 | Documentary History of the Construction of the Buildings at the University
of Virginia, 1817-1828 |  |
Notes
Chapter 11
743. Emmet to Brockenbrough, 9 April 1826, ViU:PP. Jefferson wrote to Emmet on 27
April 1826 to discuss the details of building the botanical garden, including "our 1st. opern
the selection of a piece of ground, of proper soil & site, suppose of about 6. a[cre]s. . . . 2d.
opern. inclose the ground with a serpentine brick wall 7 f high this wd. take abt 80 M bricks
& cost 800 D . . . 3d. opern. form all the hill sides into level terrasses curving with the hills
of conven[ien]t. breadth & the level ground into beds & allies 4th. make out a list of the
plants thought necessary & sfft for botanical purposes and of the trees we propose to
introduce" (ViU:TJ; see also Lipscomb and Bergh, Writings of Thomas Jefferson,
16:163-67). Emmet apparently was hesitant in beginning the project (see TJ to Emmet, 28
April 1826, in DLC:TJ), and on 3 May Jefferson drafted a letter to James Madison
complaining that "I have percieved in some of our Professors a disinclination to the
preparing themselves for entering on the branches of science with which they are charged
additionally to their principal one" (DLC:TJ).
747. See John Hartwell Cocke and Alexander Garrett's Demands of the Resources of the
University, 31 May 1826, in DLC:TJ.
748. Warwick to Brockenbrough, 12 June 1826, ViU:PP. D. W. & C. Warwick and Co.
shipped six boxes of tin plate and one bundle of sheet iron to the university by wagoner
William Estes on 28 April, and Daniel Warwick sent four more boxes of tin plate on 31 July
(see Daniel Warwick to Brockenbrough, 28 October 1826, in ViU:PP). The total cost for the
metal was $300.08.
749. Brooks to Brockenbrough, 13 June 1826, ViU:PP. Brooks wrote the proctor again on 19
June to say that "the ill health of my Step Son Compells me to Start to Lewisburg [now West
Virginia] to morrow on my return I will either write or Come over" (ViU:PP). Jefferson
must have been particularly chagrined when he recieved a letter from his grandson Francis
Wayles Eppes, written at Poplar Forest of 23 June: "Knowing that all of your pavilions at
the university have tin coverings, I write to learn whether they have ever leaked, and if so
what method of prevention had been used. Our roof here was perfectly close until about mid
winter. It then began to leak not in one but a hundred places: and from that time I have
endeavoured to discover the cause without effect. For some time I thought that the water
found its way, between the sheeting and the bottom of the platform, just where the gutters
vent their water, but after removing the tin and making the sheeting perfectly tight, I found
myself mistaken. A subsequent examination immediately after a hard rain, showed me, on
the lowest side of every sheet of tin, spots of water on the sheeting plank. This water must
have been drawn upwards, as there were no traces above: and that a few drops could be so
drawn up, I could readily conceive; but the quantity is really incridible. The plaistering of
the parlour is so entirely wet every rain, that I begin to fear it will fall in. Large buckets of
water pass through it. Your room is nearly as bad and the others leak more and more every
rain. The hall is in fact, the only dry room in the house. I have been so completely baffled in
every attempt to stop the leaking, that I really feel quite at a loss; we have had here, in the
last four weeks three of the most destructive rains ever known in this neighbourhood. The
tobacco hills on flat land were entirely swept off" (Betts and Bear, Family Letters of Thomas
Jefferson, 478-79).
750. TJ to John Hartwell Cocke, 20 May 1826, ViU:JHC; see also O'Neal, Jefferson's
Buildings at the University of Virginia: The Rotunda, 47.
