Highlighted Events
Chronology by Volume
Volume 1: 14 January 1760 to 25 December 1776
Born at Shadwell, Goochland (now Albemarle) County, Virginia.
His father, Peter Jefferson, dies.
Attends College of William and Mary.
Begins to study law with George Wythe at Williamsburg.
Journeys to Philadelphia and New York.
Passes the bar and begins to practice law in Albemarle and Augusta counties. Begins planting at Monticello.
Begins building at Monticello.
Member of House of Burgesses for Albemarle County.
His home at Shadwell burns.
Moves to Monticello.
Marries the widow Martha Wayles Skelton.
His daughter Martha Jefferson is born.
From his father-in-law’s estate, inherits debt, land, and slaves, including Betty Hemings, whose children later work in TJ’s household.
His daughter Jane Randolph Jefferson is born and dies in September 1775.
Publishes Summary View of the Rights of British America.
Attends Virginia Convention at Richmond.
Attends Continental Congress at Philadelphia.
Attends Virginia Convention at Richmond.
Attends Continental Congress at Philadelphia.
His mother, Jane Randolph Jefferson, dies.
Attends Continental Congress at Philadelphia.
Drafts Declaration of Independence.
Resigns from Congress.
Congress appoints Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane, and TJ as commissioners to France. TJ declines to serve on 11 Oct.
Attends Virginia General Assembly at Williamsburg as a member of House of Delegates.
Virginia General Assembly names him to a committee of five to revise the laws of Virginia.
Volume 2: 2 January 1777 to 18 June 1779, including the Revisal of the Laws, 1776-1786
Attends meeting of Committee of Revisors at Fredericksburg.
Draws up and enrolls in a subscription to support an Albemarle clergyman, the Rev. Charles Clay.
Wins reelection to House of Delegates for Albemarle County.
Attends House of Delegates.
Begins correspondence with John Adams.
Unnamed son is born; dies 14 June.
Attends, with some intervals, House of Delegates.
Attends House of Delegates.
Makes observations on eclipse of the sun.
Mary (Maria) Jefferson, third daughter, is born.
Attends House of Delegates in custody of sergeant-at-arms; in attendance until General Assembly adjourns, 19 Dec.
Wins reelection to House of Delegates.
Attends House of Delegates.
Becomes governor of Virginia; receives notification and sends message of acceptance, 2 June.
Reports with committee on proposed Revisal of the Laws of Virginia, including the Bills for Proportioning Crimes and Punishments, for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge, for Amending the Constitution of the College of William and Mary, and for Establishing Religious Freedom.
Volume 3: 18 June 1779 to 30 September 1780
American Philosophical Society elects him a member.
Prepares plans for building Fort Jefferson at the mouth of the Ohio River.
Takes up residence in Richmond, the new capital of Virginia.
Becomes one of the directors for locating the public buildings and enlarging the town of Richmond.
Wins reelection as governor of Virginia for one year.
Establishes a line of expresses from the armies in the Carolinas to Richmond and from Richmond to Alexandria.
Lord Charles Cornwallis defeats Horatio Gates at Camden, S.C.; Virginia militia loses arms and supplies.
Begins forming plans for an expedition by George Rogers Clark against Detroit.
Volume 4: 1 October 1780 to 24 February 1781
Daughter Lucy Elizabeth is born.
Begins preparing answers to François Barbé de Marbois’s queries (origin of Notes on the State of Virginia).
Benedict Arnold invades Virginia and raids up the James River, including Richmond and Westham.
Becomes a councilor of the American Philosophical Society.
George Rogers Clark leaves Richmond for expedition planned by TJ against Detroit.
Proposes to J. P. G. Muhlenberg a plan to capture Benedict Arnold at Portsmouth.
Volume 5: 25 February to 20 May 1781
Notifies legislature of final ratification of Articles of Confederation.
Daughter Lucy Elizabeth dies.
General Assembly convenes at Richmond and adjourns to meet in Charlottesville on 24 May.
Leaves Richmond for Charlottesville.
Volume 6: 21 May 1781 to 1 March 1784
Retires from governorship.
British soldier Banastre Tarleton’s troops raid Monticello. TJ takes refuge with friends and, later, retires with his family to Poplar Forest, his plantation in Bedford County.
House of Delegates votes an inquiry into his conduct as governor for the past twelve months.
Congress appoints John Adams, John Jay, Henry Laurens, and TJ commissioners to negotiate peace with Great Britain.
Returns to Monticello from Poplar Forest.
Declines appointment to serve as a peace commissioner.
House of Delegates orders appointment of a committee to state charges and receive information concerning his conduct as governor.
Attends General Assembly as member of House of Delegates.
General Assembly agrees unanimously to a resolution of thanks to him for his services as governor.
Sends replies to François Barbé de Marbois’s queries concerning Virginia.
French military officer and liaison François-Jean de Beauvoir de Chastellux visits him at Monticello.
Declines serving as member of House of Delegates.
Another daughter, also named Lucy Elizabeth, is born.
House of Delegates appoints him to a committee to investigate and publish findings concerning Virginia’s western claim.
His wife, Martha Wayles Jefferson, dies.
Congress appoints him a peace commissioner.
Accepts appointment as a commissioner.
Arrives in Philadelphia to prepare for departure to France.
Receives honorary degree from College of William and Mary.
Leaves Philadelphia.
Arrives in Baltimore to await passage to Europe.
