University of Virginia Library

Work Stalled

Progress toward the attainment of that end (to finish the buildings) was virtually nil over the
next several months. Besides renewing the agreements for the hiring of slaves, the only
other observable activity taking place at the construction site before March was the sale of
Curtis Carter's brickwork contract on 4 January. Contractor John M. Perry purchased the
business for $520 and the promise to have the brickwork "finnished in a nise and
workmanlike manner" as soon as the season would "permit him to doo the Same." In return
Perry received all the bricks and "likewise the house and Stable with all the oak I have on
hand" from Carter plus the right to the same compensation from the university for
performing the work.[431] As for the rector and proctor, they spent the rest of the winter
scampering for money with which to continue to operate. In late January 1821
Brockenbrough informed Cabell that the workmen "are progressing here as fast as the
severity of the weather and the low state of our funds will admit."[432] By then, three
contractors had demanded substantial sums from the institution—William B. Phillips,
Edward Lowber, and John Perry—the third failing to have his request honored.[433] The
proctor hoped Cabell could influence the legislature to double the institution's annual
appropriation and authorize the university to obtain additional loans because "without it we
shall not be able to do much in the building way."[434] Cabell's answer was not very
reassuring. "It is painful to me to tell you," he wrote Brockenbrough, "that clouds of
difficulty roll over our horizon & darken our prospects. Yet I hope that we shall be able to
procure the funds requisite to finish the buildings."[435]