751. Jefferson wrote to his grandson-in-law Joseph Coolidge, Jr., on 4 June 1826 to inquire
about the matter of a pipe borer from the north: "The art of boring for water to immense
depths, we know is practised very much in the salt springs of the Western country. and I
have understood that it is habitually practised in the Northern states generally for ordinary
water. we have occasion for such an artist at our University, and myself and many
individuals round about us would gladly employ one. if they abound with you, I presume we
could get one to come on and engage in the same line here. I believe he would find abundant
employment. but should it be otherwise, or not to his mind, we could by paying his
expences coming and returning and placing him at home as we found him, save him from
any loss by the experiment. will you be so good as to make enquiry for such a person, to
know the terms of his work, and communicate them to me, so that we may form a general
idea of the cost of this method of supply. I could then give him immediate information of the
probabilities & prospects there. I am anxious myself on behalf of the University, as well as
the convenience it will afford to myself" (ViU:TJ; see also Lipscomb and Bergh, Writings of
Thomas Jefferson, 18:354-57). Jefferson died before Coolidge had time to inquire into the
matter, however (see Coolidge to TJ, 15 June 1826, ViU:TJ), and seven weeks later, on 20
August 1826, Brockenbrough wrote John Hartwell Cocke asking him to follow up on the
matter of additional water for the university: "Some additional water works are absolutely
necessary--whether it shall be by pumps or otherwise I am at a loss to determine--If Water
from the Mountain could be gotten in sufficient quantity I should prefer it, the stream is
weak, and would hardly justify the expence--if brought from the Mountain the best way
would be to have a large cistern in my yard (being the highest situation near the University,)
the water from thence to be conveyed in pipes to every part of the University the works to
be so constructed to let off any quantity at a given time that may be required for the supply
of the buildings or in case of fire--This requires money tho' of which we have very little"
(ViU:JHC). In December 1826 Brockenbrough estimated the "Probable cost of an additional
& adequate supply of water" to be $1,000 (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, ViU:PP).
752. Perhaps Edgar Allan Poe was remembering back to an evening spent in a room in a
professor's pavilion or in the Rotunda when in an essay he wrote favorably about Argand
lamps at the expense of gas lamps: "We are violently enamored of gas and of glass. The
former is totally inadmissible within doors. Its harsh and unsteady light offends. No one
having both brains and eyes will use it. A mild, or what artists term a cool, light, with its
consequent warm shadows, will do wonders for even an ill-furnished apartment. Never was
a more lovely thought than that of the astral lamp. We mean, of course, the astral lamp
proper--the lamp of Argand, with its original plain ground-glass shade, and its tempered and
uniform moonlight rays. . . . an Argand lamp, with a plain crimson-tinted ground-glass
shade, which depends from the lofty vaulted ceiling by a single slender gold chain, and
throws a tranquil but magical radiance over all" ("Philosophy of Furniture," in The Complete
Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe, 462-66).
753. Shortly after requesting these dimensions Jefferson prepared the south elevation and
partial first floor plan of the Rotunda, which is located in the Williard Homestead in Grafton,
Massachusetts (see Guinness & Sadler, Mr. Jefferson, Architect, 135, and #17-11 in Lasala,
"Thomas Jefferson's Designs for the University of Virginia"). Jefferson apparently enclosed
the drawing in his letter to Joseph Coolidge, Jr., of 4 June 1826 (ViU:TJ; see also Lipscomb
and Bergh, Writings of Thomas Jefferson, 18:354-57).
755. TJ to Joseph Carrington Cabell, 14 February 1826, ViU:TJ; see also Cabell, Early
History of the University of Virginia, 373-74.
756. TJ to Robert Mills, 3 March 1826, DLC:TJ. The letter was printed in the Washington,
D.C., Daily National Intelligencer, 25 October 1826, under the heading "Extracts of a letter
from Mr. Jefferson to Mr. Robert Mills, of South Carolina" (see appendix I).
757. Thomas Jefferson Randolph gives the following account of his grandfather's death:
"Died 50 minutes after 12. July the 4th. Thomas Jefferson in the 84th year of his age. his
health had been impaired by an indiscreet use of the Hot spring bath in 1818[.] this
indisposition had steadily increased untill the last six months when it attained a troublesome
& alarming violence giving him certain indications of a gradual decay of health[.] The
consequences of which he early foresaw. early in June he observed to a friend that he
doubted his weathering the ensueing summer[.] on the 24th of June his disorder & weakness
having attained an alarming extent, he yielded to the entreaties of his family and called in a
Phiscian (Dr Dunglison of the University)[.] on this occasion a friend having private
business with him he warned 'there was no time to be lost['] and expressed the believe that
he could not hold out to the fourth. that he had called in a Phisician and for the comfort of
his family would follow his prescriptions (which he literally did) but that it was unavailing
the machine had worn out and could go on no longer. He retained during his illness and to
death the same serene dicisive & cheerfull temper which had marked his life. speaking upon
various topics with his usual spirit & animation. upon the university hoping that the state
would not now abandon it: of the changes he feared would be made: of his probably
sucessor as rector. of the services he had rended his native state. &c. speaking with
earnestness to his executor of steps to be taken upon his demise. advising as to the
arrangement & disposition of his hopes. &c. Upon being unusually ill for a short time he
observed with a smile 'well Dr a few hours more and the struggle with be over' When the Dr
entered the room his usuall expression was well Dr. you see I am here yet. When his
disorder was arrested and a friend observed to him he hoped he would mend his reply was
that the power of nature were too much exhausted to be rallied. a member of his family
expressing a believe that he was better and that the Dr thought so. after listening with
impatience he replyed do not imagine for a moment that I feel the smallest solicitude as to
the result. on giving directions as to his funeral. forbidding all pomp & parade. he was
answered with hope that it might long ere occasion would riquire their fulfilment. he asked
with a smile 'do you imagine I fear to die.['] He expressed himself pleased with the course
of his phisician. gratified by the affectionate attentions of his family & servants. he uttered
no thought he expressed no feeling--unworthy of the vigor of his body or mind. Death stole
not upon him in the Dark. he came not unexpected. he saw his approaches & smiled at his
terrors, Thus died Thomas Jefferson" (Thomas Jefferson Randolph, Account of TJ's Last
Illness and Death, ca July 1826, ViU:TJ; see also Randolph's revised account in Randolph,
Domestic Life of Thomas Jefferson, 419-32). For several newspaper accounts of TJ's death,
see the clippings from the Norfolk Hearld, 10 July 1826, in DLC:TJ.