Congress suspends his appointment as commissioner on news of preliminary peace.
Returns to Philadelphia.
Release from his mission to Europe after preliminary peace signed with England.
Leaves Philadelphia to return to Virginia.
Drafts proposed constitution for Virginia.
Wins election as delegate to Congress.
Takes seat in Congress at Princeton.
Departs for Annapolis where Congress reconvenes on 13 Dec.
Joins a committee to report on the definitive treaty with Great Britain.
Congress ratifies definitive treaty of peace. Congress accepts Virginia’s cession of the territory northwest of the Ohio River.
Congress accepts Virginia’s cession of the territory northwest of the Ohio River.
Presents to Congress his report of a plan for the government of the western territory.
Volume 7: 2 March 1784 to 25 February 1785
Becomes minister plenipotentiary to negotiate treaties of amity and commerce in Europe.
Journeys from Annapolis to Boston en route to take passage for his diplomatic post in France.
Sails with his daughter Martha (Patsy) from Boston at 4 A.M. in the Ceres, Captain St. Barbe.
Lands at Cowes and travels to Portsmouth, England.
Visits Titchfield, Fareham and Gosport.
Crosses the English Channel to Le Havre.
At Le Havre.
At Rouen.
Arrives in Paris.
At Hôtel d’Orleans, rue de Richelieu.
At Hôtel d’Orleans, rue des Petits-Augustins.
Places his daughter Martha in the Abbaye Royale de Pentemont, a fashionable French convent school.
First regular meeting of commissioners at Passy.
His daughter Lucy Elizabeth dies in Virginia.
Moves to house in Cul-de-sac Taitbout.
Commissioners submit new project of treaty to Prussia.
First report of the commissioners to Congress.
William Short, his wife’s relative and his young protégé, in Paris.
Volume 8: 25 February to 31 October 1785
Congress elects him to succeed Benjamin Franklin as minister to France.
Printing of Notes on the State of Virginia completed.
TJ presents his credentials as minister to France to King Louis XVI.
John Adams leaves Paris to take up his residence as minister to Great Britain.
Date of first extant press copy of a letter made on TJ’s copying press.
Benjamin Franklin leaves Paris to return to America.
Friedrich Wilhelm, Baron von Thulemeier signs Definitive Treaty between the United States and Prussia, and formally exchanges copies at The Hague.
Appoints William Short as his secretary.
Takes up residence at the Hôtel de Langeac.
Volume 9: 1 November 1785 to 22 June 1786
South Carolina Society for Promoting and Improving Agriculture elects him a member.
Obtains abatement of duties on American whale-oil imported into France.
Abbé Morellet, a French economist and writer, begins translating Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia.
Has conference with French minister of foreign affairs, Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes, on commerce.
Jean Nicolas Démeunier asks TJ to assist him in compiling an article on the United States for the Encyclopédie Méthodique.
Virginia General Assembly passes an act for religious freedom, chiefly written by TJ in 1779.
Sends plans for the capitol and prison at Richmond to the directors of public buildings for Virginia.
Leaves Paris; arrives in London 11 Mch.
Marquis de Lafayette writes his “Avis au Comité” on the tobacco trade.
Presents credentials to King George III at the Court of St. James.
Tours the gardens of England.
Signs treaty with Portugal.
Leaves London; arrives in Paris ca. 1 May.
Sends John Adams proposal for a treaty with Austria.
Volume 10: 22 June to 31 December 1786
Completes observations on Jean Nicolas Démeunier’s article on the United States.
Meets English artist Maria Hadfield Cosway through introduction by John Trumbull.
Confers with François Soulés concerning his Histoire des troubles de l’Amérique Anglaise.
Yale University awards him honorary degree of Doctor of Laws.
Dislocates his right wrist as a result of a fall.
A letter from French politician Charles Alexandre de Calonne to TJ formally states regulations on American trade with France.
Volume 11: 1 January to 6 August 1787
Recommends Swiss engraver Jean Pierre Droz’s new method of coinage to U.S. secretary of foreign affairs, John Jay.
With John Adams, reports to Congress on the success of negotiations with Morocco by U.S. consul to France, Thomas Barclay.
Travels through southern France and northern Italy; returns to Paris on 10 June.
Daughter Mary (Polly) arrives with Sally Hemings in London and stays with Abigail Adams.
Adrien Petit brings Mary Jefferson to Paris.
Volume 12: 7 August 1787 to 31 March 1788
Begins conferences with French officials to improve the status of French-American trade.
Federal Constitution drafted in Philadelphia is adopted and convention adjourns.
Sends French naturalist Georges Louis Leclerc, comte de Buffon, specimens of American animals.
Receives reappointment as minister to France for three years from 10 Mch. 1788.
French Council of State passes an act for the encouragement of commerce between France and the United States.
Sends Egyptian rice to South Carolina for experimentation.
Travels in Holland with John Adams to negotiate funding plans.
Volume 13: [March 1788] to 7 October 1788
Leaves Amsterdam for seven-week tour through Holland and Rhine Valley.
Arrives in Paris.
Offers suggestions on European travel to Thomas Lee Shippen and John Rutledge, Jr.
Virginia ratifies federal Constitution.
Volume 14: 8 October 1788 to 26 March 1789
Gives notice for termination of lease for Hôtel de Langeac, as of 16 Apr. 1789.
