University of Virginia Library

Chapter 3
The Building Campaign of 1819, Part 1

Richard Ware

Dr. Thomas Cooper, the Philadelphia scientist who later had a distinguished career as
professor and president at the University of South Carolina, ran a few errands in
Philadelphia for the college as a favor to his old friend, the retired sage of Monticello,
including an attempt to recruit some Philadelphia craftsmen to move down to Virginia.
Cooper's efforts proved successful on one account, for on 5 January he informed Jefferson
that he was sending him a man "whose honesty and industry I have entertained a good
opinion of from near 20 Years observation. He asks so many questions that I have persuaded
him to go to the place & look for himself, and make his own bargain. He is a Carpenter, &
can command workmen: he can also induce bricklayers & brickmakers to come, if he
determines to go himself: also a Tin man, & probably other trades: upon all this you will
make your own enquiries in your own way. I have said nothing to him about prices."[153]

The carpenter, it turned out, was Richard Ware, who visited the construction site in late
March armed with a letter of recommendation from four prominent Philadelphians as well
as one from Jefferson's architectural protegé Robert Mills, then in Baltimore. "We do not
hesitate" to state, wrote the four gentlemen, that Ware "has long been held in high estimation
as a workman of intelligence, Skill, and fidelity; that many of the handsomest and best
buildings of our city have been of his construction; and that we Should deem him in every
way worthy to be employed, and competent, as a carpenter, to assist in the contemplated
Structure."[154] Calling Ware a "respectable Master Carpenter," Mills noted that the
Philadelphian "bears with him recommendations from Gentlemen well known to you in
Philadelphia, with whose names I will cheerfully associate mine, as I have had business with
Mr. W— during my residence in Pha."[155] Ware liked what he saw in Albemarle and
offered to "undertake three portions mentioned in the advertisement & uppon the conditions
their specified at fifteen percent below the Book of Prices published by M Cary in
1812."[156] A fifteen percent discount off Jefferson's preferred price list coupled with the
assurance that he could bring a gang of workers from Philadelphia to build the east range
easily won a contract for Ware, although it would be the summer before Ware and his
workmen showed up for work at the university. Ware and his men executed the carpentry
and brick work for Pavilions II, IV, and VI, thirteen dormitories on the east lawn, and the
carpentry work for Hotel F.[157]

University Bill

Planning for the spring and summer was well and good (and necessary) but for now the best
thing that could be done to enhance the building at the college was to set it upon a proper
financial footing by gaining permanent state support. This would come in due time
following the adoption of the site of the Central College as the University of Virginia, which
took place in the Virginia House of Delegates on 21 January 1819, and four days later in the
Senate. Jefferson actually had drawn up the university bill in late 1818, carefully inserting a
clause giving the visitors authority over the "erection preservation and repair of the
buildings, the care of the grounds and appurtenances, and of the interests of the University
generally: they shall have power to appoint a Bursar, employ a Proctor and all other
necessary agents."[158] (Carpenter James Oldham appealed to this clause when he later sued
the university over his contract.) The votes, 143 to 28 in the House of Delegates and 21 to 1
in the Senate, constituted a "vast majority," Board of Visitor member David Watson
recorded in his memoranda book; the $15,000 per annum "endowment by the publick" was
paltry but not refused.[159] Upon hearing of the bill's passage, Jefferson immediately sent a
congratulatory letter to Joseph Carrington Cabell in Richmond and informed the senator of
the need for a meeting of the visitors,

The last request would become one of Jefferson's often repeated refrains, trapping Cabell
between his willing allegiance to Jefferson and the university on the one hand and the
realities of the Virginia Senate.[161]

Proctor Wanted

The day before the university bill was passed into law, Jefferson wrote to local magistrate
and businessman Richard Duke to offer him the opportunity to handle a part of the proctor's
work for the university. The duties of proctor, Jefferson asserted, are "of two characters so
distinct, that it is difficult to find them associated in the same person. the one part of these
duties is to make contracts with workmen, superintend their execution, see that they are
according to the plan, performed faithfully and in a workman like manner, settle their
accounts, and pay them off. the other part is to hire common laborers, overlook them,
provide subsistence, and do whatever also is necessary for the institution." Nelson
Barksdale, Jefferson observed, was fully qualified to handle the latter part; the other part,
however, amounting to two days in the week, "we have thought would be better done by a
person more accustomed to that sort of business."[162] Duke's situation did not allow for him
to serve in that capacity, however, and Barksdale, although he would remain employed at
the university, was soon replaced with a well-qualified and experienced undertaker from
Richmond, Arthur Spicer Brockenbrough.

Proposals and Contracts

As winter set in the construction slowed and little building was accomplished. In
mid-February Ambrose Flanagan of Louisa County offered a proposal to haul plank during
the coming spring from Union Mills on Friendship Mills Creek:

             

My charge
for weatherboarding plank price	hundred	$1.00
Three quarter plank	hundred feet—	$1.35 Cts
Inch plank	hundred feet—	$1.70
Floreing plank	hundred feet—	$2.00
Scantling 3 inches by 4	hundred feet—	2.50
Sash plank for 4 Dollars	hundred[163]