For some of the eulogies delivered in the honor of Jefferson and John Adams, who died at
his home in Massachusetts on the same day, see the Washington, D.C., Daily National
Intelligencer, 14, 19 August, and 1 September 1826. A interesting related news item
appeared in the Daily National Intelligencer on 25 August 1826, reads: "The last Darien
Gazette records the following singular circumstance: 'A circumstance occurred in this city,
which, for its singularity, may not be deemed unworthy of notice, in the transactions of the
day. A Gun, which had been dubbed Thomas Jefferson, on the 4th inst. was brought out to
perform the funeral salute, in commemoration of the departed great. This sturdy 'Bull Dog,'
as if proud of the honor conferred on him, allowed himself to be disgorged of 82 thundering
loads, without complaint; but, the match was no sooner applied for the 83d, and last, for the
age of Mr. Jefferson, than he expired, as a Gun! That is, he burst, as if determined, after
performing the last duty to the memory of him after whom he was named, to quit the world
forever. We are happy to state that no person was injured by the accident.'"
758. Alexander Garrett to Evelina Bolling Garrett, 4 July 1826, ViU: Garret Papers. Four
days after TJ's funeral Frank Carr wrote to John Hartwell Cocke on 9 July proposing
William Cabell Rives "as a proper son to occupy the vacancy produced by the death of Mr.
Jefferson. His talents, and his attainments, together with his convenient residence to the
University, point him out, especially considering his religious character, as the fittest person
that could be selected. It is not for me however to urge his claims upon you. It is highly
probable that your own reflections have turned to him--and if your preference be for him, I
have no doubt that any influence you may have with the executive will be exerted to place
him in your body" (ViU:JHC).
759. Cocke to Brockenbrough, 17 July 1826, ViU:PP. Edmund Bacon said in 1862 that
Jefferson's slave Burwell "was a fine painter. He painted the carriage and always kept the
house painted. He painted a good deal at the University" (Bear, Jefferson at Monticello,
102).
762. Dunglison to Brockenbrough, 8 September 1826, ViU:PP. A news report in the 25
August 1826 issue of the Washington, D.C., Daily National Intelligencer, reprinted from the
Richmond Enquirer, says: The University of Virginia has at present about 170 students
within its walls . . . The architects are going on with the Anatomical Hall and Rotundo. Of
the latter, the Library and the Portico are rapidly advancing. The Italian capitals to the
columns of the Portico are of the purest marble and of the most beautiful workmanship."
763. Annual Report to the President and Board of Directors of the Literary Fund, 7 October
1826, ViU:TJ. At the end of the year the proctor estimated the "Supposed Amt due to D &
Neilson after finishing the Rotunda & anatomical Hall" to be $10,000, not counting $1,500
for the "finishing of the Steps of the Portico," $1,000 for "All other work after D & Neilsons
work is completed on the Rotunda," and $1,000 for the anatomical Hall exclusive of D &
Ns. bill"; add the venetian blinds, smokehouses, and water supply, and the "Supposed sum
to meet all the demands against the University of Va and complete the unfinished buildgs"
totaled $23,473.72 (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, ViU:PP).