Drafts proposal for consolidating and funding foreign debt of the United States.
Concludes negotiations for Consular Convention between United States and France.
Drafts Observations on the Whale-Fishery.
Requests leave to return to America for five or six months.
Receives portraits of himself and Thomas Paine from John Trumbull.
Begins translation of Condorcet’s Réflexions sur l’esclavage.
His “Crane Neck Chariot” arrives in Paris from London.
Receives honorary LL.D. from Harvard College.
Renews lease for Hôtel de Langeac
Volume 15: 27 March to 30 November 1789 with Supplement, 19 October 1772 to 7 February 1790
George Washington is sworn in as first U.S. president in New York.
TJ witnesses opening of Estates General, French general assembly.
Advises Marquis de Lafayette on proposed Declaration of Rights.
Gives dinner for Lafayette and receives tribute from some Americans in Paris.
Experiences the Mirabeau Incident, a false statement on offer of American grain.
Archbishop of Bordeaux invites TJ to help draft French constitution; TJ declines.
Marquis de Lafayette asks TJ to give dinner at Hôtel de Langeac to arrange coalition among moderates of National Assembly.
TJ receives congé (license to depart or leave of absence)—and a marble pedestal from French salonnière Madame de Tessé.
Alexander Hamilton becomes secretary of the Treasury.
Senate confirms nomination of TJ as secretary of state. TJ leaves Paris with his two daughters, Adrien Petit, and James and Sally Hemings.
TJ and party sail from Le Havre to Cowes, “exceedingly seasick.”
TJ sails for America in Clermont, Captain Colley, and arrives in Norfolk on 23 Nov. after narrowly escaping shipwreck and loss of baggage by fire on journey.
Volume 16: 30 November 1789 to 4 July 1790
Receives George Washington’s letter with commission as secretary of state.
Arrives with daughters at Monticello.
Arranges for final settlement of father’s estate.
Negotiates agreement for settlement of claims of Farell & Jones against estate of John Wayles.
At Monticello, receives and replies to address of welcome by citizens of Albemarle.
Accepts appointment as secretary of state.
His daughter Martha marries Thomas Mann Randolph, Jr.
TJ leaves Monticello.
At Richmond, settles his private account with Kippen & Co. and Henderson, McCaul & Co., and issues bonds in payment.
At Petersburg, issues bonds for his share of debt to Farell & Jones, proceeding northward under a personal indebtedness of £6,522.
Sees Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia.
Arrives in New York and reports to President George Washington.
Makes arrangements with editor John Fenno to include foreign news from Gazette de Leide in Gazette of the United States.
Submits report on copper coinage.
Cabinet opinion on executive power over diplomatic offices.
Suffers periodic headache for six weeks.
Takes up quarters in house at 57 Maiden Lane, New York.
Cabinet opinion brings first conflict with Alexander Hamilton over arrearages in soldiers’ pay.
Fishes with George Washington off Sandy Hook, New Jersey, hoping the certainty of seasickness will put an end to his headache.
Submits report on uniform system of weights and measures.
Volume 17: 6 July to 3 November 1790
Advises policy of neutrality in Anglo-Spanish War crisis, with exactions from belligerents.
Renders opinion on constitutionality of Residence Bill situating the U.S. capital along the Potomac.
Reports to George Washington on diplomatic establishment.
Reports on candidates for consular vacancies.
Engages house in Philadelphia from Thomas Leiper, Scottish American tobacco merchant.
Renders opinion on monopoly of trade with Creek Indians, upholding supremacy of treaties over laws.
Recurrence of illness.
Prepares letters for David Humphreys’ mission to Spain.
Inaugurates inquiry into violations by states of Treaty of Peace of 1783.
Departs with George Washington for Rhode Island; returns on 21 Aug.
Prepares “rule of office” for consuls.
Renders opinion on fiscal policy.
Prepares agenda for George Washington on seat of government.
Departs New York with James Madison.
Confers with landowners at Georgetown about seat of government.
Reports to George Washington at Mount Vernon about conference.
Arrives at Monticello.
Departs for Richmond on business affairs.
Arranges for sale of Elk Hill lands in Goochland County.
Proposes that Virginia build private dwellings at seat of government.
Volume 18: 4 November 1790 to 24 January 1791
Leaves Monticello.
In company with James Madison, visits George Washington at Mount Vernon.
Arrives at Philadelphia, resides at first in Mrs. Mary House’s boardinghouse.
Returns fragment of Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography to Franklin’s grandson, William Temple Franklin.
Prepares suggestions for George Washington’s Annual Message.
Offers opinion on proposed textile manufactory in Virginia.
Takes possession of two rooms in Philadelphia house leased from Thomas Leiper.
Reports on executive proceedings in Northwest Territory.
Reports on Gouverneur Morris’s mission to England.
Drafts instructions on impressment of American seaman Hugh Purdie and others.
Receives first of twenty-seven drayloads of furniture from France.
Reports on Mediterranean trade and Algerine captives.
Submits supplementary report on weights and measures to Senate and House of Representatives.
Reports on French representation against the Tonnage Acts.
Volume 19: 24 January to 31 March 1791
Birth of Anne Cary Randolph, his first grandchild.
Assists George Washington in preparation of proclamation locating Federal District.
Drafts report on American whale and cod fisheries.
Advertises for sale of his lands at Elk Hill.
Considers the Bank Bill unconstitutional in his opinion drafted for the president.