Barksdale informed Flanagan in late March that Jefferson was satisfied with his prices, and
that the university would buy all the plank that his mill could produce, a proposal which
Flanagan accepted eagerly on the first of April.[164] Unknown to Jefferson, during the same
week that Flanagan made his proposal, Leghorn Consul Thomas Appleton was signing a
contract with the Raggi "brothers" for stonecarving. The Italian sculptors contracted to carve
marble at the university for three years and, receiving $200 each against their future
earnings, agreed to take the first opportunity that Appleton could arrange for them to sail to
America. In addition to paying their passage to America, the university agreed to pay the
artists' 526 Spanish dollars a year plus provide a diet acceptable to their station (see
appendix L). A further stipulation entitled the university to retain one-fourth of the two
men's salary until the end of their three-year term.[165] On 25 February Appleton wrot e
Jefferson that the Raggis had "embark'd on board the Brig Strong Captain Concklin for
Baltimore," at a cost of $140 each.[166] As usual, however, months passed before the
delivery of letters from abroad; in fact, it was the end of June before Jefferson learned of
Appleton's actions.[167]

New Board of Visitors

In the third week of February Jefferson received Joseph Carrington Cabell's letter from
Richmond written to inform him that Governor James Patton Preston had named the first
Board of Visitors for the University of Virginia and fixed the date of their first meeting for
the last Monday in March. Besides Jefferson, Cabell, James Madison, and John Hartwell
Cocke, who all had served on the board for the Central College, three new men received
appointments, Chapman Johnson, who was born at Boswell's Tavern in Louisa and lived in
Staunton, James Breckenridge of Botetourt County, and Robert B. Taylor of Norfolk. James
Monroe and David Watson, visitors for the college, were not reappointed.[168] In his reply to
Cabell, Jefferson called the makeup of the new board "entirely unexceptionable," noting
only that Breckenridge and Taylor lived at such a distance as to "render their attendances
uncertain." Calling attention to the "lateness of the day" (March 29) for the new board's first
meeting, Jefferson considered it indispensable for the old board to meet and apply all its
funds to building so as not to lose the chance of employing workmen for the coming year.
Otherwise, there would be a delay in the opening of the institution for a year, and, he
thought, the university should not be opened "until we can do it with that degree of splendor
necessary to give it a prominent character." He requested that the college's visitors meet at
Madison's Orange County home, Montpelier, on the following Friday (26 February) "to
determine at once" what buildings could be undertaken during the coming season. He
believed their funds would permit two pavilions in addition to the two already being
constructed, one "boarding house" (hotel) and 20 or 30 more dormitories.[169]

Cabell, of course, could not travel from Richmond to Montpelier in late February; Jefferson
notified Watson in Louisa and Cocke in Fluvanna that their presence was necessary to form
a quorum.[170] Jefferson himself (nearly 76 years of age and not fully recuperated from the
severe illness he developed at the springs following the meeting at Rockfish Gap the
previous August), informed General Cocke that "the roads being impassable for a carriage, I
shall take it on horseback, dividing the journey into two days. if the weather is good I shall
probably go to Colo. Lindsay's on Wednesday & to mr Madison's the next day, if you have
time for such leisurely movements I shall be happy in having your company."[171] On the
day of the meeting, however, Watson sent a missile informing the board that the "badly of
the weather, & the state of my health . . . absolutely forbid my attempting to meet you" at
Madison's. He did plan to go to Albemarle on the 28th, though, and he proposed that in the
mean time the board meet and "do as if I were personally present, & assenting to whatever
you & the visitors you may advise with, think necessary & proper; use no ceremony, but
affix my name to any paper or papers that may require it."[172] The board did just that, and
Jefferson, on his way back home following the meeting, obtained Watson's signature on the
minutes of the visitors.[173]

Jefferson's Design Approved

At their meeting the visitors resolved to carry out the plans for the buildings along the lines
that Jefferson indicated to Cabell a week earlier. They unanimously agreed that "the urgency
of the advancing season, and the importance of procuring workmen before they become
generally otherwise engaged for the season, render . . . that certain measures be forthwith
taken."[174] "Certain measures" meant immediately advertising for workmen for the
university and awarding contracts, a process which Jefferson started on 1 March.[175] After
voting on Jefferson's initial goals for the buildings, the visitors supplemented their ruling by
adding that "we approve of the propositions for covering with tin sheets the Pavilions and
Hotels hereafter to be covered, and for bringing water to them by wooden pipes from the
neighboring highlands." Also, the board appointed Alexander Garrett, treasurer of the
Central College, to become Bursar of the University "until otherwise provided," and so that
he could "meet the immediate and pressing calls for money," it authorized Garrett to receive
the $15,000 public endowment for 1819.[176]

Dissatisfaction with Design

In the week following the last meeting of the Central College visitors, outgoing member and
House of Delegates representative David Watson came to the realization that he had played
a vital role in promoting a plan for building at the university that he did not like in any
respect. He wrote John Hartwell Cocke on 8 March to inform the general that he had met
Jefferson on the road "& did what was necessary in the business that carried you to Mr.
Madisons. While I was up, I visited the University, which, to my shame, I had not seen,
since the foundation stone was laid; & I now regret this the more, as the buildings are not
upon a plan to meet my notions of convenience & utility." Watson "breifly & imperfectly"
stated some of his objections to Jefferson's architectural plan, which, in his words, lacked
convenience and fitness as well as the requisite size for the purposes for which they were
intended. "Without this architectural order, & chastity, & beauty, which Mr. Jefferson talks
of, will be all thrown away. The pavilion which was first raised, is altogether unfit for the
residence of a professor who has a family," Watson asserted. "The cellar is barely sufficient
for a kitchen; & where will meal, meat, & all the necessary articles of ordinary subsistance,
which you can readily imagine, be kept? The second pavilion is larger, & of course less
objectionable; but even that will be deficient in convenience." But most of all, Watson objected
to the dormitories. Lacking convenience, too small, and too public for study, he
predicted that the