764. William Wertenbaker to Brockenbrough, 15 January 1828, ViU:PP. William
Wertenbaker was the son of Christian Wertenbacher, who moved from Baltimore to Milton
following the Revolutionary War (see Wust, Virginia Germans, 100). Wertenbaker often was
involved in transmitting the visitors' resolutions to Brockenbrough (see appendix U). In the
first quarter of the 19th century, cast-iron Franklin and "six-plate box" stoves were typically
for warming parlors and sitting rooms. "Beginning in 1816," writes Nylander in Our Own
Snug Fireside, "stove manufacturers patented a variety of innovations, such as smoke
domes, which increased the radiating surface of a stove or improved combustion efficiency;
but it was not until the 1830s that these were produced in very large numbers. Once these
technologically improved stoves were readily available, 'Franklin Stoves, of Old patterns'
were advertised for sale at 'reduced prices.' The installation of cast-iron stoves in parlors,
sitting rooms, and even some bedchambers in the years after 1820 resulted in a more
efficeint and reliable source of evenly distributed heat than had been possible with open
fireplaces" (99-100). Incidentally, until William T. James of Troy, New York, patented the
first successful cookstove in America in April 1815, Count Rumford's cast-iron roasters and
boilers were the best ovens available for cooking. By 1823 the Troy firm of James & Cornell
had sold 5,000 of James' distinctively ornamented ovens, at a cost of $15 to $50 each, and
by mid-century another 550 patents had been issued for cookstoves (ibid., 213-18).
765. Nothing more about this roofwork has been identified although on 4 January 1828 John
Mahanes received $16 for his delivery of 4,000 wooden shingles to the university (loose
receipts for 1828 in ViU:PP).
766. Brockenbrough to Dinsmore & Neilson, 23 April 1827, ViU:PP. On 5 June ASB gave
Dinsmore & Neilson a draft on the Bursar for $1,000 "on acct of the work executed by
Dinsmore & Neilson." Dinsmore previously had received on 13 February a draft for $98
from ASB "on acct. of work by Dinsmore & Neilson," and on 4 September and 1 October
1827, Rice W. Wood received for Thomas Darrett $173.40 and $15 "in part of Dinsmore &
Neilsons Draft on the Proctor for $580.43½ on acct of Lumber for the University of Va." A
draft on the bursar for $2,000 was paid to Dinsmore & Neilson on 13 November, and on 15
December 1827 Nelson Barksdale gave ASB a receipt for $50 "on acct. of Lumber
furnished for the Rotunda, it being in part payment of the Dft of Dinsmore & Neilson." On
15 September 1827 Hugh Chisholm received $20 "on account of the P[l]astering of the
Anat: Hall." These receipts are in the loose receipts for 1827 in ViU:PP. Dinsmore &
Neilson's receipt of 21 February 1828 for a draft on the bursar for $1,000, in the loose
receipts for 1828 in ViU:PP, is specifically for "work on the Rotunda & Anat: Hall." Rice W.
Wood performed legal work against the university for carpenter James Oldham (see
Grizzard, "To Exercise a
Sound Discretion"), and in July 1822, Wood purchased from Archibald Stuart a tract of
unimproved land totaling 880 acres in northern Augusta County on the south branch of
Naked Creek, just west of the Valley Turnpike to the southwest of Burketown. Wood died
young, survived by his wife, Sarah W. Wood, and their four infant daughters, Anne,
Cornelia, Mary, and Antoinette (see C. E. May, My Augusta: A Spot of Earth, Not a Woman,
302-3).
767. Brockenbrough to Cocke, 24 May 1827, ViU:JHC. Cocke had sought a "trust-worthy
hirer of my Stone cutters" in a letter to Brockenbrough of 3 April 1827 before leaving "on
an absence of 4 or 5 weeks" (ViU:PP; see also Cocke to Brockenbrough, 31 May, and 13
June, in ViU:PP, and Brockenbrough to Cocke, 1 June 1827, in ViU:JHC). Cocke engaged
his gang of six slave stonemasons in the building of a "large dwelling" in Charlottesville
during the previous winter (Coyner, "John Hartwell Cocke of Bremo," 119). This gang
included his best masons, Cato and Peyton, whom Cocke had apprenticed to Thomas
Whitelaw and James Currie, two white artisans who worked at the Bremo plantations from
1812 to 1821. On 23 December of this year Peyton made his mark on a receipt located in the
loose receipts for 1827 in ViU:PP, written by Brockenbrough and witnessed by G. W. Wood,
for a $25 draft on the Bursar "for Stone cut for the Anatomical Hall." For a discussion of
Cocke's slave stonemasons, see ibid., 101-8, 146-48.
