University of Virginia Library

IX. Additions to Main Building

The Rockfish Gap Report had recommended that anatomy should form a part of the course to be taught in the School of Medicine, but it was not until March, 1825, that the Board decided that Jefferson's design for an anatomical hall should be adopted, and that steps should be taken to erect it just as soon as the funds then expected to be paid by the National Government had been received. In anticipation of the shelter of its roof, two skeletons were purchased by Dr. Robert Goodhow, of New York; and this seems to have been the first practical step towards the establishment of the medical school. By February, 1826, the construction of the hall had begun under a contract with Dinsmore and Neilson, and by August the roof had been completed. As it was necessary

to build with strict economy, the proctor, -who, in the absence of General Cocke, was overseeing the work, -complained to him of an expensive Chinese railing which had been put up on the edge of the roof. So rapid did the construction go forward that the hall seems to have been ready for use by February of the following year, only twelve months after the foundation stone was laid.

There was no suggestion in the Rockfish Gap Report of the need of an observatory in the projected university, and yet astronomy was a study which Jefferson looked upon as almost as important as architecture. An entry in his notebook accompanying a plan which he had drawn for such a building shows that he thought that astronomy, like architecture, could he taught by the object lesson of one of the University's structures. "The concave ceiling of the Rotunda," he remarked, with a characteristic absence of humor, "is proposed to be painted sky-blue, and spangled with gilt stars in their position and magnitude copied exactly from any selected hemisphere of our latitude. A seat for the operator, movable and flexible at any point in the concave, will be necessary, and means of giving to every star its exact position. A white oak sapling is to he used as a boom, its heel working in the centre of the sphere, with a rope suspending the small end of the boom and passing over a pulley in the zenith, and hanging down to the floor, by which the boom may be raised or lowered at will. A common saddle with stirrups is to he fixed as the seat of the operator; and seated in that, he may, by the rope, be propelled to any point in the concave."

It was probably the costliness of the projected building that influenced Jefferson to go slowly in advising the erection of an observatory, which, in size at least, should

be in proportion to the other structures. In 1820, he calculated that ten and even twelve thousand dollars would be needed; and the only prospect of obtaining so large a sum at this time lay in collecting the balance of the subscription money, to be supplemented by the rents expected from the hotels and dormitories so soon as the institution should open its doors. This prospect vanished in a short time; and three years afterwards, Jefferson was disposed to convert the house occupied by the proctor on Monroe Hill into the building desired. The isolation and elevation of its site appeared to adapt it to such a purpose. Not long before his death occurred, he, with characteristic care and minuteness, after examining the plans of all the principal establishments of this kind then in existence, drew up one of his own. The edifice was to be constructed so massively in its foundations and walls that it would be impossible for it to be liable at any time to disturbing vibrations. There was to be a cupola to shelter the telescope, with openings towards every point of the horizon, and thus, in every direction, looking out on a very wide expanse. A very high attitude for the site, however, would not be required, as the sky line at the University was not, as in Europe, shut in by numerous houses, both public and private. On the reservoir mountain there existed a site which combined in itself all the favorable conditions that were indispensable, except that the remotest limits of the eastern heavens were concealed by the barrier of the Southwest Range. For that reason, Jefferson seems to have, at one time, canvassed the expediency of placing the observatory on the top of one of these intervening peaks. A small structure was erected on the reservoir mountain about March, 1828; but it appears to have served no practical purpose owing to the lack of a proper fitting out, and in 1859, it was pulled down, and the materials which entered into it were carted away for building elsewhere. A small brick house was erected on a knoll just south of Monroe Hill, was equipped by Lukens, of Philadelphia, and put in charge of Dr. Patterson, who took many observations there, and there did other astronomical work in connection with his classes in natural philosophy.

So soon as the contracts were given out, in the spring of 1819, for the construction of additional pavilions and dormitories, Jefferson began to consider the means of obtaining a permanent and voluminous supply of water. On April 9, he received a proposal from Mr. Balinger, of Philadelphia, to bring it within the precincts by means of pipes that were to tap springs on the side of Observatory Mountain. A previous bid seems to have been made in March by William Cosby, who was to have a share of some importance in the building of the University. By August, the work of boring the pipes, which were manufactured by hollowing out large logs of wood, had begun. The reservoir, however, had not yet been constructed, for, on October 7, James Wade, who had recently inspected the ground, advised Jefferson to place the receiving basin as high up on the mountain as practicable, so as to avoid the use of pumps. This method, he said, would be certain to create a strong natural flow of water for extinguishing a great fire, or for supplying an ornamental jet d'eau, should one be desired for diversifying the beauty of the University grounds. He suggested the construction of a circular reservoir, to consist of oak plank two and a half to three inches in thickness, and capable of holding three thousand or even four thousand gallons, with an arch of brick thrown over it for protection. The excavation of the ditch to contain the pipes occupied the interval from May to November.

Either the work of laying them was delayed, or they had to be replaced or renewed in part, for both in August, 1821, and in May, July, and November, 1832, the University was subjected to the expense of hauling logs and pipes. In the meanwhile, a number of cisterns had been constructed here and there within the precincts by Hugh Chisholm and William Phillips; and there were also sunk wells that required as many as ten thousand bricks to be brought from the Perry kiln.

