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

Buoyed by the prospects of at long last purchasing land for the college, Jefferson
meanwhile, in mid-April, had contacted two master housejoiners who crafted much of the
fine woodwork during the remodelling of Monticello, James Dinsmore and John Neilson, to
offer them employment.[39] "We are about to establish a College near Charlottesville on the
lands formerly Colo. Monroe's, a mile above the town," Jefferson informed Dinsmore. "We
do not propose to erect a single grand building, but to form a square of perhaps 200 yards,
and to arrange around that pavilions of about 24. by 36. f. one for every professorship & his
school. they are to be of various forms, models of chaste architecture, as examples for the
school of architecture to be formed on." Although the projected dimensions of the square
had been reduced considerably from the size indicated in Jefferson's August 1814 drawing,
and he had added the reference to "models of chaste architecture" that he returned to time
and again, the plan remained faithful to Jefferson's original intentions not to include a large
building, and of spacing pavilions on all but the open sides of the square.

We shall build one [pavilion] only in the latter end of this year, and go on with
others year after year, as our funds increase. . . . I suppose the superintendance
of the buildings will rest chiefly on myself as most convenient. so far as it does
I should wish to commit it to yourself and mr Nelson, and while little is called
for this year which might disturb your present engagements, it will open a great
field of future employment for you. will you undertake it? if you will, be so
good as to let me hear from you as soon as you can, and I would rather wish it
to be before the 6th. of May. there is a person here who wishes to offer you two
very fine boys, his sons, as apprentices; but on this nothing need be said until
you determine to come.[40]

Dinsmore, working in Petersburg with Neilson, wrote a reply to Jefferson nine days later,
thanking his former employer for the "Continued attention to my Interests," and accepting
Jefferson's proposal "with pleasure . . . as I prefer that Neighbourhood to any I have yet
lived in tho in a pecuniary point of view this is the preferable place—we expect to finish our
present engagements here in about two months but if it is Necessary I Should have no
objection to make a trip up there at any time Called on—it is probable Mr Neilson will also
move up the Country when we finish here—"[41]

[39]

39. For the extensive building and architectural legacy that James Dinsmore (c. 1771-1830)
and John Neilson (c. 1775-1827) left in the Virginia Piedmont, see Lay, "Charlottesville's
Architectural Legacy," Magazine of Albemarle County History, 46:32-40, Lay, "Dinsmore
and Neilson: Jefferson's Master Builders," Colonnade, 6 (Spring 1991), 9-13, Cote, "The
Architectural Workmen of Thomas Jefferson in Virginia," 21-28, 71-72, 84-90, 93, and Lay,
"Jefferson's Master Builders," University of Virginia Alumni News, 80 (October 1991),
16-19. Both men were born in Northern Ireland and began working for Jefferson shortly
after becoming naturalized citizens in Philadelphia, Dinsmore in 1798 and Neilson in 1804.
Dinsmore executed the carpentry work at Pavilions III and V and, with John M. Perry,
Pavilion VIII; Neilson the same at Pavilion IX; and the partnership of Dinsmore & Neilson
performed the carpentry work at both the Rotunda and the Anatomical Hall (ViU:PP,
Ledgers 1 and 2). Both men met untimely deaths not long after completing their work at the
university; and material relating to their estates and families can be found in the ViU:
George Carr Papers.

[40]

40. TJ to James Dinsmore, 13 April 1817, ViU:TJ.

[41]

41. Dinsmore to Thomas Jefferson, 22 April 1817, ViU:TJ. Jefferson's overseer Edmund
Bacon recalled in 1862 that James Dinsmore lived with Jefferson "a good many years" and
"was the most ingenious hand to work with wood I ever knew. He could make anything. He
made a great deal of nice mahogany furniture, helped make the carriage, worked on the
University, and could do any kind of fine work that was wanted" (Bear, Jefferson at
Monticello, 70).

University of Virginia Library

Dinsmore and Neilson