Makes recommendations on consular vacancies.
Offers opinion on judicial appointment of Joseph Anderson.
Decision to confront Spain on Mississippi question and extradition of slaves.
Searches for collaboration from France, Spain, and Portugal on navigation laws.
Experiments in desalination of seawater.
Volume 20: 1 April to 4 August 1791
Gives suggestions to Pierre L’Enfant on fixing the seat of government.
Negotiates payment of U.S. debt to France.
Advises on unofficial diplomacy on Indian Affairs.
Forwards Thomas Paine’s Rights of Man to printer.
Takes northern journey to New York, Connecticut, and Vermont with James Madison.
Visits Unquachog Indians and records their vocabulary.
Philip Freneau informs TJ of proposals for National Gazette.
Volume 21: Cumulative Index, Volumes 1-20
No chronology is available for Volume 21, which is a cumulative index of the first 20 volumes.
Volume 22: 6 August to 31 December 1791
Receives new French minister, Jean Baptiste Ternant.
Leaves Philadelphia for Monticello, accompanied by James Madison.
Confers with District of Columbia commissioners in Georgetown on details for seat of government.
Returns to Philadelphia.
Reports on first national census.
Reports on public lands ceded to U.S. by North Carolina within Northwest Territory.
Reports on desalination of seawater.
Presents plan of commercial treaty with France.
Begins negotiations with British minister, George Hammond.
Offers resolutions on treaty with Algiers over captives and preservation of peace.
Reports on negotiations with Spain on free navigation of Mississippi River.
Volume 23: 1 January to 31 May 1792
Advises Senate on diplomatic establishment.
Notifies Pierre L’Enfant of his dismissal.
Informs George Washington of his intention to retire.
Solicits plans for Capitol and President’s House.
Reports on Spanish negotiations on boundaries, commerce, and navigation of the Mississippi River.
Reports on extradition convention with Spain.
Advises George Washington on Algerine mission.
Opinion on Apportionment Bill for representatives and direct taxation.
Circular letter on Hessian fly.
Seeks new commercial treaty with France.
Warns George Washington about Alexander Hamilton’s fiscal policies.
Letter to British minister, George Hammond, on infractions of Treaty of Paris.
Volume 24: 1 June to 31 December 1792
Completes instructions for John Paul Jones’s Algerine mission.
Experiments with Hessian fly.
Confers with British minister, George Hammond, about infractions of peace treaty.
Prepares papers for sale of Elk Hill land.
Suggests settlement of Saint-Domingue slave revolt.
Urges George Washington to serve a second term.
Makes shorthand note of agenda for reforming the national government.
Leaves Philadelphia for annual visit to Monticello.
Submits accounts as minister plenipotentiary in France.
Denounces Alexander Hamilton to George Washington.
Thomas Jefferson Randolph, his grandson, is born.
Returns to Philadelphia.
Opposes Spanish interference with Southern Indians.
Orders halt in debt payments to France after learning of abrogation of Louis XVI.
Drafts paragraphs for George Washington’s fourth annual message to Congress.
Responds to Alexander Hamilton’s criticisms on French debt and Constitution.
Enunciates policy of diplomatic recognition.
Makes plans to resume building of Monticello in anticipation of retirement.
Rejects proposed British mediation of Indian War and creation of neutral Indian barrier state.
Writes thoughts on bankruptcy bill.
Learns of establishment of French republic.
Makes notes on “affair of Reynolds and his wife” in his Anas volumes.
Advises Senator John Rutherford of New Jersey on uniform system of weights and measures.
Volume 25: 1 January to 10 May 1793
Defends French Revolution in letter to William Short.
Prepares notes on Alexander Hamilton’s Report on Foreign Loans.
Informs daughter Martha of his decision to defer retirement as secretary of state.
France declares war on Great Britain and the Netherlands.
Notifies George Washington of his decision to continue as secretary of state.
Makes observations on the American debt to France.
Defers submission of Report on Commerce to House of Representatives.
Resolutions censuring Alexander Hamilton introduced and defeated in the House of Representatives.
France declares war on Spain.
Decides to rent house on the Schuylkill River from Moses Cox; takes up residence on 9 Apr.
Instructs Gouverneur Morris to resume payments on the debt to France.
Instructions concerning Marquis de Lafayette’s captivity.
Drafts new form for United States patents.
Withdraws offer to guarantee Spanish possession of Louisiana.
Notifies George Washington of war between Great Britain and France.
George Washington proclaims neutrality on war between France and Great Britain.
Offers opinion defending the validity of the French treaties.
Prepares instructions for French botanist André Michaux’s expedition of trans-Mississippi West.
Criticizes Alexander Hamilton’s plan for enforcing neutrality.
Volume 26: 11 May to 31 August 1793
Defines French violations of American neutrality.
Announces that French privateers outfitted in Charleston must leave American ports.
Eli Whitney requests patent for cotton gin.
Prepares instructions to William Carmichael and William Short on diplomatic crisis with Spain.
Crisis over the Little Sarah, a British merchant ship captured by the French and outfitted as an armed privateer in an American port.
Conference on William Thornton’s plan for the Capitol.
Submits twenty-nine neutrality questions to the Supreme Court; Court declines advisement on 8 Aug.
Notifies George Washington that he plans to retire as secretary of state at the end of September.
Cabinet agrees to request recall of French minister to the U.S., Edmond Charles Genet.