768. Brockenbrough to Cocke, 24 May 1827, ViU:JHC. George Blaettermann, a
German-born law graduate of Göttingen University (who came from Oxford) is described as
an "irascible but gifted man" by Wust in The Virginia Germans, 100.
771. See Coolidge to Brockenbrough, 31 March 1827, in ViU:PP. For Willard's
compensation for his work, see Coolidge to Brockenbrough, 3 April, 6 June, 19 July 1827,
and John Brockenbrough to Brockenbrough, 29 May 1827, in ViU:PP.
775. Coolidge wrote to Brockenbrough on 16 August 1827 to inform him that he had
recieved the proctor's letter of 28 July requesting Coolidge to order a bell. Coolidge thus
ordered "a bell to be cast, of purest metal, to weigh about 450 lbs . . . The bell will be ready
in three weeks; I shall have it provided with a wheel &c in the best and cheapest manner,
and forward it, immediately, to Richmond to Care of Bernard Peyton" (ViU:PP; see also
Brockenbrough to John Hartwell Cocke, 8 August 1827, in ViU:JHC). This actually was the
third bell ordered by the university in 1827. On 8 May 1827 Joseph F. White of 213 Water
Street, New York, had written to Brockenbrough about a "Bell Made of 168 lbs. Open at the
bottom, bent flatways, and gives a noble, pleasant Sound" (ViU:PP), and on 11 July 1827
John Van Lew & Co. wrote to the proctor to inform him that "We have this day Shipped (pr
John Fly) to Mr Jos F. White, the Cast Steel Bell receivd from you last week" (ViU:PP),
apparently to replace another steel cast bell that had been shipped to the university in
January of this year. See Thomas Brockenbrough to ASB, 2 December 1826, and White to
Brockenbrough, 19 July 1827, in ViU:PP.
776. Coolidge to Brockenbrough, 9 November 1827, ViU:PP. A tine is the tongue or clapper
that strikes the inside of a bell, causing it to sound. Coolidge wrote the proctor again on 22
November to send "the warrantee of its maker Mr Holbrook, who desires me to Say that it
will much improve by use; if it does not, or any flaw or defect is discovered, he will recast
it, free of expense, if delivered to his Agent in Boston" (ViU:PP). The total cost of the bell
was $159.25, which the proctor reimbursed Coolidge for in February 1828 (see Coolidge to
Brockenbrough, 18 February 1828, ViU:PP).
777. Brockenbrough to John Hartwell Cocke, 8 August 1827, ViU:JHC. Keziah Davis
received $2 from the proctor on 16 November 1827 "for Making Table covers for the
Library room" (loose receipts for 1827 in ViU:PP). The Rotunda's interior "iron work" was
an "iron Railing forming the Lobby at the head of the Stair Cases. ... effectual against
unauthorised intrusions into the Library" (Cocke to Brockenbrough, 10 November 1827,
ViU:PP). The "Doors on the Stair Cases" were to be removed after the completion of the
iron railing. For the summer vacation period, see Brockenbrough's Subjects for
Consideration, ca 1828, in ViU:JHC.
779. Edward W. Sims wrote to an unidentified person on 23 August 1827: "It affords me no
little uneasiness to hear of the situation of the buildings at the University--Before the recipt
of your letter I had expected as much--and wrote to the Proctor upon the subject--Early last
week I sent two Boxes with Slate, but they could not, after waiting near a week at Columbia,
ascend the Rivana--and consequently had to unload at that place, from whence they reach'd
home on yesterday--Were it possible I would have the Slate taken over by land. Waggons
could not be had at any price--You may rest assured that I shall the moment I can, send the
Slate up--and I will take it an especial favor of you to write to the Proctor upon the subject"
(ViU:PP). Edward W. Sims was married to Margaret Caroline Towles, a daughter of an
officer of the War of 1812, Col. Oliver Towles of Campbell County, and Agatha Lewis
Towles (1774-1843), the daughter of Col. William Lewis of Sweet Springs. Sims often did
business with Board of Visitor member John Hartwell Cocke of Bremo.
