 | Documentary History of the Construction of the Buildings at the University
of Virginia, 1817-1828 |  |
Notes
Chapter 10
669. See TJ to Joseph Carrington Cabell, 11 January 1825, in ViU:TJ; see also Cabell, Early
History of the University of Virginia, 330-32, and Randolph, Memoir, Correspondence, and
Miscellanies, from the Papers of Thomas Jefferson, 4:411-12.
670. Brockenbrough was in "utmost distress" for the $5,000 by mid-January, and the
university borrowed the money from a Richmond bank so that it could meet the obligation.
See TJ to Joseph Carrington Cabell, 19 January 1825, in ViU:TJ, and Brockenbrough's
Statement of Funds, 4 March 1825, in ViU:PP; see also Cabell, Early History of the
University of Virginia, 334, and O'Neal, Jefferson's Buildings at the University of Virginia:
The Rotunda, 34.
671. Jefferson estimated that the Anatomical Hall would "take 4,000 bricks for every foot of
it's height from the foundation to the roof" (TJ to Brockenbrough, 9 March 1825, ViU:PP).
The Board of Visitors at their meeting on 4-5 March 1825 resolved to build the Anatomical
Hall "as nearly as may be on the plan now exhibited to the board" (ViU:TJ; see also
Lipscomb and Bergh, Writings of Thomas Jefferson, 19:361-499, and TJ to Brockenbrough,
9 March 1825, in ViU:PP). Jefferson apparently drew the elevation and plans for the
Anatomical Hall (located in ViU:TJ) in February 1825 (see Sherwood and Lasala,
"Education and Architecture: The Evolution of the University of Virginia's Academical
Village," in Wilson, Thomas Jefferson's Academical Village, 44-45, and #365 in Nichols,
Thomas Jefferson's Architectural Drawings).
672. TJ to Joseph Carrington Cabell, 11 January 1825, in ViU:TJ; see also Lipscomb and
Bergh, Writings of Thomas Jefferson, 16:97-100.
673. Dinsmore & Neilson to Brockenbrough, 5 March 1825, ViU:PP; see also
Brockenbrough's Statement of Funds, 4 March 1825, in ViU:PP.
675. See TJ's Statement of University Funds, 15 March, in ViU:TJ, and TJ to the Board of
Visitors, 15 April 1825, in ViU:JHC, ViU:JCC, and DLC:JM; see also Cabell, Early History
of the University of Virginia, 348-50. TJ's draft of the letter to the Board of Visitors is dated
16 April (DLC:TJ). On 5 March the Board of Visitors resolved to advance the $6,000 to the
university's building fund "for the purpose of finishing the interior of the library room
(Board of Visitors Minutes, that date, ViU:TJ; see also O'Neal, Jefferson's Buildings at the
University of Virginia: The Rotunda, 34.
676. For the opening of the university and its operation until the time of Jefferson's death in
1826, see Malone, Jefferson and His Time: The Sage of Monticello, 411-25, 483-88.
677. TJ to Cabell, 11 January 1825, ViU:TJ; see also Cabell, Early History of the University
of Virginia, 330-32, and Lipscomb and Bergh, Writings of Thomas Jefferson, 16:97-100. On
9 January Jefferson sent Brockenbrough instructions to insert the advertisement in the
Richmond and Fredericksburg papers (ViU:PP). When writing to Brockenbrough on 11
January to inform him that he was sending from Richmond the "Books & Instruments,
imported by Gilmer, for the University," Bernard Peyton said that the "other three Professors
have not yet arrived, nor are they heard from" (ViU:PP).
678. See Cabell to TJ, 30 January 1825, in DLC:TJ; see also Cabell, Early History of the
University of Virginia, 336-37, and Malone, Jefferson and His Time: The Sage of
Monticello, 413.