Cabinet approves neutrality rules.
Announces that the United States will restore or make compensation for certain prizes captured by French privateers.
Advises James Madison on Republican party strategy.
Notifies George Washington of his willingness to remain in office until the end of the year.
Writes letter to Gouverneur Morris requesting Edmond Charles Genet’s recall; cabinet approves recall on 20 Aug.
Indicates American interest in a new commercial treaty with France.
Instructs Governor Isaac Shelby of Kentucky to oppose French expedition against Louisiana; advises again on 6 Nov.
Volume 27: 1 September to 31 December 1793 with Supplement, July 1764 to July 1793
Describes yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia.
Admonishes French consular officials to respect American neutrality.
Informs French minister, Edmond Charles Genet, of the American government’s request for his recall.
Instructs U.S. minister to Great Britain, Thomas Pinckney, to protest British violations of American neutral rights.
Leaves home on Schuylkill River to visit Monticello.
Protests to British minister, George Hammond, about British violations of American neutral rights.
Advises President George Washington not to change meeting place of Congress.
Cabinet debates George Washington’s address and messages to Congress.
Arrives at Philadelphia.
Report on Morocco and Algiers.
Proposes public statement on Edmond Charles Genet as preface to memo to George Washington.
Report on Commerce; submits supplementary report on 30 Dec.
Orders first nailrod for Monticello nailery.
Submits accounts and resigns as secretary of state after conflicts with Alexander Hamilton.
Volume 28: 1 January 1794 to 29 February 1796
George Washington accepts his resignation as secretary of state.
James Madison offers resolutions in House of Representatives to implement Jefferson’s Report on Commerce.
Leaves Philadelphia, arriving at Monticello 15–16 Jan.
Travels to Chestnut Grove, Eppington, and Richmond.
Granddaughter Ellen Wayles Randolph is born.
Declines offer of special mission to Spain.
Calls Monticello in a state of renovation a “brick-kiln,” but says he will recommence work on it in the summer.
Signs deed of manumission for Robert Hemings, the first of his slaves actually released.
Authorizes J. P. P. Derieux and Thomas Mann Randolph to hire slaves for Monticello.
Criticizes George Washington’s address defending use of federal troops to quell Whiskey Rebellion and denouncing the Democratic Societies.
Explains his philosophy of crop rotation to John Taylor.
George Wythe suggests that Jefferson make available his collection of the laws of Virginia.
William Strickland, British naturalist and agriculturalist, visits at Monticello.
Receives copy of Jay Treaty sent by Henry Tazewell.
Infant granddaughter, Ellen Wayles Randolph, buried at Monticello.
James and Dolley Payne Madison visit Monticello.
Reports quality of his tobacco crop too poor to send to Philadelphia market.
Sends his printed collection of Virginia statutes to Richmond binder.
Signs deed of manumission for James Hemings, his slave and cook.
Volume 29: 1 March 1796 to 31 December 1797
Reports that “demolitions” have begun at Monticello.
Discusses state of American politics in private letter to Philip Mazzei.
Mortgages 150 of his slaves (and does so again in November), to preserve his property against creditors.
Hosts French friends La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt and Constantin François Chasseboeuf Volney at Monticello.
First operates his threshing machine at Monticello.
George Washington writes TJ the final letter of their correspondence.
Ellen Wayles Randolph (second granddaughter of that name) born.
Writes John Adams a congratulatory letter on election but leaves its delivery to James Madison’s discretion.
Leaves Monticello for Philadelphia, arriving late on 2 Mch.
American Philosophical Society installs him as its president.
Becomes vice president of the United States.
His paper on the megalonyx, a ground sloth, is presented before the American Philosophical Society.
Leaves Philadelphia for Monticello, arriving on 20 Mch.
First appearance of attacks on TJ by Maryland lawyer, Luther Martin.
Leaves Monticello, arriving in Philadelphia on 11 May and learning en route of the publication of his letter to Philip Mazzei.
Urges Massachusetts statesman Elbridge Gerry to accept appointment as an envoy to France.
Leaves Philadelphia, arriving at Monticello 11 July.
Journalist and scandal-monger James Thomson Callender asks for financial assistance.
Completes statement on profits of nailery at Monticello.
Daughter Mary marries John Wayles Eppes at Monticello.
Departs from Monticello, arriving on 12 Dec. for “the real business” of the second session of Fifth Congress.
Defends himself against Luther Martin’s attack on his rendition of speech by Mingo Indian chief Logan.
Volume 30: 1 January 1798 to 31 January 1799
Writes description of moldboard plow for Sir John Sinclair.
Aids Polish patriot and exile Tadeusz Kosciuszko in his secret departure from Philadelphia.
Writes attestation for Pennsylvania resident and independent citizen George Logan, who soon embarks for Europe.
Departs Philadelphia, arriving at Montpelier 2 July and at Monticello the next day.
Concern for daughter Mary’s health.
Writes resolutions against Alien and Sedition Acts (adopted by Kentucky legislature in November).
James Madison visits Monticello.
Plans to delay trip to Philadelphia to oversee work at Monticello.
Writes Virginia politician and agriculturist John Taylor he is resuming emphasis on tobacco as a crop.
Leaves Monticello, spending first night at Montpelier and arriving in Philadelphia on Christmas.
Logan Act, forbidding private citizen diplomacy, becomes law.
