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Chapter 5
The Building Campaign of 1820
Documentary History of the Construction of the Buildings at the University
of Virginia, 1817-1828 |  |
Financial Woes
While Jefferson awaited the result of Cabell's efforts from his mansion outside
Charlottesville, he expressed his uneasiness about the state of affairs to Madison. "The
finances of the University are in a most painful state," he wrote. "the donation of 1820. is
recieved & paid away, and we still owe 15,000 for work already done."[373] Meanwhile, the
best Cabell could do was to win support for a bill authorizing the university to borrow
money to finish its buildings. The recent embezzlement by the state treasurer of $120,000
ruled out an outright gift of $80,000.[374] Jefferson, nevertheless, was relieved when Cabell
wrote to inform him of the passage of a compromise bill on 24 February granting the
institution power to borrow $60,000 against the credit of its own funds, adding that the
"University is popular in the Senate, and unpopular in the House of Delegates" (see
appendix H).[375]
373. TJ to James Madison, 16 February 1820, DLC:TJ. Jefferson also updated his old friend
on his illness, writing, "my health is as usual: no pain but low, weak, able to walk little, and
venturing to ride little on account of suspicious symptoms in my legs which Dr. Watkins
flatters himself will disappear in the spring."
374. For the default of the state treasurer, see the Richmond Enquirer, 15 January 1820,
Cabell to TJ, 3 February 1820, in Cabell, Early History of the University of Virginia, 180-81,
TJ to Thomas Cooper, 8 March 1820, in ViU:TJ, and Malone, Jefferson and Time: The Sage
of Monticello, 375.
375. See Cabell to TJ, 24 February, and An Act Authorizing the Visitors to Borrow Money
to Finish the Buildings, 24 February, and TJ to Thomas Cooper, 8 March 1820, all in
ViU:TJ; see also Cabell, Early History of the University of Virginia, 182-83. The university
borrowed the money from the Literary Fund (see the President and Directors of the Literary
Fund, Extract from the Minutes, 28 February, 24 March, Resolutions, 25 March, and TJ to
Thomas Mann Randolph, Jr., 10 March 1820, ViU:TJ).
|
Chapter 5
The Building Campaign of 1820
Documentary History of the Construction of the Buildings at the University
of Virginia, 1817-1828 | |