679. See Robley Dunglison to TJ, 10 February 1825, in Dorsey, Jefferson-Dunglison
Letters, 11, the Richmond Enquirer, 17 February 1825, and Cabell to TJ, 18 February 1825,
in ViU:JCC; see also Cabell, Early History of the University of Virginia, 346-47, and
Malone, Jefferson and His Time: The Sage of Monticello, 6:413. Bernard Peyton wrote to
Brockenbrough on 16 February to say that wagoner William Mills was headed for the
university with "thirteen boxes, three trunks, two baskets, one bundle & one small leather
trunk" belonging to professors (ViU:PP). Two more loads of the professors' possessions
were delivered to the university by wagoners Abraham Danner and Robert Hanna (see
Peyton to Brockenbrough, 24, 26 February, in ViU:PP). Simeon B. Chapman, who was to
manage Hotel A, told Brockenbrough in a letter of 22 February that "I have several times
seen & am pleased with the professors now at this city I am detained necessaryly at this
place a few days longer than I expected . . . The Weather here has been such dureing the
greater part of the last 2 weaks that it has been almost impossiable to attend to any kind of
Business, I hope it has not been the case at the U.V." (ViU:PP).
680. For this notice, dated 16 February and signed by Brockenbrough, see the Richmond
Enquirer, 22 February 1825.
681. TJ to Brockenbrough, Notice to Students, 7 March 1825, ViU:PP. Jefferson instructed
the proctor to have the notice printed in the Charlottesville, Richmond, and Washington
papers.
682. See John Van Lew & Co. to Brockenbrough, 28 February 1825, in ViU:PP. Bernard
Peyton wrote to Brockenbrough on 2 March to inform that "the present incumbent of the
Washington Tavern (Mr. Archibald Robertson) is about to discontinue it, & is desirous of
disposing of some thirty Beds & Mattrasses on reasonable terms" (ViU:PP). In April
Brockenbrough ordered stock locks, closet locks, bells and bell pulls, Venetian tassals,
"Japand Norfolk Latches," copper wire, and tin plate from John Van Lew & Co. (John Van
Lew & Co. to Brockenbrough, 19-25 April 1825, ViU:PP).
683. TJ to Coolidge, 12 April 1825, ViU:TJ. Joseph Coolidge, Jr. (d. 1879), married
Jefferson's favorite granddaughter, Eleanora Wayles Randolph (Ellen; d. 1876), in the
drawing room of Monticello on 27 May 1825.
684. See Brockenbrough's Balance Sheet, 31 March, and Nathaniel Chamberlain's Loose
Receipts, 22 March, 6 April 1825, in ViU:PP.
688. TJ to Brockenbrough, 16 March 1825, ViU:PP. John Loudon McAdam (1756-1836),
who was born in Scotland, was a prominent New York Loyalist merchant who became
well-known for his crushed-rock method of road paving. Mcadamized roads became an
important feature of the American landscape by the time of the War Between the States. See
Spiro, "John Loudon McAdam in Revolutionary New York," New York Historical Society
Quarterly, 40 (1956), 28-54.
689. Thomas Brockenbrough to Brockenbrough, 4 June 1825, ViU:PP. Thomas
Brockenbrough told his brother that "I have made enquiry of several Mechanicks about the
Sledge hammers on the McAdam road making system, and none of them appear to know
what kind they are--Hutcheson and Humes both say if they had a proper description of them
they should be immediately made--Will you please give a sketch of them."
691. Committee of superintendence member John Hartwell Cocke explicitly directed the
proctor to use the hired labor to finish "compleating the McAdam ways" on 16 April 1826
(ViU:TJ), and Brockenbrough wrote to Cocke on 20 August 1826 to inform him that "the
McAdamizing of the cross streets will be finished in a day or two . . . I intend to have
another coat of Metal put over such parts of streets as require it" (ViU:JHC). John Patterson
of Pikesville, Maryland, on 7 June 1826 answered a query from Brockenbrough about the
McAdams "manner of making roads": "McAdam's plan has been adopted as nearly as the
prejudices of our road makers & managers would permit. And it is simply to break the stone
very fine, lay it on the bed of the road well shaped to let the water pass from it on the sides
into ditched drains. The only road that has been constructed in this state on these principles,
is the Boonsborough road about 12 miles in length, it was done under the direction of
McCorman, & is Said to be a perfect Specimen of excellent Workmanship-- "as to the Stone
or Metal. Our practice is to break it with hammers at 6 lbs [drawing] 3 to 4 feet of this shape
the breakers standing up & the handles somewhat longer than those of the common axes in
use with you. The stones (as I have found by a close attention to the thorough repair, or
rather renewal of 10 miles of the Rastenstown Turnpike,) are small enough to make a
smooth & firm road, when they will pass thro a reng [renge; a sieve or strainer] of two & a
half inches diameter; they are broken by the perch, what we call the Masons perch 24 feet 9
inches solid measure. The price of breaking varies according to the hardness of the Stone.