The boarding houses, "an important appendage," rankled Watson as well because they were
disconnected from the dormitories and lacked proper gardens. "I fear too that the flat roofs
will leak, for I scarcely ever knew a flat roof in Virginia that did not. The interior of the
pavilions are built too expensively. The floors, for instance, are too costly both as to
materials and the manner of laying them." Warning Cocke that there was no time to lose and
advising him to get assistance if necessary from "some one experienced in planing large
establishments," the frantic Watson finally exclaimed, "I am quite an ignoramus in
architecture; but I can feel what is convenient & inconvenient; and, by all our ardent prayers
& wishes, let us not sacrifice the important, long sought object, for the want of suitable
convenience in the plan of the buildings, & other arrangements." Watson, realizing too late
and too imperfectly the scope of Jefferson's architectural vision, at last concluded, "Mr. J. is
sacraficing every thing to Attic & Corinthian order & chastity; about which I know nothing,
& care almost as little; tho' I certainly should be pleased that the establishment should have
an eligant & dignified appearance."[177]

Proctor Recruited

On the last day of the month, Jefferson's old friend and former governor Wilson Cary
Nicholas wrote him that Arthur Spicer Brockenbrough was willing to contract with the
university for the carpenter's work and also could engage to "undertake the superintendence
of all your work of every sort at that place." This proved a great boon for the university and
for Jefferson as the amount of work increased greatly the ensuing spring and summer, for
the capable Brockenbrough served as a reliable and zealous promoter of the institution's
interests. A brother of Judge William Brockenbrough, Thomas Brockenbrough, Dr. Austin
Brockenbrough, and Dr. John Brockenbrough, Jr., and like them a man of "excellent
character," Arthur Brockenbrough was known as a "compleat workman" and said to be
"more scientific than any of our public," asserted Nicholas.[178] He built the new banking
houses in Richmond, his brother's new house (either John's White House of the Confederacy
or William's "simpler house of red brick on Broad Street, across Ninth from the Swan
Tavern, and on the site of the present [1923] Smithdeal College"),[179] and many others,
including one for Judge Spencer Roane. "If you want such a person," the enthusiastic
Nicholas said,

Jefferson responded positively to Nicholas' suggestion, calling Brockenbrough "exactly such
a character" as the institution needed but pessimistically added, "I fear much that altho. he
would suit us, our salary would not suit him." Sandy Garrett traveled down to Richmond to
consult with Nicholas and Senator Cabell before contacting Brockenbrough directly, and the
three men decided to encourage Brockenbrough to visit the site of the university.[181] The
day after their meeting, Nicholas wrote Jefferson again to inform him that "Mr. B. is not a
common workman, I understand he is a competent architect. His brother the Doctor, who
has both experience & taste, tells me he is master of all the different orders of Architecture. I
hope you will pardon my anxioustness upon this subject, it proceeds entirely from my desire
to save you trouble."[182] (Nicholas also stated his opinion that the price of brickwork in
Richmond was expected to fall under $10 per thousand for the summer due to "a total
suspension of every thing like building.") Brockenbrough left Richmond on 27 March to
talk to Jefferson and the Board of Visitors about the position,[183] and the university Board
of Visitors at their first meeting on Monday 29 March authorized its committee of
superintendence (Jefferson and John Hartwell Cocke) to engage Brockenbrough as
proctor for $2,000 a year.[184]

After Brockenbrough's return to Richmond, Governor Nicholas continued to negotiate with
him for the university but did not feel authorized to make a deal because Brockenbrough's
prior commitments prohibited his moving to the university before August.[185] In mid-April
Brockenbrough traveled to Cocke's James River plantation in Fluvanna County located
about half-way between Richmond and Charlottesville, called Bremo, at the urging of
Senator Joseph Carrington Cabell. Brockenbrough carried letters from Cabell to Cocke, who
wrote his friend that "I hope you will hold on upon Brockenbrough,"[186] and one from
Governor James Patton Preston to Cocke introducing Brockenbrough as the executive
superintendant of repairs at the capitol and of the improvements of the public square. "He is
judicious œconomical and industrious in this business . . . a man possessing good taste and
understands the mode of executing work as well as any person, having been regularly bred
to the business of building. He possesses a most Amiable & unexceptionable character & I
think he would not engage in any business that he was not perfectly competent to."[187]
Brockenbrough accepted the position while at Bremo but could not move his family to the
university site until the end of July.[188]

Advertisement for Contractors

Nelson Barksdale in the meantime continued to serve in the capacity as proctor for the
university. On the first day of March an advertisement for house carpenters and joiners
obviously penned by Jefferson began to circulate in Barksdale's name. It specifically
required contractors to submit bids for work at the university based upon Mathew Carey's
1812 Philadelphia Price Book, although undertakers were free to adjust their proposals in
either direction by percentage.[189] Lumber alone was excepted, to be settled at its actual
cost, but the kiln drying of unseasoned boards would be at the contractors' expense.[190] The
advertisement was placed in the local newspaper as well as in several other localities,
including Staunton, Winchester, Richmond, Baltimore, and Philadelphia.[191]

The appearance of the advertisement in the newspapers brought an immediate and
overwhelming response, making the month of March 1819 one of the most important in the
building of the University of Virginia. The worker's proposals that began to trickle into the
university at first apparently were instigated by word of mouth. Several prominent
Lynchburg citizens sent letters to Jefferson in early March recommending plasterer David
White, who was the brother of the deceased Albemarle County resident William White, and
who was presently engaged in plastering a house in Botetourt County for Charles
Johnston.[192] White, described as "well acquainted with stucco & ornamental
plaistering,"[193] had been "closely employed at his profession" in the Lynchburg area for
several years, fulfilling his contracts "with neatness, and dispatch," much to the satisfaction
of his employers until a "great depression here in all kinds of business, have put . . . an
entire stop, to all improvement."[194] White arrived at the university, armed with a fresh
recommendation from Christopher Hudson of Mount Air labeling him "one of the best
workmen in his line" and with his proposal in hand:

             

Three	Coat Plaster	and Lathing	62½	Cents
Three	Do	Brick Do. Walls	46
Two	Do.	and Lathing	46
Two	Do	on Brick Walls	34
One	Do	and Lathing	34
One	Do	and Brick Walls	17
I wish to undertake all the plastering as I see no difficulty in accomplishing it.[195]

Judge Archibald Stuart of Staunton sent an interesting letter of introduction to Jefferson for
Dabney Cosby, the brickworker. Besides describing Cosby as a person desirous of
undertaking "a small part of the Brick work . . . say to Make and lay 350,000 bricks," Stuart
also warned of a plot to monopolize the brickwork by some of central Virginia's most
prominent contractors:

I have been advised that separate proposals will be made by Messrs Jordan, Brown,
Hawkins, Darst and perhaps others for parts of the brick work takeing care that such parts
shall include the whole while in fact they are all to be partners in the proposed
undertakeing—If they are successful they will exclude all competition & this monopoly may
eventuate even worse that that of an Individual—Mr. C[osby] assures me he stands
unconnected in the Offer he shall make & I believe it is his object so to demean himself as
to attract the future attention of the Visitors.[196]

No evidence of this alleged conspiracy to monopolize the brickwork at the university has
been identified, however. Cosby made the trip across the Blue Ridge on 14 March when he
interviewed the ex-president in person. He waited until late March to submit his proposal to
make and lay 200,000 to 300,000 bricks for $14 per thousand, "Lime unstacked from
Agusta" and "Sand from Secretarys ford."[197] When meeting with Jefferson, Cosby
mentioned the possibility that his friend Bolinger might be willing to lay the wooden water
pipe for the university. Immediately upon his return to the valley Cosby consulted Bolinger,
who stated his price as "$6. Pr Hd. feet & One Shilling for fiting each Joint. If fited with
Boxes no charge for Joints. Diameter of the bore 2 inches Bonding found also sufficient help
to Lay them down." Bolinger "Prefers pine, to Chesnut," said Cosby, "the latter will split in
Jointing and requires a band. Logs should be cut 18 or 20 feet long, from 10 to 14 inches
diameter at the Stump. He desires you to let me Know in 8 or 9 days whether you will
consider it a contract."[198] Bolinger could not begin work at the university until late April,
however, so when Jefferson informed Bolinger that the university was accepting his offer he
told him to put off coming until the first week of May.[199]

A Flood of Proposals

The publishing of the advertisement calling for workers at the University of Virginia, as
previously mentioned, was an incident of almost unparalleled importance in the institution's
young history. The promotion of the Central College to university status certainly lent the
establishment the legitimacy it needed to draw off workers from Philadelphia, the country's
premier city when it came to construction and the building trades. Furthermore, the fact that
workers willing to leave Philadelphia, Baltimore, Richmond, or even Lynchburg, to come to
Jefferson's lonely hill-top site highlighted the fact that 1819 proved to be a particularly
depressed year in the nation's economic history. The craftsmen that inundated the mailboxes
of Jefferson and Nelson Barksdale with a welcome flood of business propositions in the last
half of March wasted little time in preparing their proposals although decisions about which
to accept were postponed until the Board of Visitors meeting on 29 March.

Stonecutter Levi Taylor of Baltimore had the honor of being the first to inquire about the
advertisement even though it had not mentioned his craft.[200] Next, four prominent
Philadelphians and architect Robert Mills wrote to recommend Richard Ware as "worthy to
be employed, and competent, as a carpenter, to assist in the contemplated Structure."[201]
Jefferson's son-in-law, Thomas Mann Randolph, Jr., of Varina forwarded a letter from a
relative who recommended Daniel R. Calverly as a painter "surpassed by none in
Richmond" who had done a "great deal" of painting at Tuckahoe. Calverly trekked from
Richmond to Charlottesville to present his petition in person.[202] Christopher Branch wrote
from Manchester regarding the carpenter and joiner work but found himself at a loss how to
make an offer, not knowing "For Instance the Door & Window frames, Doors and Sash,
(plain & fancy,) If there should be fancy Sash wanting particularly Guilt."[203] Carpenter
Jacob H. Walker, writing from Smyrna, Delaware, proposed to "work ate teenty five per
cent" advance on "Mathea Caray house Carpents Book of prises," promising to send letters
of "Rcomendashen amedently" upon receiving "wourd what the prise of Bouard is By the
week."[204]

Patrick Gibson and Dr. John Brockenbrough, Jr., brother of soon-to-be proctor Arthur Spicer
Brockenbrough, each wrote from Virginia's capital to recommend David Hickey, the
"skillful workman" who recently finished the plaster work at Brockenbrough's mansion and
at Richmond's new courthouse.[205] Hickey waited until the summer to offer to "undertake
and Compleet the plastering and Stone worke of Mr. A. S. Brockenbrough new houses now
building and furnish all Meaterials Nesesary for Said worke at the following prices[:] three
Coat plastering 35 Cts. pr. yd. Opnings 25 Cts pr yd.[;] two Coat plastering 33 Cents pr. yd.
Opnings 16 Cts pr yd.[;] Lathing 17 Cents pr yd. Opnings 8 Cents p yd.[;] plain Cornice 45
Cents pr ft."[206]

