Original Autograph Note Signed by Thomas Jefferson to Fellow Virginian Statesman James Monroe
August 31, Saturday (no year) · N.P. (Monticello)
by JEFFERSON, THOMAS, JAMES MONROE
N.P. (Monticello), August 31, Saturday (no year). Original Autograph Note Signed by Thomas Jefferson “Th: J.” to fellow Virginian statesman James Monroe: “Th: J. to Col. Monroe, Will you join Mr. Divers here at dinner tomorrow? and can you tell me the name of the Collector of Norfolk? Aug 31, Saturday”. With some 19th Century notation on the verso. Single sheet, 7 13/16” x 3”, minor creases from folding and a touch of toning, else fine. One of the most prominent of the Found Fathers, Thomas Jefferson served as the second Vice President of the United States under President John Adams from March 4, 1797 to March 4, 1801 and the third President of the United States from March 4, 1801 - March 4, 1809. Monroe’s connections with Jefferson were extensive and in many ways he became a protege of Jefferson when Jefferson served as the second governor of Virginia from 1779 to 1781. During the Revolutionary War with the British increasingly focusing their operations in the Southern colonies, the Virginians moved the capital to the more defensible city of Richmond, and Monroe accompanied Jefferson to the new capital. As governor of Virginia, Jefferson held command over its militia, and made Monroe a colonel. James Monroe (1758 - 1831) was an American statesman, lawyer, diplomat and Founding Father who served as the fifth President of the United States from 1817 to 1825. He is perhaps best known for issuing the Monroe Doctrine, a policy of opposing European colonialism in the Americas. He also served as the governor of Virginia, a member of the United States Senate, the U.S. ambassador to France and Britain, and the seventh Secretary of State and the eighth Secretary of War under James Madison. George Divers (1748–1830) was a farmer, miller, and longtime friend of Thomas Jefferson; naming his only son Thomas Jefferson Divers. In 1785 Divers purchased Farmington, a 3,421-acre Albemarle County plantation, where in 1802 Thomas Jefferson designed an addition to his house. He and Jefferson often exchanged seeds and corresponded about gardening and farming. (Inventory #: 23185E)