For instance. The white flint, or quartz that abounds in the vicinage of the University could
be broken here for 15 cents a perch And the black hard Stone on the river between Moores
Creek & Milton would cost 60 cents a perch. A road as firm & as durable & as smooth can
be made of the flint, as of the other. A skilful stone breaker can break 5 or 6 perches of flint
in a day, & of the other in proportion to the price. "To confine the metal at the edges when
put on the road a shoulder of Earth must be thrown up sufficient[l]y wide, and compact to
retain it as thus [drawing] Stone earth.--Our turnpike has twenty feet of broken stone in the
center, from 15 to 20 of earth on the sides when properly done-- "The breaking of Stone is a
trade & with the people you will have to employ, the Same results can not be looked for, as
we can attain here where we have been so long in the practice of the art-- "I would
recommend that you use the white flint stone rejecting all yellow flint or such as on
examination, seems proble or Apt to break into Sand with a Stroke of the hammer, The red
angellaceous stone that you have, would grind into mud, & sand Stone is utterly unfit for the
purpose-- "After preparing the bed of the road, put on the metal at three different times, it
will require patience, for before the travel shall have made it smooth there will be great
complaints of its loose, sharp & ugly looks, time however will prove its fitness--have the
tracks made by wheels carefully raked smooth, that they may not be tempted to continue in
one track, that would retain the water & injure the road--I sent to Genl Cocke some years
since McAdams' book on the subject of road making, you would find many useful
suggestions in it" (ViU:PP).
692. TJ to Coolidge, 12 April 1825, ViU:TJ. In the summer of 1832 the university
purchased for $500 a slaved named Lewis Commodore to serve as bell ringer and janitor.
Anatomical Lewis, as he became known, was the subject of a Board of Visitors resolution
on 27 June 1846: "Lewis Commodore the faithful and valuable servant of this University,
with the exception of Drunkeness, which had well nigh ruined him, having seen his error, &
for five months last past, maintained the steady and consistent course of a reformed man"
(ViU:TJ). William Spinner served as janitor in 1826 and a Mr. Brockman in 1827 and 1828
(see Spinner's Loose Receipt, 11 February 1826, and Brockman's Loose Receipts, 12, 21
February, 8 May, 4 September, 18 October, and 5 December 1827, 24 January, 5 February,
24 July, 8 October, and 3 November 1828, all in ViU:PP).
694. Joseph Coolidge, Jr., and Ellen Wayles Randolph Coolidge to TJ, 5 August 1825,
ViU:TJ. Jefferson's docket on the letter reads in part "recd. Sep. 2." Coolidge said that "Mr
Willard is universally reputed a very honest and ingenious man; and, besides many
instruments for the University at Cambridge, has made the clock in the Representatives'
Chamber, at washington, and one for New York; both of which are highly spoken of."
Coolidge also told Jefferson that Willard, "to whom, when at washington, you, yourself, Sir,
granted several patents for improvements in horometry," was "the best clock-maker" in
Boston. Simon Willard (1753-1848) was the more important member of a famous
Massachusetts family of clockmakers that included brothers Benjamin (1743-1803) and
Aaron (1757-1844). The Williards specialized in making "'banjo' clocks, with a circular top,
narrow trunk, and wide rectangular base" (Baillie, Watchmakers and Clockmakers of the
World, 382).
695. See Board of Visitors Minutes, 7 April 1826, in PPAmP:UVA Minutes, TJ to Joseph
Coolidge, Jr., 4, 15, 22 June 1826, Coolidge to TJ, 15 June 1826, in ViU:TJ, TJ to
Brockenbrough, ca May 1826, in DLC:TJ, 22 June 1826, in ViU:PP, Coolidge to
Brockenbrough, 7, 25 August, 3 October 1826, in ViU:PP, Coolidge to Alexander Garrett, 7
August, in ViU:PP, Brockenbrough to Henry A. S. Dearborn, 10 July 1826, in ViU:#9927,
Dearborn to Brockenbrough, 17 July, 24 September 1826, in ViU:PP, and Coolidge to John
Hartwell Cocke, 31 October 1826, in ViU:JHC.