John Parham, a "Master Carpenter" in Philadelphia for 17 years with 5 apprentices, wrote to
complain that Carey's 1812 Price Book "is not Known at all by the Measurers and
Carpenters of this City; and was never used as a rule for Measurement." Philadelphia
carpenters used two books, said Parham, who was a man of considerable property and a
competent draftsman, "One belonging to old, and the other to what is called the New
Carpenters Hall."[207] Chilion Ashmead saw the university's advertisement for workers in
the Baltimore paper and wrote to ask if the painting and glazing "Have all Reddy" been
contracted for and mentioning the "Presedent & Managers of the Balto Exchange Co and Mr
Latrobe A Gentlema[n] I Presume well none to you" as possible references.[208] Curtis
Carter and William B. Phillips, who together would land a contract for brickwork at the
university, sent in a proposal to make and lay 700,000 to 1,000,000 brick and complete it by
the first of November next:

       

For all walls faised with oil stock Brick	$18/m
For all walls faised with sand Stock Brick	$13 do
all walls such as partitions brest of chimneys and Seller walls below the surface	$12 do
The Bricks to be all harde the sand & lime to be the best the nabourhood affords and the worke to be exeucuted in a nice and workman like manner[209]

Jefferson reserved 300,000 bricks for Carter & Phillips at the price of $11½ for "place-
brickwork" and $20 for "oil-stock work," which they accepted.[210]

More Proposals

William Hawley, Jr., of Winchester, whose business was "hascepainting glazin and
paperhanging," not knowing the university's "choice of cullers," wrote to give his customary
price, "I have one still for a sollid yaurd which I Beleave is the price in washington citty[.]
my price for glazin and materiale found" is, Hawley stated,

             

Six	By	eight	4	cts
8	By	10	6
10	By	12	8
12	By	16	10
12	By	18	12
12	By	20	16
price of glazin

Hawley promised to bring to "sharlottes Vill" his "first rate worke man he is so called in
winchester."[211] Another painter, Thomas Smith, appealed to William T. Gray of
Fredericksburg for an introduction to Jefferson. Gray declined, not having ever "had that
honour myself," but did say that Smith was a "sober and industrious citizen" of "correct
conduct. He is considered a good painter."[212] E. W. Hudnall of Buckingham County
noticed the advertisement in the Richmond Enquirer and submitted a proposal of 12½ cents
per square yard for each coat of "plain painting" in "girt measure." (Girt measurements take
into account the entire surface of an object, including depressions and projections.) For
fancy painting such as "Mahogany, Marble Satin Woods, Stone colour &c." he charged 75
cents, and venetian blinds depended on the size. Hudnall's price for glazing is as follows:

       

For	Glazing	10.	by	12	for	each	light	10.	Cents
For	Glazing	12	by	14	for	each	light	12½
For	Glazing	14	by	16	for	each	light	17
For	Glazing	16	by	24	for	each	light	25

The Glass must be of the proper sizes or I shall charge 2 Cents for every light I cut & if cut
all round or circular 4 Cents.

"You will please address me at New Canton," Hudnall concluded, "My character as a painter
and Glazier, will if necessary be laid before you by the following Gentlemen (who will
vouch for the neatness of my execution, and the promtitude of my dispatch) Viz. Littlebury
Moon of Scottsville, Charles Irving & George Booker Esqr. of Buckingham, Alexander
Brent of Cumberland, & Wm. Perking Sherriff of Buckingham," who were all prominent
men in central Virginia.[213] Norborne Ratcliffe wanted to undertake the making and laying
of 100,000 brick at $15 per thousand, much higher than the current prices in Richmond
where he had worked for the last two or three years. "or if the bricks is made by a Seperate
Contract & every thing delivered on the Spot," Ratcliffe added, "I will lay them at the Price
of three Dollers Per thousen arches to be a load conciderred a ceperate charge in either of
my Proposals: brick makeing I am well acquanted with & dou a Shore you if I be come and
undertaker of any Part of this work will use every exertion to give Satisfaction to the
Parties."[214]

Former Richmond Mayor John Adams introduced Russell Dudly, who built the Union Hotel
in Richmond, to new university Board of Visitor member General James Breckenridge,
saying the carpenter "is associated in any offers which he may make with Mr. Otis Manson,
who is an Architect of the first order & has designed & executed most of the most elegant
buildings in the lower part of our City."[215] Richard Ware's proposal to undertake "three
portions" of carpenter work already has been mentioned.[216] Although he modified his
initial proposal in early April, James Oldham, who previously worked as a joiner at
Monticello, tendered his "Servises" to undertake the carpentry and joinery for "one or two of
the Buildings" at a 25 percent "advance on the adopted rule, the worke to be performed
agreeable to the Turms specifyed in the Advertisment, but the kilndrying of Plank and
bordes will be charged for."[217] James W. Widderfield, working as a carpenter for
contractor John M. Perry, obligated himself to do the all the woodwork work of a hotel and
its attached dormitories at the "prices heare to fore giveen for work of the same description
done at the University or by M Carrys book of prices printed in Phildelppia in 1812."[218]
But housejoiner and contractor James Dinsmore, nearing completion of Pavilion II,
submitted an informed opinion that he "Should not Consider my Self Justifiable in
undertakeing by the Book mentioned as the Standard at a less advance than the difference of
the Currency between Pensyvania & Virginia." Dinsmore, knowing first hand "the manner in
which the work is Expected to be executed, and the difficultys we Labour under here in
procureing good workmen," offered to undertake the carpentry and joinery work of the Ionic
pavilion with its range of dormitories at 5 percent less the book price, "Provided they get an
experienced Philadelphia measurer to measure the work after it is Executed, which would
Probably be best also for Preventing disputes between the Visitors & undertaker." This last
suggestion later was required by the courts before James Oldham's lawsuit against the
university could be settled (see appendix J).[219]