780. Charles Bonnycastle, Plan for a Fountain, ca August 1827, ViU:PP. The cisterns were
lined with White's Patent Hydraulic Cement, purchased from the New York firm of Peter
Remsen & Co. See Benjamin Wright to John Hartwell Cocke, 18 August 1827, John C. and
George Newton to Brockenbrough, 12 September 1827, and John Van Lew & Co. to
Brockenbrough, 30 December 1827, all in ViU:PP, and Peter Remsen & Co.'s one-page
circular for White's cement, in the undated material for 1828 in ViU:PP.
781. An extract of this resolution, passed on 18 or 19 July, is in ViU:TJ and printed in
O'Neal, Jefferson's Buildings at the University of Virginia: The Rotunda, 49.
784. Cocke to Brockenbrough, 22 October 1827, ViU:PP. Cocke replied to the proctor after
receiving another letter from Brockenbrough, which has not been found, written on 13
October.
786. Cocke to Brockenbrough, 10 November 1827, ViU:PP. On 14 November 1827 John M.
Perry received $121.42 "for Lumber for the Rotunda" (loose receipts for 1827 in ViU:PP).
787. Emmet to Brockenbrough, 20 September 1827, ViU:PP. Receipts in the loose receipts
for 1827 in ViU:PP indicate that Joseph Antrim was busy with plaster work at the university
around this time. Antrim was paid $30 on 1 September for plaster work on an unidentified
building, and on 15 September he drew an additional payment of $75 "on account of the
Plastering of the Rotunda." Antrim signed a receipt on 12 December for $160 "on account
of & in full of the Plastereing done by me at the University of Va." No receipts for payments
for plaster work on Emmet's pavilion have been identified, however. Michael F. Crawford
apparently still was engaged in making shutters for the buildings' doors and windows at this
time.
788. Brockenbrough to Emmet, 23 September 1827, ViU:PP. The proctor apparently found
the lead in Richmond because a receipt in the loose receipts for 1827 in ViU:PP shows that
on 15 November Thomas Brockenbrough received $18.80 from his brother as payment "in
full for a large Ledger and some Sheet Lead furnished for the Virginia University as per Bill
in Septr. last." On 17 November Thomas Brockenbrough also wrote receipts, which can be
found in the same location, for Brockenbrough & Harvie for $153.54 for Brockenbrough's
payment "in full of our Acct. against the University of Virga," and for $38.52 "in full of amt
Recd. due the late Firm John Van Lew & Co." Thomas Brockenbrough was agent for the
defunct firm. Burwell Colburn's receipt of 17 November 1827 in ViU:PP for $20 "on
account of Painting at the University of Va." may include the repairs and painting of
Emmet's pavilion.
789. See Emmet to Brockenbrough, 9 August 1828, and John Hartwell Cocke to
Brockenbrough, 23 August 1828, both in ViU:PP, Brockenbrough to Cocke, 27 August
1828, in ViU:JHC, and Cocke to Brockenbrough, 3 September 1828, in ViU:PP.
793. Cocke to Brockenbrough, 10 August 1827, ViU:PP. On this date Thomas Draffin gave
ASB a receipt for a draft for $28 "on acct of the Waggonage of logs from Carrs for the
U.Va." An undated one-page account with the university indicates that on 24 April Draffin
had charged the university $12 for "3 days hauling pipes for Water at $4." On 18 May, 3
September, 22 September, and 26 November 1827, A. Zigler gave receipts for $8.06, $60,
$15, and $50 and $250, respectively, "on acct of my work on pipe logs &c" and "on account
of waterworks." These receipts and Draffin's account are in the loose receipts for 1827 in
ViU:PP. John Smith made a cistern for the chemical laboratory earlier this year, as
evidenced by a receipt for $2.50 that Reuben Maury signed for Smith on 27 February 1827,
which is in the loose receipts for 1827 in ViU:PP. A pump-stock is the body of a pump.
794. Sellers & Pennock to Brockenbrough, 11 August 1827, ViU:PP. Sellers & Pennock
apparently furnished the city of Richmond with fire fighting equipment as well: "I never saw
so much anxiety to have a good fire Apparatus as the Citizens of this place display--(they
have had some bad fires,) and will be greatly benefited by the Hose & Hydraulion[.] it will
add greatly to the security of all the lower town, which is as thickly built over as the closest
built part of Philada. frame and brick mixed through each other--they will be great
customers to us should the Hydrauler Arrive[.] the hose they are delighted with--and will no
doubt want as much more as soon as they see the effect [of] the system, Mr. Taylor is a
Compleat fireman and enters fully into the spirit of it" (Coleman Sellers to Coleman Sellers,
Sr., 16 January 1828, in PPAmP:Patterson Letters). In ViU:PP there is also a copy of a
circular for a fire engine manufactured by the American Hydraulic Company of Windsor,
Vermont, dated 8 December 1828 (see appendix).