696. See TJ to Brockenbrough, 3 January 1826. Jefferson wrote Thomas Voight of
Philadelphia on 21 September 1825 to inquire about both the permanent "large clock and
bell, such an one as may be heard 2. miles distinctly and habitually," and an "8. day clock in
a mahogany case neat, without expensive ornaments, but of excellent workmanship and a
loud bell" (ViU:TJ). Voight passed Jefferson's request on to Coleman Sellers who in turn
gave it to Joseph Saxton, the "first rate workman" at Isaiah Luken's machinist shop at 173
High Street in Philadelphia, who submitted a bid to the proctor that was rejected because of
its high price (Sellers and Saxton to Brockenbrough, 4 October, in ViU:PP, and TJ to Joseph
Coolidge, Jr., 13 October 1825, MHi:TJ; see also Lipscomb and Bergh, Writings of Thomas
Jefferson, 18:342-46). Benjamin Waterhouse wrote Jefferson from Cambridge,
Massachusetts on 22 October 1825 to explain the mechanics of Simon Willard's clock and
bell system and to suggest the possibility of substituting for the bell a "Chinese Goonge" in
order to save money (DLC:TJ), and Jefferson informed his granddaughter on 14 November
that "you may assure the old gentleman [Willard] from me that he shall have the making of
it [the clock]" (TJ to Ellen Wayles Randolph Coolidge, ViU:TJ; see also Betts and Bear,
Family Letters of Thomas Jefferson, 460-63). Bernard Peyton informed Brockenbrough on
19 October that he could obtain a clock "with a plain Mahogony case" for $75 (ViU:PP),
and on 26 October Peyton wrote again to say that he had ordered the temporary clock, to be
made "of the best materials, except the case, which is to be Pine, or some other cheap wood,
& got read as speedily as possible, say in a month" (ViU:PP). The temporary clock, placed
onboard Captain Thompson Payne's boat at Richmond on 13 February, arrived at Shadwell
by 7 March 1826 (see Bernard Peyton to Brockenbrough, 10 March 1826, in ViU:PP).
697. The history of the bell is taken from the Charlottesville Daily Progress, 25 November
1964. The old bell was stored in one of the Rotunda's coal cellars and, sometime previous to
the fire of 1895, moved to Brooks Hall. "Between 1895 and 1948," the paper also stated,
"the identity of the bell had become obscured. It came to be regarded as a copy of the
original bell. During renovation of the Brooks Museum in 1948, the bell was removed to the
basement of the Bayly Memorial Museum. It was once again removed in 1956 to make
room for classes. It was the last move to Clark Hall that apparently went unrecorded. The
bell had been forgotten and was considered lost." Architectural students Peter Hodson and
Calder Loth discovered the bell in a "subterranean hiding place . . . resting between two lead
statues of Greek maidens" in November 1964 and it was returned to the Rotunda to be
placed on permanent display on 1 December 1964.
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. 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. 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. 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).
703. TJ to Brockenbrough, 7 June 1825, ViU:PP; see also O'Neal, Jefferson's Buildings at
the University of Virginia: The Rotunda, 36. The "beautiful form of a balluster" has not been
identified but see #17-14 in Lasala, "Thomas Jefferson's Designs for the University of
Virginia." Jefferson informed his granddaughter Ellen Wayles Randolph Coolidge on 27
August that his health had prevented him from stepping out of is house for several weeks
past "except to take the turn of the Roundabout twice; nor have of any definite prospect
when it will be otherwise" (ViU:TJ; see also Lipscomb and Bergh, Writings of Thomas
Jefferson, 18:340-42). On 13 October Jefferson informed Ellen's husband Joseph Coolidge,
Jr., that "I had sensibly improved, insomuch as to be able to ride 2. or 3. miles a day, in a
carriage, and on our level Roundabouts. but going backwards and forwards on the rough
roads to the University for five days successively, has brought on me again a great degree of
sufferance, which some days of rest and recumbence will, I hope, relieve" (MHi:TJ).
