Documentary History of the Construction of the Buildings at the University of Virginia, 1817-1828

A month to the day after he sent his grand-son-in-law the specifications for the Rotunda's
clock and bell, Jefferson received a letter from Professor John Patton Emmet regarding his
experimental chemistry classes in Pavilion I. "I speak feelingly," Emmet explained, "When I
say that even a Small furnace, when in operation, makes my room oppressively hot, &
myself even more so, for from its necessary position, I am compelled, almost to Sit upon it.
You have determined that the room originally intended for me, should be fitted for a
museum, and with great propriety, for a chemical Laboratory would ruin any room in the
Rotunda." Emmet ventured to correct what he considered a deplorable situation by
submitting to Jefferson his sketch of a "lecturing room & Laboratory," separating into two
rooms the lecture hall and the laboratory "Apparatus" for conducting experiments. After
making an appeal in favor of the students' best interest and of the usefulness of the "great
Character of Chemistry" for society, the professor, with what must be described as faultless
Jeffersonian logic, asserted that his design ("drawn up without any reference to a Scale")
could "accommodate a full Class; being persuaded that if the measure be at all worthy of
your Consideration, it is the best economy to build it ample." Moreover, Emmet indicated
that a store room, "always useful in holding Supplies," could be built over the laboratory
room.[698]

What Jefferson thought of Emmet's plan is unknown but the university's precarious financial
situation did not permit the undertaking of any unexpected major structures at this time. By
June it was decided to allow the professor to set up his laboratory in the small room of the
Rotunda's basement (or ground floor) but the doctor quickly complained that the "want of
room & light" thwarted his purpose and demanded the two large oval rooms of the same
floor.[699] Jefferson consented even though it meant relocating the proposed museum to one
of the upper oval rooms.[700] The laboratory's Rotunda location was still incomplete at
year's end, however, when Emmet, visiting his home in New York City, wrote
Brockenbrough that he was anxious that the state of the room "should be looked to—the
tin-man promised most seriously to have the stove-pipe made & put up—as well as the
dampers, grate-doors &c—In raising the Stove pipes—let him secure the hanging shelf with
Sheet iron—he may then fasten the pipe to the Shelf."[701] Incidentally, Professor Emmet's
house, Pavilion I on the west lawn, still awaited completion at that time, apparently owing to
James Oldham's disagreement with the proctor and the carpenter's lawsuit against the
university. "My dear Sir," Emmet also pleaded with the proctor, "I must here, while there is
time, beg you to set my House in some order—I confidently expect, from your own promise,
to find the garret stair-case finished & the Kitchen & cellar room plaistered."

[698]

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]

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]

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]

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).

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