796. On 8 September 1827 Sellers & Pennock wrote Brockenbrough: "Yours concerning the
Hydraulion and hose, would have received earlier attention but for the sickness of one of the
firm, as it is we are not certain that it will be in our power to Complete your Order by the
first of Decr. next, we shall however put it in hand and Use our best endevours to that
effect--you will before that time advise us of the Quantity of hose that may be
required.--The Son in Law of our mutual friend Genl. Cocke spent a few days with us, with
his amiable partner--by whom we learnt that you are about to take from our City as a
professor of Natural Phylosophy Docr. Thos. P. Jones, a better man for that department
probably is not to be found in Our State--Should you succeed in his appointment, you will
not want a person to "keep the Clock, locks of the Institution, and phylosophical Apparatus
in Order" as he is a first rate Mechanic and workman, and exceedingly Obliging and
Accomodating in his dispo[si]tion" (ViU:PP).
797. See Coleman Sellers to Coleman Sellers, Sr., 16 January 1828, in PPAmP:Patterson
Letters. Coleman Sellers wrote John Hartwell Cocke on 19 January 1828 to inform Cocke
that he had "examined with much care the proposed plan for Supplying the University with
water, offered by A S. Brockenbrough Esqr. and do highly approve of the same" (ViU:PP).
798. The hydraulion arrived safely in Richmond and was shipped to Milton by water during
the winter. On 7 March Nuckols Johnson received $1.45 from Brockenbrough "For the
freight of a box of Hose & pipe for the U.Va.," and on 18 March Jesse B. Garth received
$1.75 from the proctor "for the transportation of Fire engine from Milton" (Loose Receipts
for 1828 in ViU:PP).
799. Brockenbrough to John Hartwell Cocke, 23-24 March 1828, ViU:JHC. On 23
November 1827 Brockenbrough wrote to Cocke: "We have water in the two cisterns by Mr
Longs & Mr Tuckers--the first is very tight entirely full the other good about half way--I had
rather depend on the roman cement than the N. York cement--the first is only used to coat
them inside the last to lay the bricks with" (ViU:JHC). The Board of Visitors finally relented
in its opposition to the proctor's desire to build a cistern near his house on 24 July 1828,
when it passed a resolution directing the executive committe to oversee its execution "so far
as it may be practicable & consistent with other resolutions adopted by the Board"
(PPAmP:UVA Minutes), and the following month Brockenbrough informed Cocke that
"Zigler has been Sick so that we have done but little in laying Water pipes, we have them
through the alley and on the lawn a few feet" (Brockenbrough to Cocke, 27 August 1828,
ViU:JHC). Cocke was glad to hear of even that progress in laying pipes, however (see
Cocke to Brockenbrough, 3 September 1828, in ViU:PP).
802. On 4 March 1828 Brockenbrough informed John Hartwell Cocke that he had calculated
the "cost of getting the Stone for Steps of the Rotunda--it will take about 700 feet running
measure--the stone in the rough State will be about 18 inches wide & 8½ Thick--which is
about equal to a cubic foot not less than six feet long--for getting & loading agreeable to the
aforesaid dimentions 40 cents per foot lineal will be given or 45 cents for it delivered at the
university--I take it four loads a day can be made from your quarry each load about 20 feet
which will be equal to $4.00 per day for waggon & Teams--The stone must be agreeable to
this size to be given--There will be some smaller stuff wanted--but not much which may be
at the same rate--he getting this quantity of Steps, there will be a considerable quantity of
smaller stuff--which will answer for other Steps or building Stone & which will more Than
pay for what stone will be requir'd for the Rotunda Steps" (ViU:JHC). Brockenbrough did
not contract with anyone for the quarrying of the stone at that time, however (see
Brockenbrough to Cocke, 23-24 March 1828, in ViU:JHC).
805. Cocke to Brockenbrough, 10 November 1827, ViU:PP. There are wagoners' receipts of
9 November 1827 in the loose receipts for 1827 in ViU:PP for 82¢ "for the freight of a
bundle of sheet iron" and for $4.68 "for the freight of Lead, Bellows &c from Richd
for the University Va."