704. Brockenbrough to TJ, 9 June 1825, ViU:PP; see also O'Neal, Jefferson's Buildings at
the University of Virginia: The Rotunda, 36. Brockenbrough wrote John Hartwell Cocke on
20 August 1826: "I find D & Neilson will not be able to get up the hand rail & Balasters to
the Stairs so as to secure the room in a fortnight from this agreeable to their own acct.--if we
are to be governed by their former promises and engagements, it will probably be double
that time--there are a sufficiency of Book cases made to begin with and as it will take some
four or five weeks to get them in place, perhaps it would be better that a temporary partition
be put up at the head of the Stairs, if you approve of this plan, you can direct D & N. to have
it done" (ViU:JHC). Jefferson wrote Brockenbrough on 3 January 1826 that "it is high time
to have our bookcases in hand" (ViU:PP).
705. Sturtevant to Brockenbrough, 18 June 1825, ViU:PP. Sturtevant said that the size of the
composite capitals was "14¾ inches at the Smallest Part of the Collum"; Brockenbrough
wrote a more detailed description of their sizes on the document's verso on 14 July after
consulting with housejoiner John Neilson. Sturtevant wrote on 26 February to inform the
proctor that he hoped to have "a parte of the Capitals Ready the 19 or 20 of March and the
Ballance alonge as fast as you will Probely Get them up in waggons if you Should Know of
any in the neabourhood you will Pleas ask them to Call about that time" (ViU:PP). When
Bernard Peyton wrote Brockenbrough on 19 April 1826, he informed the proctor that "I
cald. on Sturtevant about the Wooden Capitals, who tells me they will be done on friday
next, & that some person had cald. for them, if they are not forwarded by this person,
whoever he may be, I will send them forward by the next Boat, with a charge to keep them
dry as you wish" (ViU:PP). Maine pine lumber was exported as far south as Alexandria by
former Revolutionary War Major General Benjamin Lincoln during the 1780s (see Mattern,
Benjamin Lincoln and the American Revolution, 151-52).
706. Sturtevant to Brockenbrough, 5 November 1826, ViU:PP. By mid-July 1826 Sturtevant
had earned $700 for carving capitals (see Sturtevant to Brockenbrough, 13 July 1826, in
ViU:PP).
708. Coffee to Brockenbrough, 12 July 1825, ViU:PP. The drawings for the interior
ornaments of the Rotunda apparently have not survived (see #17-16 in Lasala, "Thomas
Jefferson's Designs for the University"), although John Neilson's undated Architectural
Detail of a Modillion Block is in ViU:PP. Lasala calls Neilson's drawing "the only known
drawing to have survived showing a detail of one of the classical features at the University
of Virginia" (#17-15).
710. See TJ to Brockenbrough, 24 July, and Coffee to Brockenbrough, 26 July, 4, 25
September, in ViU:PP, Coffee to TJ, 19 August, in DLC:TJ, and Brockenbrough to TJ, 1
October 1825, in ViU:PP; see also Brockenbrough's undated Memorandum of Frieze
Ornaments for the Rotunda, and TJ to the Board of Visitors, 12 October 1825, in ViU:PP,
and O'Neal, Jefferson's Buildings at the University of Virginia: The Rotunda, 36-37, 41-43.
711. Jefferson informed Joseph Carrington Cabell on 4 February 1826 that the library "must
remain unopened until the room is ready, which unfortunately cannot be till the season will
admit of plaistering" (ViU:JCC; see also Cabell, Early History of the University of Virginia,
363-64). John Hartwell Cocke and Alexander Garrett's Demands of the Resources of the
University, 31 May 1826, shows a charge of $250 for the "Cost of Plaistering" the library
room (DLC:TJ).
712. Brockenbrough to TJ, 27 June 1825, ViU:PP. The proctor's address on the
letter indicates that a servant named "John" took the letter to Monticello and
returned with Jefferson's reply.
713. TJ to Brockenbrough, 27 June 1825, ViU:PP. John Hartwell Cocke and Alexander
Garrett's Demands of the Resources of the University, 31 May 1826, shows that $40.25 was
owed on "Stables" (DLC:TJ).
714. Dunglison to Brockenbrough, 8 September 1826, ViU:PP; see also Sherwood and
Lasala, in "Education and Architecture: The Evolution of the University of Virginia's
Academical Village," in Wilson, Thomas Jefferson's Academical Village, 44. One Bremo
slave, Nelson, apparently worked as a "stable servant" and gardener for professor Dunglison
following his removal from house service in the professor's pavilion because of "his
inability to do his duties," and General Cocke seems to have rented slaves to some of the
other professors as well (Dunglison to John Hartwell Cocke, 25 December 1826, ViU:JHC).