Report on Water

On the same day that Dinsmore offered his proposal for consideration, he and John Perry
(by now the two contractors with the most experience and knowledge at the university
construction site) submitted a report informing the Board of Visitors that they "haveing
leveled from the doric pavillion to the Springs on the mountain—find the two first to be 6.
feet above the water table—at the distance of 1,100 yards—one hundred yards further is
another Spring 26. feet above the water table of pavillion—and Still further—Say abut 60
yards there is another 75 feet above the sd. level—all of these are bold good Springs—the
furtherest Spring—1,260. yards from the pavillion—as near as we Could tell by Steping it
of[f]."[220] Although the distance was troublesome and the university would be plagued by
water supply problems for some years into the future, the fact that the springs were strong
was good news (see appendix T). As for John Perry, on the same day he submitted his own
proposal to make and lay 300,000 bricks at $14 per thousand and to execute the "appendant"
woodwork for a hotel and dormitories at 25 percent above the prices printed in Carey's
"philadelphia price book—that makeing the prices Virginia Currency"; he also offered to
furnish the lumber from his own sawmill.[221]

More Proposals

When the Board of Visitors of the University of Virginia met for the first time several
workmen were yet preparing their proposals for the coming year. Painter and window glazer
Thomas Smith showed up in person while the visitors were meeting to submit his bid,
saying that he would install window glass for 10 cents per square foot for precut glass and
15 cents otherwise. As for outside painting, Smith's price for one "collor and the work is
plain no Carved work attached" was 25 cents per square yard for 2 coats, 10 cents for
additional coats. For inside work he charged 30 cents per yard for two coats and 12 cents for
additional coats for one color. "Imitating Mahagony on Doors or Elsewhere and varnishing
the same with Copal varnish," cost 75 cents per yard, and he suggested the "same price for
painting in imitation of Sattiny wood or Norway Oak."[222] John Percival addressed a letter
to Jefferson proposing to work at 40 percent advance on the Philadelphia Price Book but not
before he offered the former president a "fiew remarks" of admonishment. "It is very
astonishing," wrote Percival, "that the first men in this very extensive & riseing Empire
Should fix as a standard perhaps the most Antient in the present Day the most illiberal the
most Obsolete & the least Scientific of all Books extant and by this means to enslave with a
yoke & reduce to Vassalage the most extinsive & useful Branch of the Republic."[223]

Decisions by the Board of Visitors

The new Board of Visitors met as scheduled on Monday, 29 March, with all members
attending, and appointed Jefferson rector of the university, Peter Minor secretary to the
board, and Alexander Garrett bursar, allowing the latter $250 a year for compensation. The
board also appointed Jefferson and Cocke to a committee of "advice, Superintendence and
controul," authorizing them "jointly or severally" to direct the agents of the institution
during the intervals of its sessions, but "jointly only" to call a special meeting of the board
when necessary. It instructed the new committee to purchase at a "fair valuation or
reasonable price" such portion of John Perry's land that lay between the two tracts
heretofore purchased of him, "as may conveniently unite the whole in one body," provided it
could defer the payment until the institution received the fourth installment of subscriptions
or the third year's public endowment. Another important matter devolving to the committee
of superintendence was the hiring of Arthur Spicer Brockenbrough as proctor of the
University for $2,000 or less, or if he could not be engaged, then any other person "on such
terms as they find necessary."

The board also resolved to instruct acting Proctor Nelson Barksdale to examine into the state
of the property real and personal (monies and credits excepted) formerly appertaining to the
Central College, and he make an inventory of the same, "as it stands at this day, specifying
the items whereof it consists, and noticing the buildings and other improvements already
made and those which are in progress." It also instructed the new bursar to make a statement
of the funds in money and credits and debts relative to the Central College. Finally, the
board reaffirmed the decision made by the visitors of the Central College at their last
meeting (26 February) to delay the opening of the institution by diverting all incoming funds
into construction of the buildings and resolved to approve and pursue the measures "adopted
by them for the buildings of the present year."[224]

Yet More Proposals

The month of March, so pregnant with possibilities, finally ended, but not before one more
undertaker set down to write out a proposal to undertake work at the university. Abraham
Woglome of Philadelphia, 20 years as a "master Employer," offered to bring five or six
bricklayers to Virginia and to "Superintend the Mason & brick work."[225] After this the
flood of incoming proposals began to abate, albeit slowly. In fact, April opened with three of
the local carpenters resubmitting their bids. James Dinsmore and John M. Perry, learning of
the proctor's advertisement and expecting fierce competition for the award of contracts,
withdrew their previous proposals and together handed in a new one accepting the "Book
mentioned as the Standard Counting a Dollar there [Pennsylvania] Equal, to a Dollar
here."[226] James Oldham followed suit two days later, "very desireous of getting to worke if
on Turms onely that will cover my daly expenses," offering a proposal that was accepted a
few days later.[227] Thus three of Jefferson's favored workmen from the Monticello
reconstruction of a few years earlier were given employment. The fourth, master craftsman
and architect John Neilson, sent a letter from Upper Bremo, the plantation on the James
River in Fluvanna County where Neilson was constructing a Palladian mansion for John
Hartwell Cocke, turning down employment for the present season.[228] Richard M. Burke
offered to make window "Sashes frames Doors &c" in his Richmond shop.[229] Daniel
Flournoy of "Chester-field" offered to make 5 or 600,000 bricks "this season."[230] In
mid-April David Cobbs wrote "for the perpus of of nowing wheather I Could undertak the
Jobs of piping the warter to the bildings: my price is ten sentes pr foot. the Dich augr the
Loges Hold & the Borer furneses. I will Compled. it in 2 month."[231] Cobb's proposal was
the last to arrive until mid-June, when Albemarle County resident William Wood offered to
provide scantling and "every kind of plank, well seasoned" after the first of October.[232]
Although a couple more proposals trickled in during the course of the summer, by the end of
the first week in April the matter of undertaking for the building had been effectively settled
for the coming season.[233]