Volume 31: 1 February 1799 to 31 May 1800
Leaves Philadelphia for Monticello, arriving on 8 Mch.
Granddaughter Cornelia Jefferson Randolph is born.
Dolley Madison calls at Monticello.
Leases fields at Shadwell to Craven Peyton.
Charles Peale Polk finishes TJ’s life portrait, the first of four likenesses taken of TJ by various artists over the next seven months.
Virginia legislature chooses James Monroe for governor.
Napoleon Bonaparte becomes First Consul in reconstituted French government.
George Washington dies at Mount Vernon.
Leaves Monticello for Philadelphia, arriving on 28 Dec.
Daughter Mary gives birth to a daughter.
Helps draft American Philosophical Society memorial to Congress on taking a census.
Invites Joseph Priestley to offer his views on education.
Learns of deaths of newborn granddaughter and of his slave Jupiter.
Seeks George Wythe’s aid in compiling parliamentary manual.
Distributes James Madison’s report on Virginia Resolutions of 1799.
Appendix to the Notes on Virginia is published.
Sends political pamphlets by Thomas Cooper to Philip Norborne Nicholas for distribution to Virginia Republican county chairmen.
Departs for Virginia.
Volume 32: 1 June 1800 to 16 February 1801
Journalist James Thomson Callender convicted after sedition trial in Richmond.
Harvests good wheat crop at Monticello by this date.
Outlines his principles of government to Gideon Granger.
Insures buildings at Monticello through Mutual Assurance Society for $6,300.
Agrees to lease five fields to Albemarle County landholder and slaveowner, John H. Craven.
Writes summary of his public service.
Receives Pierre S. Du Pont’s work on national education.
Learns from James Monroe about Gabriel’s slave revolt in Virginia.
Responds to Benjamin Rush about his “religious Creed.”
Visits Poplar Forest.
Arrives in Washington and boards at Conrad & McMunn’s.
Learns of Republican majority of electoral votes from South Carolina.
Offers Robert R. Livingston of New York secretaryship of the navy.
Reports probability of electoral tie between himself and Aaron Burr.
Visits Widow Martha Washington at Mount Vernon.
Continues as president of the American Philosophical Society.
Senate consents to John Adams’s nomination of John Marshall as chief justice.
Senate approves convention with France, with proviso.
Presidential balloting begins in the House of Representatives to break tied electoral votes.
Judiciary Act of 1801 takes effect.
Volume 33: 17 February to 30 April 1801
House of Representatives elects him president on the 36th ballot.
Offers Henry Dearborn secretaryship of the War Department.
Letter of thanks read to the House of Representatives.
Offers Meriwether Lewis appointment as private secretary.
Manual of Parliamentary Practice advertised for sale in the National Intelligencer.
Presents farewell address to the Senate as vice president.
Congress passes Peace Establishment Act to reduce the navy.
Takes oath of office in Senate chamber as third president of the U.S.
Presents first nominations to the Senate; Congress adjourns.
Holds first cabinet meeting; Albert Gallatin, Henry Dearborn, and Levi Lincoln attend.
Issues presidential pardon for James Thomson Callender.
Hires Joseph Rapin as steward of the President’s House.
Takes up residence in the President’s House.
Treaty of Aranjuez formally acknowledges Spanish cession of Louisiana to France.
Hires James Oldham as house joiner at Monticello.
Leaves Washington, D.C., for Monticello, arriving on 4 Apr.
Calculates tobacco crop for 1800 at Monticello to be 10,028 lbs.; receives four carriage horses purchased for $1,600.
Leaves Monticello for Washington, D.C., arriving on 29 Apr.
Volume 34: 1 May to 31 July 1801
Appoints Albert Gallatin secretary of the Treasury.
Cabinet agrees to reduction of diplomatic establishment in Europe.
Alerts Yusuf Qaramanli, bey of Tripoli, of detachment of American squadron in the Mediterranean.
Appoints Samuel Bishop collector at New Haven in place of Elizur Goodrich.
James and Dolley Madison leave President’s House after temporary residence.
Withdraws gift of $50 and severs ties with James Thomson Callender.
Appoints Joel Lewis marshal for Delaware.
Articulates his patronage policy in his reply to remonstrance of New Haven merchants.
Robert Smith accepts his offer of secretaryship of the navy.
Begins to acquire Albemarle County land from the heirs of Bennett Henderson.
Directs a halt to the prosecution against William Duane for sedition.
Leaves Washington, D.C., for Monticello, arriving on 2 Aug.
France ratifies Convention of 1800.
Volume 35: 1 August to 30 November 1801
Smallpox vaccinations commence at Monticello.
Receives first letter from “Nicholas Geffroy.”
Virginia Jefferson Randolph, TJ’s granddaughter, is born at Monticello.
Étienne Lemaire assumes stewardship of the President’s House.
Aaron Burr protégé Matthew L. Davis visits TJ at Monticello.
Francis Eppes, TJ’s grandson, born at Monticello.
Leaves Monticello for Washington, D.C., arriving on 30 Sep.
Gideon Granger accepts appointment as postmaster general.
Inquires into the suicide of James Hemings, his former slave and cook.
Forwards vaccine matter to John Vaughan in Philadelphia.
Issues circular to heads of departments on communications between president and cabinet officers.
Sends James Monroe opinion on removal of rebellious slaves from Virginia.
Approves prosecution of the schooner Sally for preparing to engage in the slave trade.