720. See TJ to the Board of Visitors, 12 October 1825, ViU:PP, Brockenbrough's Statement
of the Debts and Resources of the University as of 1 October 1826, in his letter to the Rector
and Board of Visitors, 11 December 1826, and Nicholas P. W. Trist to Brockenbrough, with
enclosure, Questions and Answers, 1826, in ViU:PP.
722. TJ and Brockenbrough, Queries and Answers, 19 September 1825, DLC:TJ.
Brockenbrough's estimate varies somewhat from that given in his General Statement of
Finances of 30 September, which estimated the "Balance as required to complete the
Rotunda & Anatomical Hall" at $25,535.32 (ViU:PP). That document also shows debts of
$30,000 owed "to Carpenters, Plasters, Stone cutters, Painter &c for work on the Rotunda."
723. The board did rule on a proposal respecting space for gardens and livestock for
university officers: "The board being of opinion that so much of the grounds of the
University as can be conveniently applied to that purpose, should be laid off in lots for the
uses of the Professors, the Proctor, and Keepers of the Hotels, rent free, but to be enclosed
and improved at there expense, therefore Resolved that the Proctor under the direction of the
Executive Committee do cause such lots to be laid off and assigned to the several Pavilions
& Hotels and to the Proctors house" (PPAmP:UVA Minutes, 5 October 1825).
724. Board of Visitors Annual Report to the Literary Fund, 7 October 1825, PPAmP:UVA
Minutes; see also Cabell, Early History of the University of Virginia, 483-87. The Board of
Visitors at its spring meeting on 4-5 March 1825 had resolved to build the Anatomical Hall
as soon as funds became available (ViU:TJ; see TJ to Brockenbrough, 9 March 1825, in
ViU:PP).
725. See William B. Phillips' Loose Receipts of 18 December 1825 for $100 "on acct of
Brick work on the Anat: Hall &c" and of 31 March 1826 for $76.56 (ViU:PP); John
Hartwell Cocke and Alexander Garrett's Demands of the Resources of the University, 31
May 1826, shows a figure of $1,250 for "Phillips' Accot. for Anat. Hall," part of the total
$1,736.30 "Paid towards the Anat. Hall" by that date (DLC:TJ).
726. TJ to Joseph Carrington Cabell, 4 February 1826, ViU:JCC; see also Cabell, Early
History of the University of Virginia, 363-64. The Board of Visitors claimed when drafting
its Annual Report to the President and Directors of the Literary Fund on 7 October 1826 that
the "Liberary Room in the Rotunda has been nearly completed, and the books put into it.
Two rooms for the Professors of natural Philosophy and Chemistry, and one large lecture
room have also been fitted for use" (ViU:TJ). On the verso of a letter that Coleman Sellers
of Philadelphia wrote to Brockenbrough about city commissioner Joseph Morris the proctor
made this memorandum about hardware for some of the Rotunda's cabinets: "40 Flat back
best quality book case locks for our Library with Keys alike that one may open all or nearly
so--at any rate not more than 4 or 5 different Kinds--the doors are 1¼ Thick--a Sufficiency
of Suitable Screws--2 Doz Desk lock for Emmets Mineral cases" (ViU:PP). Morris's Loose
Receipt of 16 December 1826 for $24.12½ worth of locks and keys, written at Philadelphia,
is in ViU:PP.
728. Bonnycastle to Brockenbrough, 10 April 1826, ViU:PP. Jefferson met with Bonnycastle
on 20 April to discuss the lecture room and the following day wrote to the professor: "I
omitted, in conversn with you yesterday to observe on the arrangement of the Elliptical
lecturing room that one third of the whole Area may be saved by the use of lap boards for
writing on instead of tables, the room will hold half as many again, and the expence &
lumber of tables be spared. a bit of thin board 12. I. square covered or not with cloth to
every person is really a more convenient way of writing than a table[.] I am now writing on
such an one, and often use it of preference[.] it may be left always on the sitting bench so as
to be ready at hand when wanted" (ViU:TJ). Jefferson wrote Brockenbrough on 5 May
promising to "send you soon a drawing of the Library tables for the Rotunda" (ViU:PP), but
Lasala suggests that Jefferson's last illness may have prevented him from sketching the
designs for the dome room's curved library tables (see #17-18 in "Thomas Jefferson's
Designs for the University of Virginia").