The one important matter left to be taken care as the season for work opened up was that of
hiring a replacement for Nelson Barksdale to keep track of the progress of the work and the
workers, a task increasingly requiring energies beyond those possessed by the still agile but
aged Jefferson.[234] The hiring of Arthur Spicer Brockenbrough as the new proctor in
mid-April was a godsend which came none too soon, but before the new proctor could leave
Richmond in mid-summer, a creditable beginning had been made by those undertakers
fortunate enough to land a contract. By the end of the year the pace of construction had been
established at the building site, although Jefferson habitually complained that the work
"have gone on miserably slow."[235]

Ware in Trouble

The first contractor fortunate enough to secure a contract from among the many proffers,
Philadelphia carpenter Richard Ware, caused a minor crisis at the university. Jefferson wrote
Ware on 9 April to inform him that the university would accept his contract on the condition
that Ware engage Philadelphia brickmakers and bricklayers to do the brickwork for his
buildings, Pavilion V, Hotels A and B, and 23 dormitories (all on the east side of the square,
requiring an estimated 578,530 bricks). Promising work for the next year and a
"considerable time afterwards," Jefferson also offered dormitories for lodgings for the
master workmen and their cellars for the under workmen.[236] Ware considered the wages
liberal and sent word to Jefferson via Thomas Cooper that he wanted to accept the terms but
that the area brickmakers were already engaged in their summer work. One Cribbs, a
"conceited old man a Brickmaker, who appears to have acquired wealth in the pursuit,"
accompanied Ware's messenger (a Quaker named James) to Cooper. Cribbs advised burning
the bricks in a kiln rather than in clamps in order to improve their quality and to temper the
clay by the treading of oxen. As for Ware himself, it was said that he was absent from
Philadelphia taking the "benefit of the Insolvent Law in Delaware State."[237]

Ware wrote Jefferson a couple days later, however, informing him that he had found
bricklayers but that "geting A Brickmaker has detaind me . . . here Bricklayers & makers are
two distinct business & to get bricks made is the Onley difficulty in the way." Ware,
"afinishing a small job out of town" while at the same time "prepairing my tools," promised
to write back in about ten days.[238] Thus Jefferson relied on Ware to bring a crew of
carpenters and bricklayers from Philadelphia. By mid-May, however, Jefferson had received
word that Ware's embarrassing circumstances caused him to be arrested and jailed when it
became known that he was heading for Virginia. "what are we to do?" Jefferson asked the
new proctor, "in the first place keep this a profound secret until we can substitute contracts
to supply his place." The "two young men" who executed Pavilion II, brothers who were
journeymen of Matthew Brown, could aid Curtis Carter, Jefferson suggested, and Cooper
could "send us on housejoiners from Philadelphia . . . lest we should seem really to have
been jockeying our own workmen. before too that this thing be known you should have
written articles signed by all your workmen, for they will endeavor to fly the way when they
suspect that the Philadelphia competition is withdrawn.[239]

As it turned out, however, Jefferson's scare was for naught, for Ware, freed
from jail, arrived at Monticello less than two weeks later. He assured Jefferson
that he had "the most steady, faithful & skilful" workmen ready to sail from
Philadelphia to Richmond as soon as they heard from Ware. Jefferson then had to
turn around and write back to the proctor with a request to halt any efforts set
in motion to replace Ware as a contractor.[240] Informed by Ware that all
Philadelphia bricklayers "are regular stonemasons and always do the stone
foundations for themselves," Jefferson declared he was "really anxious to have
these people employed from the knolege I have of their superior activity over
those we are used." And, he added, "I shall expect your answer with
anxiety."[241]

Philadelphians Arrive

Ware returned to Philadelphia, arriving back on 10 June, and found his men "prepairing with
all expetction for to come to Virginia." In addition, since talking to Jefferson, he had
rounded up some stonecutters who would be "glad to be imployerd" at their trade for $1.50
per day.[242] Abiah Thorn, who in 1820 entered into a brickwork partnership with John M.
Perry, came to the university as a result of Ware's new inquiries in Philadelphia.[243] Ware
and his men, ready to leave Philadelphia several days ahead of the vessel that carried them
south,[244] made it to Richmond by Sunday 11 July.[245] Once at the university the
Philadelphians immediately set to work. At Brockenbrough's insistence Ware involved
himself in the stonework and quickly saw the need for an "Experienced Qurry man." By 22
July Ware's men had "made A few 1,000 Bricks my 2 tempers not able to work one not well
& nurseing of him,"[246] and by the 26th they had made 12,000, although Ware complained
that "for the want of rain the floor are in bad order & clay raw & grean."[247] By the 30th,
however, Ware had experienced his first insurrection, losing some of his "hands" because of
an alleged shortage of fresh beef. "I hope however he will regain them," said Alexander
Garrett, "they would be a great loss to the institution, as Ware carries on his work in a very
superior stile to any others at the University."[248]

