Jefferson began to compile the Notes in 1781 (as a response to a questionnaire by François de Barbé-Marbois) but quickly turned it into something much larger. He took the manuscript with him to France and printed it in Paris (1785). The first English edition was published during the summer of the Constitutional Convention by the London bookseller John Stockdale. For the English publication: TJ to William Short, 27 March, TJ Papers, vol. 11, p. 246; TJ to John Stockdale, 1 July 1787, TJ Papers, vol. 11, pp. 521–22.
31 “nothing so charming” and following quotes: TJ to Angelica Schuyler Church, 17 February 1788, TJ Papers, vol. 12, p. 601.
32 “despicable dreams” and following quote: JA Defence, Adams 1850–56, vol. 4, p. 293.
33 “larger in America” and list of measurements: Jefferson 1982, pp. 50–52, 53.
34 “could walk under the belly”: TJ in conversation with Daniel Webster, December 1824, Webster 1903, vol. 1, p. 372.
35 mammoth/mastodon in the West: Jefferson 1982, p. 54. The mastodon was in fact extinct. For TJ and the mastodon, see Thomson 2008b, pp. 30–31.
36 plant lists in the Notes: Jefferson 1982, pp. 38–43.
37 wildflowers: The only wildflowers he listed were in the category of medicinal plants.
38 pecan tree: Jefferson 1982, p. 39.
39 “procure and send”: TJ to JM, 8 February 1786, TJ Papers, vol. 9, p. 267.
40 JM sent pecan nuts: JM to TJ, 19 March and 15 May 1787, TJ Papers, vol. 11, pp. 219, 363.
41 “plant as soon”: GW to George Augustine Washington, 27 May 1787, GW Papers CS, vol. 5, p. 197.
42 “une assemblée des notables”: BF to Thomas Jordan, 18 May 1786, BF online.
43 “purely patriotic”: Richard Peters quoted in Fletcher 1976, p. 9.
44 “every State in the Union”: GW to James Warren, 7 October 1785, GW Papers CS, vol. 3, p. 300; see also GW to William Drayton, 25 March 1786, GW Papers CS, vol. 3, p. 605; TJ to William Drayton, 6 May 1785, TJ Papers, vol. 9, p. 461.
45 delegates and agricultural society in Philadelphia: The other two were Robert Morris and James Wilson—all founding members of the society, Baatz 1985, p. 7.
46 delegates and agricultural society in South Carolina: Charles Cotesworth Pinckney and John Rutledge, TJ to Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, 8 October 1792, TJ Papers, vol. 24, p. 451; Haw 1997, p. 180.
47 Caleb Strong: The Foundation of the Massachusetts Professorship of Natural History, 1805, p. 17.
48 George Mason and Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer: GW, 29 March and 12 November 1785, GW Diaries, vol. 4, pp. 109, 222; Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer to GW, 28 February 1785, GW Papers CS, vol. 2, p. 397.
49 George Wythe: George Wythe to TJ, 9 March 1770, TJ Papers, vol. 1, p. 38; TJ to George Wythe, 13 June 1790, TJ Papers, vol. 16, p. 495.
50 “fine Gardens”: JA Diary, 12 September 1774, 22:9, MHS online.
51 Robert Morris: TJ to John Bartram Jr., 27 January 1786, TJ Papers, vol. 9, pp. 228–30; Manasseh Cutler, 13 July 1787, Cutler 1888, vol. 1, p. 257.
52 Mason quizzed Williamson: George Mason to GW, 7 October 1787, GW Papers CS, vol. 5, p. 356.
53 “as far as I”: JM to JM Sr., 28 July 1787, JM Papers, vol. 10, p. 119.
54 Morris asked GW for plough: GW to George Augustine Washington, 26 August 1787, GW Papers CS, vol. 5, p. 304.
55 GW voted president of Convention: GW, 25 May 1787, GW Diaries, vol. 5, p. 162.
56 JM at Convention: James Madison, Debates in the Federal Convention, 1830–36, Peterson 1974, p. 131.
57 “almost killed”: JM quoted in Ketcham 1990, p. 207.