Volume 36: 1 December 1801 to 3 March 1802
Sends first annual message to Congress.
Announces final ratification of the Convention of 1800, ending the Quasi-War with France.
Receives Mammoth Cheese at the President’s House as gift from the citizens of Cheshire, Massachusetts.
Replies to Danbury Baptist Association, describing the “wall of separation” between church and state in America.
Receives votes of the American Philosophical Society, reelecting him president.
Replies to address by Little Turtle of the Miami Indians.
Rufus King signs convention with Great Britain on settlement of British debt claims.
Appoints John Beckley first librarian of Congress.
Replies to address by Black Hoof of the Shawnee Indians.
Arthur St. Clair writes to defend himself against charges of misconduct as governor of Northwest Territory.
French general Victoire Emmanuel Leclerc declares blockade of Saint-Domingue.
Authorizes navy commanders to capture Tripolitan vessels.
Settles account with Edward Gantt for medical services rendered to President’s House staff.
Volume 37: 4 March to 30 June 1802
Signs repeal of Judiciary Act of 1801.
Meets with Seneca Indian delegation, led by Handsome Lake and Cornplanter.
Military Peace Establishment Act passes, reorganizing the army and creating a military academy at West Point, New York.
France and Great Britain sign definitive treaty of peace at Amiens, France.
Signs bill repealing internal taxes.
Contributes $100 toward rebuilding Nassau Hall at the College of New Jersey at Princeton.
New judiciary law enacted, authorizes the president to appoint commissioners of bankruptcy.
Leaves Washington, D.C., for Monticello, arriving on 8 May.
Leaves Monticello for Washington, D.C., arriving on 30 May.
Appoints Robert Brent first mayor of Washington, D.C.
Proposes transportation of “insurgent negroes” to Sierra Leone.
James Madison sends Arthur St. Clair the president’s admonition of his conduct as governor of the Northwest Territory.
Volume 38: 1 July to 12 November 1802
James Thomson Callender publishes evidence of financial support from him in the Richmond Recorder.
Forwards lists of books to be purchased for Congress to William Duane, George W. Erving, and William Short.
Leaves Washington, D.C., for Monticello, arriving 25 July.
Drafts letter of peace and amity to Mawlay Sulayman, sultan of Morocco.
Receives erroneous report of alleged engagement between frigate Boston and Tunisian squadron.
Visits James Madison at Montpelier to discuss Mediterranean affairs.
Receives news of expulsion of American consul from Tangier and declaration of war by sultan of Morocco.
Richmond Recorder publishes allegations of his relationship with Sally Hemings.
Leaves Monticello for Washington, D.C., arriving 4 Oct.
Receives news that peace is restored with Morocco.
Ohio constitutional convention convenes at Chillicothe.
Writes Seneca chief Handsome Lake, endorsing his revitalization program.
Volume 39: 13 November 1802 to 3 March 1803
His daughters and two of his grandchildren arrive in Washington, D.C., remaining until 5 Jan.
Removes Arthur St. Clair as governor of the Northwest Territory.
Sends second annual message to Congress.
Sends plans for dry dock at Washington to Congress.
Indiana memorial calls for suspension or repeal of the ban on slavery in the Northwest Ordinance.
Sends memorandum on Indian policy to Henry Dearborn.
His cabinet meets to discuss New Orleans and the Floridas.
Nominates James Monroe to be minister extraordinary and plenipotentiary to France and Spain.
Makes confidential request to Congress for appropriation of $2,500 for an expedition up the Missouri River.
Sends circular letter to governors on the importance of the militia system to national defense.
Offers Lewis Harvie position as private secretary in place of Meriwether Lewis.
Volume 40: 4 March to 10 July 1803
Offers Benjamin H. Latrobe appointment as surveyor of public buildings in Washington.
Leaves Washington for Monticello, arriving 11 Mch.
Calculates tobacco crop for 1802 at Poplar Forest to be 45,139 pounds.
Leaves Monticello for Washington, arriving 3 Apr.
Cabinet unanimously agrees to “buy peace of Tripoli.”
Pledges to use “best endeavors” to remove discussion of Walker affair from newspapers.
Sends Benjamin Rush his comparative view of the doctrines of Jesus.
Robert R. Livingston writes that New Orleans and Louisiana “are ours.”
Estimates total personal expenditures from 4 Mch. 1802 to 4 Mch. 1803 at $27,720.92.
Denies pardon request of convicted slave trader Nathaniel Ingraham.
Right of deposit officially restored at New Orleans.
Great Britain declares war on France.
Orders sale of his slave Cary as punishment for an assault on Brown Colbert at the Monticello nailery.
Meriwether Lewis invites William Clark to join him on western expedition.
Response to accusations by Gabriel Jones appears in the Richmond Examiner.
National Intelligencer publishes news of the Louisiana Purchase.
Volume 41: 11 July to 15 November 1803
Issues proclamation to convene Congress on 17 Oct.
Receives address from Philadelphia ward committees protesting the paucity of Federalist removals.
Leaves Washington for Monticello, arriving 22 July.
É. I. du Pont de Nemours seeks government contract for new gunpowder mill near Wilmington, Delaware.
William Clark accepts invitation to join Meriwether Lewis on western expedition.
Frigate Philadelphia captures Moroccan cruiser Mirboka and liberates American brig Celia near Spain.