729. Antrim to Brockenbrough, 7 August 1826, ViU:PP. John Hartwell Cocke wrote to the
proctor on 27 September 1826 respecting the "internal Cornice of the rotunda now to be
done, get the prices pr. foot of Dinsmore & Neilson to execute them in wood & the prices of
Antrim to execute them in plaister--with details of their models, respectively" (ViU:PP).
734. TJ to Brockenbrough, 12 November 1825, ViU:PP. Robley Dunglison, professor of
anatomy and medicine, lived in Pavilion X; George Tucker, professor of ethics, in Pavilion
IX; and John Patton Emmet, professor of natural history, in Pavilion I (see Sherwood and
Lasala, "Education and Architecture: The Evolution of the University of Virginia's
Academical Village," in Wilson, Thomas Jefferson's Academical Village, 44).
736. See Brockenbrough's Statement of the Debts and Resources of the University as of 1
October 1826, in his letter to the Rector and Board of Visitors, 11 December 1826, in
ViU:PP.
737. See Henry A. S. Dearborn to TJ, 6 September, in ViU:TJ, and 20 September, in
DLC:TJ, and Jonathan Thompson to TJ, 9 September, and 3 October 1825, in ViU:PP.
738. In fact two vessels refused to transport the marble from Leghorn (see TJ to
Brockenbrough, 13 September 1825, in ViU:PP).
739. For the transportation and payment of the marble capitals from Leghorn to the
university, including Peyton's efforts, see Thomas Appleton to TJ, 4-12 May, in DLC:TJ,
Appleton's Account for Marble Capitals, 4 May, in ViU:PP, Appleton's Bill for Marble
Columns, 22 June, in DLC:TJ, TJ to Brockenbrough, 24 July, 30 August, in ViU:PP, TJ to
Thomas Appleton, 10 August, ViU:TJ, Bernard Peyton to Brockenbrough, 3 September, 8,
17, 19, 26 October, 12 November 1825, 10, 24 March, 8, 19, 22 April, 3 May 1826, in
ViU:PP; Henry A. S. Dearborn to TJ, 6 September, in ViU:TJ, 20 September 1825, 25 April,
21 June 1826, in DLC:TJ, 22 September, 21 October 1825, in ViU:PP; TJ to Dearborn, 12
September 1825, in ViU:TJ, 3 May 1826, in DLC:TJ; Dearborn to Brockenbrough, 17 July
1826, in ViU:PP; Brockenbrough to Dearborn, 10 July 1826, in ViU:#9927; Jonathan
Thompson to TJ, 9 September, 3 October, 17 November 1825, in ViU:PP; TJ to
Brockenbrough, 13 September, 9 October 1825, 2, 5 May 1826, in ViU:PP, 8 November
1825, in DLC:TJ; TJ to William Cabell Rives and Littleton Waller Tazewell, 25 November
1825, in DLC:TJ; TJ to Rives, 22 April 1826, in DLC:TJ; Rives to TJ, 30 November 1825,
in DLC:TJ, 13 March, 13 May 1826, in ViU:TJ; Board of Visitors Minutes, 7 April 1826, in
PPAmP:UVA Minutes; John Patton Emmet to Brockenbrough, 2 May 1826, in ViU:PP; John
Brockenbrough to Brockenbrough, 9 May 1826, in ViU:PP; TJ to John Hartwell Cocke, 20
May 1826, in ViU:JHC; Cocke and Alexander Garrett, Demands of the Resources of the
University, 31 May 1826, in DLC:TJ.
740. See John Hartwell Cocke and Alexander Garrett, Demands of the Resources of the
University, 31 May 1826, in DLC:TJ, which lists figures against the university of $120 for
William B. Phillips' bricklaying account for "Portico Columns," $500 for Joseph Antrim's
"finishing" of the same, and $100 for John Gorman "Setting Bases & Capitals."
| Documentary History of the Construction of the Buildings at the University
of Virginia, 1817-1828 | |