58 Madison “the best informed”: William Pierce, Character Sketches of Delegates to the Federal Convention, Farrand 1911, vol. 3, p. 94.
59 guards and sealed windows: GW, 28 May 1787, GW Diaries, vol. 5, p. 163; George Wythe, 29 May 1787, Bicentennial Daybook.
60 “show that we have not Wisdom”: BF to TJ, 19 April 1787, TJ Papers, vol. 11, p. 302.
61 JA’s Defence in Philadelphia: JM to TJ, 6 June 1787, TJ Papers, vol. 11, pp. 401–02; Richard Cranch to JA, 24 May 1787, AFC, vol. 8, pp. 59–60; Pennsylvania Gazette advertised the publication on 6 June 1787; William Samuel Johnson purchased the book 27 June 1787, Bicentennial Daybook; Jefferson also praised it, TJ to JA, 23 February 1787, TJ Papers, vol. 11, p. 177; Benjamin Rush said it provided “excellent principles” to the delegates, Benjamin Rush to Richard Price, 2 June 1787, Farrand 1911, vol. 3, p. 33.
62 “All Nature’s difference”: JA Defence, Adams 1850–56, vol. 4, p. 271.
63 “checking one power”: Ibid., p. 391.
64 three branches of government: 30 May 1787, Farrand 1911, vol. 1, p. 30.
65 two houses of legislature: 31 May 1787, Farrand 1911, vol. 1, pp. 45–47.
66 slaves as three-fifths of a person: 11 June 1787, Farrand 1911, vol. 1, p. 201; voting on three-fifths clause: 11 June and 13 July 1787, Farrand 1911, vol. 1, pp. 195, 600.
67 long speeches: Alexander Hamilton’s speech, 18 June 1787, and Luther Martin’s speech, 27 June 1787.
68 “We move slowly”: William Richardson Davie to Governor Caswell, 17 June 1787, Bicentennial Daybook.
69 “still in such a stage”: John Lansing to Phillip Schuyler, 26 June 1787, Bicentennial Daybook.
70 gravel on street: 22 June 1787, Bicentennial Daybook.
71 “on almost every Question”: BF, Dr. Franklin’s Motion for Prayers in the Convention, 28 June 1787, BF online.
72 delegates at BF’s garden: Manasseh Cutler, 13 July 1787, Cutler 1888, vol. 1, pp. 267–68.
73 BF’s garden: BF to Mary Stevenson Hewson, 6 May 1786, BF online; Carr 1868, p. 59.
74 “private Amusements”: BF to Mary Stevenson Hewson, 6 May 1786, BF online.
75 BF and botany and botanical books: Manasseh Cutler, 13 July 1787, Cutler 1888, vol. 1, pp. 269–70.
76 BF’s gardener: This was William Rees. BF Wastebook, 1785–87, 8 May 1786, APS. For Rees’s work in the State House garden, see Coxe Toogood 2004, vol. 1, pp. 74, 76, 90.
77 work in BF’s garden and seeds from Bartram: BF Wastebook, 1785–87, 8 May, 15 June, and 9 December 1786, APS.
78 GW and excursions outside Philadelphia: GW, 20 May, 17 June, 26 August, 31 August 1787, GW Diaries, vol. 5, pp. 159, 170, 182; and Jacob Hiltzheimer, 3 July 1787, Hiltzheimer 1892, p. 173.
79 “see the effect”: GW, 10 June 1787, GW Diaries, vol. 5, p. 167; GW testing plaster of Paris at Mount Vernon, GW, 9 March, 8, 26 April, 7 May 1785, GW Diaries, vol. 4, pp. 100, 115, 135.