Meriwether Lewis commences journey down the Ohio River with equipment for western expedition.
Renews lease of fields and slaves to John H. Craven.
Leaves Monticello for Washington, arriving 25 Sep.
Donates $100 for victims of yellow fever outbreak in Alexandria.
Orders eight barrels of Newark cider from John Condit.
Samuel Adams dies in Boston.
Sultan of Morocco reaffirms peace with the United States.
Sends third annual message to Congress.
Arranges to send 40 Balsam poplars to Monticello.
Proclaims ratification of the Louisiana treaty and conventions.
Dines with Jerome Bonaparte at the President’s House.
Frigate Philadelphia and crew captured by Tripolitan gunboats in the Mediterranean.
Mary Jefferson Randolph, TJ’s granddaughter, born at Edgehill.
Attends annual races of the Washington Jockey Club.
Volume 42: 16 November 1803 to 10 March 1804
Sends draft bill for organization of Orleans Territory to John Breckinridge.
British minister Anthony Merry and his wife, Elizabeth, dine at the President's House.
Begins to transmit copies of the Twelfth Amendment to the states for ratification.
Meets with Choctaw delegation in Washington.
United States takes formal possession of Louisiana.
Receives Venus flytrap seeds from Timothy Bloodworth.
Articles of impeachment against Judge John Pickering presented to the Senate.
Meets with Aaron Burr to discuss their strained political relationship.
Attends dinner at Stelle's Hotel celebrating the acquisition of Louisiana.
Joseph Priestley dies at home in Northumberland, Pennsylvania.
Maria Jefferson Eppes, TJ's granddaughter, born at Edgehill.
Sailors under the command of Lieutenant Stephen Decatur, Jr., burn the frigate Philadelphia in Tripoli harbor.
Fire destroys more than 260 buildings in Norfolk, Virginia.
Commences use of polygraph writing machine.
Republican congressional caucus nominates TJ for president and George Clinton for vice president.
Calculates tobacco crop for 1803 at Poplar Forest to be 36,509 pounds.
Learns that his daughter Mary is seriously ill.
Volume 43: 11 March to 30 June 1804
Remits $435 for hire of slaves from Christopher and Charles Smith.
Writes to William Dunbar about calculating the velocity of water in rivers.
Congress passes act organizing Orleans Territory and Louisiana District.
John Randolph reports articles of impeachment against Judge Samuel Chase to the House of Representatives.
First session of Eighth Congress ends.
Leaves Washington for Monticello, arriving 4 Apr.
Prepares instructions for exploring the Arkansas and Red Rivers.
Mary Jefferson Eppes, TJ’s daughter, dies at Monticello.
Leaves Monticello for Washington, arriving 13 May.
Napoleon Bonaparte proclaimed Emperor of the French.
Offers John Armstrong appointment as U.S. minister to France.
Writes to Charles Biddle about his son’s captivity in Tripoli.
Receives letter of condolence from Abigail Adams.
Charles Willson Peale, Alexander von Humboldt, and others dine at the President’s House.
Opens account with the Branch Bank of the United States in Washington.
Writes to Alexander I, Emperor of Russia.
Meets with cabinet to discuss violations committed by British frigate Cambrian.
Volume 44: 1 July to 10 November 1804
Work stoppage by cartmen and public works laborers in Washington. |
Aaron Burr mortally wounds Alexander Hamilton in a duel at Weehawken, New Jersey. |
Addresses Osage delegation in Washington. |
Leaves Washington for Monticello, arriving 26 July. |
U.S. squadron under Edward Preble begins a series of attacks on Tripoli that continue to 4 Sep. |
Declares polygraph copying machine “a most precious invention.” |
Visits Madison at Montpelier. |
John Armstrong, new U.S. minister to France, sets sail from New York. |
Asks attorney general for statement on “aggressions” by British warships in U.S. waters. |
Discusses U.S.-Spanish relations with Carlos Martínez de Irujo at Monticello. |
Leaves Monticello for Washington, arriving 30 Sep. |
Cabinet meeting to discuss relations with Spain. |
William Dunbar and George Hunter set out on their Ouachita River expedition. |
Abigail Adams ends her renewed correspondence. |
First President’s House dinner recorded on list that will run until March 1809. |
Assures Meriwether Lewis’s brother that the expedition is “as safe as at home.” |
Sends fourth annual message to Congress. |
Volume 45: 11 November 1804 to 8 March 1805
Pays Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin for profile and engravings.
Napoleon Bonaparte crowned emperor of the French.
Memorial from Louisiana presented to the House of Representatives (and to the Senate on 31 Dec.).
Spain declares war on Great Britain.
Levi Lincoln writes letter of resignation as attorney general.
Reelected president of the American Philosophical Society.
Writes privately to John Taylor that he will not consider a third term as president.
Signs act for creation of Michigan Territory.
First sitting for portrait by Rembrandt Peale.
William Dunbar begins sending information from Ouachita River expedition.
Subscribes to Mercy Otis Warren’s history of the American Revolution.
Electoral ballots opened and tallied in the Senate chamber: 162 for Jefferson and Clinton, 14 for Pinckney and King.
Impeachment trial of Samuel Chase ends in acquittal by the Senate on all charges.
Signs act to give Orleans Territory a general assembly; Senate approves nominations of Robert Smith as attorney general and Jacob Crowninshield as secretary of the navy.
Inaugurated for second term as president of the United States.