Italian Stonecutters

The Philadelphia brickworkers' experience in stonework advanced the general progress of
stonework at the site, potentially one of the most troublesome aspects of Jefferson's
architectural plan. Also, they arrived just in time to give him some consolation regarding the
carving of the marble capitals, four columns each on two Corinthian pavilions, four Ionic
pavilions, and four Doric pavilions.[249] Although Michele and Giacomo Raggi had sailed
from Leghorn in March, at the end of May Jefferson was still in the dark about when they
might arrive.[250] Jefferson already had "begun to despair" of their ever arriving and had
written to Cardelli in Washington in search of one "as could carve an Ionic or Corinthian
capitel"; Cardelli replied that marble carvers there demanded $3 a day.[251] In late June
Dabney S. Carr sent word to Jefferson that the Italians had arrived in Baltimore after a
three-month voyage on the Brig Strong but could not gain passage on the steamboat for
Norfolk "owing to their not having performed Quarantine." Hence, against Jefferson's
previous express orders, they traveled to Charlottesville by stagecoach.[252] The sculptors
finally arrived at the university site on the last day of June, right before Jefferson was
scheduled to set off for Bedford. Jefferson wrote Proctor Brockenbrough in pressing tones
urging him to come immediately to the university:

I think your presence here immediately is indispensably necessary. these men are to be
lodged, boarded & set to work. this requires the Quarriers to get to work for raising the
stone, common stonecutters to prepare the blocks and other arrangements to get them under
way. the Philadelphia workmen will need your presence also for a short time to set them to
work, point out the place for their brickyard and other particulars better known to you than
myself. in the present unsettled state of things I cannot think of leaving the place for
Bedford until your arrival here, and the delay is very distressing to me. . . . I count on being
able to depart myself within 24. hours after your arrival here.[253]

The Italian stone sculptors had been at the university only a few days when they examined
the university's quarry and, in Jefferson's words to four fellow members of the Board of
Visitors, "pronounce it impossible to make of it an Ionic or Corinthian capitel." What was
worse, Jefferson added, "they can work only in these ornamental parts, & not at all in plain
work. I never was so nonplussed. they have cost us a great deal of money, & how to avoid
it's becoming a loss, & how to get our work done, is the difficulty. I shall consult with mr
Brockenbrough on it to-day, & depart [for Poplar Forest] tomorrow." The two men decided
to let the sculptors make trial on the leaves of a Corinthian capital; if that failed then they
could carve the plainer Ionic capitals out of the stone and find other stone for the Corinthian
capitals. Jefferson closed the letter to the visitors on a positive tone, "the Philadelphians had
arrived at the University & had set to work," he said.[254] Two weeks later Richard Ware
commented that the stonecutters had quarried two pieces of marble and was squaring it to 22
inches square by 10 inches thick. "The Italians look sower at those Stones," Ware
commented, but "in my Opinion it will look well when worked the grit is hard &
Sharp-verry hard-upon tools but it can be worked."[255]

Irish Stonecutter

Fortunately, another stonecutter arrived on the scene who did not have to travel from Italy or
Philadelphia or have to be paid the high Washington prices. Irishman John Gorman had
worked in a Lynchburg area quarry for about eighteen months before Jefferson discovered
him and hired him to polish and lay some hearthstones at Poplar Forest.[256] Gorman
assured Jefferson that the deep blue Lynchburg marble could not bear the chisel for delicate
work but recommended he try quarries in Pennsylvania.[257] As for Gorman, Jefferson
wrote, "he is himself of the first class of stone cutters for every thing which is not sculpture
being able to prepare an Ionic capitel all but the last finishing." Impressed with Gorman's
practical knowledge of how long it took to carve different types of bases and capitals,
Jefferson calculated that it would take the two Italian sculptors three years to carve the
Corinthian and Ionic capitals and another three stonecutters two more years to carve the
university's tuscan bases and capitals. The Raggis, Jefferson concluded, "should be
employed therefore in nothing else, and all the bases should be done by other hands."[258]
All in all, Jefferson thought, Gorman was "well informed, industrious very skilful, sober &
good humored, and [I] think he will be a valuable acquisition."[259] Gorman more than met
Jefferson's expectations by executing stonework at the gymnasia and "all the stone caps,
bases, sills, wall copings, and newel blocks for the Rotunda, all of the ten Pavilions, and
Hotels A, C, D, E, and F," and some of the dormitories, in addition to setting stove stones,
gate blocks, and steps.[260]

Gorman was not scheduled to move to the university until September, however; hence, over
the course of the spring and summer 1819, little progress was made on the marble work,[261]
and the entire fall was taken up (as regards stonework) with trying to find an alternate source
of good quality stone. As it turned out, Consul Thomas Appleton had the best idea in
September when he offered to supply marble from Italy, but by the time the letter reached
Monticello in December, Jefferson still did not recognize the wisdom of his offer.[262] In
October Brockenbrough sent one of the Raggis to Bremo to examine John Hartwell Cocke's
free stone and also mentioned the possibility of buying "James river free stone from
Grayhams Quarry" for $10 the ton. The exasperated proctor even volunteered that with
respect to the Corinthian capitals, if permitted to do as he wanted, "I would get some good
yellow poplar & have them carved—they would last a long time covered as they would be
by the projecting Cornice, the necking I would have of stone to seperate the wood from the
stucco—the top of the Capitol could be covered with copper by the way of Keeping the
water out of it—This I have never ventured to hint to Mr Jefferson knowing he would be
opposed to it."[263] Brockenbrough also wrote to Thomas B. Conway in Richmond in search
of stone, and that industrious man offered to ship blocks up to "verry large they will measure
73 feet each Quarry measure" for $12½ per ton.[264]