There has already been a brief allusion to the gardens which lay in the rear of the ten pavilions. The walls enclosing these gardens were of a shape which has been aptly described as serpentine. It will be recalled that Jefferson, during his mission to France, had made a tour of the English counties, and in the course of his circuit of the island, had been very much pleased with the beauty of the gardens, especially in their relation to landscape. It was, probably, during this tour that he first noticed the serpentine walls, which, in those times as in these, environed so many of the English gardens, and being delighted with their graceful and unique sinuosity, he, no doubt, carried this impression with him until he had an opportunity of reproducing their shape in planning the garden walls for Central College. In England, this type of wall, because it presents a larger surface to the rays of the sun, is thought to be better adapted to the growth of flowering vines and fruits. The smaller cost of such an enclosure was, perhaps, an important reason for its adoption for the protection of the University gardens. The serpentine wall can be safely raised with a thickness of one brick to a greater height than an ordinary straight wall of the same dimensions. The original serpentine walls at the University were only half a brick through, and yet from ground to top the distance

is as much as six or seven feet; and the strength of their framework is proven by the endurance of most of the first material used, during a period of nearly one hundred years.

In providing for the buildings for the new seat of learning, Jefferson did not forget the need of a clock and bell. In 1825, the proctor obtained an offer from Joseph Saxton, of Philadelphia, who represented the famous maker, Lukens, who was then in Paris. Apparently, this was not accepted, for, in April, Jefferson wrote to Mr. Coolidge, of Boston, -a city which then had a high reputation in the art of bell making, -to ask him for assistance in procuring the bell so soon to be used "We want one," he said, "which can be generally heard at a distance of two miles, because this will always ensure its being heard at Charlottesville."

Coolidge, in his reply to this letter, seems to have recommended Mr. Willard, of Boston, but no clock and bell were manufactured that year, for, on April 3, 1826, the Board of Visitors empowered the executive committed to buy a clock and bell, should Congress consent to remit the duties on the capitals imported from Italy.[47] The order for the bell given to Willard was countermanded by Cocke after Jefferson's death, and an order for a triangle at first substituted; but the clock was

finally made by Willard in accord with the elaborate instructions which Jefferson had given in his letter to Coolidge in June, 1826. In the spring of 1827, the clock appears to have been put in place, for it was during that year that Willard visited the University for the purpose. A bell seems to have been ordered at first from Joseph White, of New York, but it did not give satisfaction. In November, 1827, a bell was shipped by Mr. Coolidge from Boston, and this was probably the one which remained in constant use until 1886, when having cracked, it became necessary to discard it; but it still survives as a venerable relic of the many years during which it sounded through the precincts of the University, and over the surrounding region of country.

When, in the spring of 1819, the appointment of a proctor was under discussion, Governor Preston, recommended Arthur S. Brockenbrough, a member of a distinguished family, who, at that time, was superintendent of repairs to the Capitol in Richmond, and was also in charge of the improvements to the Capitol Square, then in progress. "Brockenbrough," he wrote, "was judicious, economical, and industrious, a man of correct taste, who had been trained in building; and in character, unexceptional, and in disposition, amiable." These encomiums were not exaggerated. His ability and fidelity in performing the practical part imposed on him officially in the erection of the University have not been awarded the praise to which they fully entitle him in the history of the institution. Constant vigilance, unceasing activity, and the power to direct and use men to advantage, as well as knowledge of building in its general and special features alike, were required of him, and all these qualifications he exhibited. His responsibilities covered a large field of small details arising continuously, and calling

for sound judgment and expert information to meet them correctly and promptly. Jefferson pointed out how intricate were the duties of the office in his letter inviting; Alexander Duke, in 1819, to undertake them. "They are of two characters so distinct," he said, "that it is difficult to find them associated in the same person. One part . . . is to make contracts with workmen, superintend their execution, see that they are, according to plan, performed faithfully and in a workmanlike manner, settle their accounts and pay them off. The other is to hire common laborers, overlook them, provide subsistence, and do whatever else is necessary for the institution."[48]

It is true that Jefferson relieved Brockenbrough of much drudgery that would have fallen on him had Jefferson himself been satisfied with a nominal oversight. We have seen him laying off the site of Central College, drawing up the specifications for the buildings from cellar to garret, prescribing the tests for brick, stone, and timber, writing out many of the contracts with his own hand, and preparing the deeds to the purchased lots. But he very probably did not take upon himself to perform every one of those duties which he enumerated in the letter to Duke. Although he visited the University so frequently, yet it was not possible for him to remain the entire round of working hours, and there must have been, in his intervals of absence, however short, a throng of small matters of business rising up suddenly and requiring to be at once passed upon. As Bremo, the home of General Cocke, the other member of the committee of superintendence, was situated a day's journey off, it was not possible for him to be constantly within the precincts.

Brockenbrough, on the other hand, resided on the ground; the affairs of the University rested upon him, from morning to night, through the entire week, regardless even of the Sabbath; and when his two superiors were not present, he alone was responsible for the correct and orderly progress of the buildings. The accounts of his office, which still survive, are very voluminous, and they embrace every side of the original expenditures for construction.

That his temper was sometimes harassed by the exasperating intricacies of his duties crops out in the history of his relations with some of the workingmen. W. J. Coffee, whose artistic eye and hand fashioned the ornamental parts of the entablatures of the pavilion drawing-rooms, roundly denounced him, on one occasion, as "illbred, unhandsome, and insulting," but as there had been a difference of opinion in the settlement of his balance, it is quite possible that Brockenbrough was only endeavoring to safeguard the interests of the University. That was certainly so in the case of a contention with Edward Lawber, who supplied the paints for so many of the buildings. The records indicate that there was but one suit of importance brought against the institution during his administration by any of the contractors; this was by James Oldham; a proof that care had been taken by him to deal justly and exactly with all the persons who had a share in constructing it.

After Jefferson's death, Brockenbrough's prolonged experience under circumstances that sharpened his powers of observation was very serviceable to both Cocke and Madison as the executive committee. There still survives a letter written by him to the latter about the time that Madison succeeded to the rectorship, which contains many valuable practical suggestions respecting

the dormitories and hotels, and also the hospital, which had been projected but not yet begun.