80 GW at vineyard: GW, 22 July 1787, GW Diaries, vol. 5, p. 177.
81 “sturdy farmer”: Henry Woodmann, 31 July 1787, Bicentennial Daybook.
82 deadlock over one-state-one-vote: On 2 July the state delegations voted on the one-state-one-vote issue with five “ayes” and five “nos.” Georgia’s vote didn’t count because the delegation was divided. (2 July 1787, Farrand 1911, vol. 1, p. 510.)
83 GW at Agricultural Society: GW, 3 July 1787, GW Diaries, vol. 5, p. 173; for a description of the display in Carpenter’s Hall see Manasseh Cutler, 14 July 1787, Cutler 1888, vol. 1, pp. 281–82.
84 GW’s notes on harvest: GW to George Augustine Washington, 3 June 1787, GW Papers CS, vol. 5, p. 217.
85 GW’s Sunday farm letters: See correspondence between GW and George Augustine Washington during the Constitutional Convention.
/> 86 dining room at Mount Vernon: GW to George Augustine Washington, 1 July 1787, GW Papers CS, vol. 5, p. 243.
87 agricultural motifs in dining room: GW to John Rawlins, 13 April 1787; GW to George Augustine Washington, 1 July 1787, GW Papers CS, vol. 5, pp. 141, 243.
88 mantelpiece with agricultural ornaments: Samuel Vaughan had given Washington the marble mantelpiece as a present. (GW to Samuel Vaughan, 6 April 1784 and 5 February 1785, GW Papers CS, vol. 1, p. 273; vol. 2, p. 326.)
89 Philadelphia and garden estates: O’Malley 1991, p. 268; McLean 1983, pp. 136–47.
90 visits to Gray’s Ferry tavern: Jacob Hiltzheimer, 17 July 1787, Hiltzheimer 1892, p. 173; for other visits see GW, 18 May 1787, 26 June, 17 July 1787, 2 September 1787, GW Diaries, vol. 5, pp. 158, 171, 176, 183; Manasseh Cutler, 14 July 1787, Cutler 1888, vol. 1, pp. 274–78.
91 garden at Gray’s Ferry tavern: Manasseh Cutler, 14 July 1787, Cutler 1888, vol. 1, pp. 274–78.
92 Vaughan and the State House garden: Manasseh Cutler, 13 July 1787, Cutler 1888, vol. 1, pp. 262–63; Coxe Toogood 2004, vol. 1, pp. 72–89; Stetson 1949, pp. 465–66.
93 “pensive wandering”: John Swanwick, “On a Walk in the State House Yard,” June 30, 1787, quoted in Coxe Toogood 2004, vol. 1, p. 112; for other visitors: GW, 2 July 1787, GW Diaries, vol. 5, p. 173; James McHenry to Peggy McHenry, 26 August 1787, Bicentennial Daybook.
94 “compose their thoughts”: Wansey 1798, p. 118.
95 State House garden: Columbian Magazine, vol. 1, July 1787, p. 513; Manasseh Cutler, 13 July 1787, Cutler 1888, vol. 1, pp. 262–63; many of the native species in the State House Garden had been supplied by Bartram: Bartram’s plant bills 7 April 1786 and 15 April 1786, Coxe Toogood 2004, vol. 1, pp. 85–86; John Bartram House and Garden, HALS No. PA-1, pp. 50–51.
96 excursions to The Woodlands: GW, 23 May 1787, GW Diaries, vol. 5, p. 160; and for descriptions of The Woodlands: Betts 1979, pp. 224–26; McLean 1983, pp. 142–43.
97 correspondence with Peters: See GW to Richard Peters, 4 March 1788; Richard Peters to GW, 12 March 1788, GW Papers CS, vol. 6, pp. 142–43, 154–55; Richard Peters to JM, 30 July and 24 August 1818; JM to Richard Peters, 15 August 1818, 22 February and 4 November 1819, JM Papers RS, vol. 1, pp. 320–21, 345–47, 349–51, 422–23, 543–44.