807. Cocke to Brockenbrough, 5 October 1828, ViU:PP. Cocke enclosed with his letter
Charles Bonnycastle's Plan for Curing Smoking Chimneys, ca 5 October 1828, ViU:PP.
Smoke and fire matters relative to the Rotunda were still being worked on at the end of
1828, as the excerpts from the following letters show. On 13 December 1828 Cocke wrote to
Brockenbrough: "It has escaped me of late to remind you of the Sheet lead protection
against fire, it was thought would be prudent to have recourse to, in the rooms of the
Rotunda this Winter--if it has not been attended to, be so good as to let it have your prompt
attention" (ViU:PP). On 18 December 1828, the proctor wrote to Cocke: "I procured sheet
lead & put it in place for a protection against fire (before the receipt of your letter) to the
two fire-places in the Library--the lecture rooms are so frequently used I thought it
unnecessary to put lead in them, but ordered & am in daily expectation of receiving rolled
iron to Make fenders for all the fire places of the Rotunda" (ViU:JHC).
808. Blackford to Brockenbrough, 30 November 1827, ViU:PP. The oval stoves cost $24
each, and the Philadelphia stove cost $15.50; and Blackford also sent $19.40 worth of
stovepipe and elbows with the stoves. Wagoner Jack Wilks delivered the stoves to the
university.
809. See Brockenbrough to John Hartwell Cocke, 7 October 1827, in ViU:JHC.
Brockenbrough said that "I gave [Bonnycastle] to understand it was an expense I could not
undertake without the approbration of the Executive Committee--The Walls of the Stair way
are very dusty, and whitewashing would not stick on them, I should recommend painting in
the place of it, What think you of it?" Cocke approved of painting the stairway, "or doing
what else may be necessary to render the tenement decent & comfortable--but the state of
the funds will not admit of doing more" (Cocke to Brockenbrough, 22 October 1827,
ViU:PP).
812. Lewis S. Carter's Account, 22 June-13 September 1828, ViU:PP. The account shows
that Carter and Kennedy were credited with $8.67 on 22 June for "6½ days work self &
Kennedy at the observatory" and $14.67 on 14 July for "11 Days plastering at the
observatory." The two men also were credited $67.33 for 50½ days plastering and
whitewashing at the university, including work at Pavilions III, V, and X, and Hotels D and
F. Kennedy also did some of the plaster work at the cisterns (see Loose Receipt, 6
November 1828, in ViU:PP).
813. Brockenbrough to John Hartwelll Cocke, 4 March 1828, ViU:JHC. Brockenbrough
continued: "The windows tho' are not be dispensed with, &c the expence of them rather
increased by putting sashes & Glass in the North & South window. where as at first he only
required Shutters--The work shall be executed as cheap as possible, as for instance 8 by 10
glass & battoned or ledged Shutters--I hope with the Subscriptions I shall be receiving and
the timber that will come off the land it will in our power to pay for it without making a
draft on the loan or annuity--" Battened or ledged shutters are made by fastening horizontal
strips of wood on the rear of parallel vertical boards to hold them together and give the
whole strength. They are generally of a plain and simple nature.
818. Cocke to Brockenbrough, 6 August 1828, ViU:PP. Little information concerning plank
for 1828 has been identified, although the loose receipts for 1828 in ViU:PP show that Elijah
Battles received $10 on 8 March and for "getting timber," and $10 on 25 March, $23.24 on 1
April, and $5 on 22 September for "Hughing & Sawing" timber for the university. Thomas
Durrett received a draft for $50 on 6 November for a lumber delivery. On 30 August Samuel
Mahains received $10 "by Draft on Mr C. Spencer in part payment for shingles for the
University of Va." This experiment with rooflets also may have utilized some of the 4,000
wooden shingles delivered to the university by John Mahanes on 4 January at a cost of $4
per thousand. The payment to Spencer was for furnishing bacon to Mahains on that date (see
C. Spencer's account with ASB of 28 July-1 September 1828 in the loose receipts for 1828
in ViU:PP).
819. Brockenbrough to Cocke, 27 August 1828, ViU:JHC. "For the benefit of my health and
with the advice of Dr Dunglison," the proctor told Cocke, "I left home on the 10th for the
Mountains got as far as the warm Springs and arrived here on the evening of the 25th (this
excursion tho' short has done me some service)." Brockenbrough also added that the
dormitories "are all whitewashed & Venetians will be put up . . . I will have The place
Thoroughly cleaned."
| Documentary History of the Construction of the Buildings at the University
of Virginia, 1817-1828 | |