THOMAS JEFFERSON AND HIS UNKNOWN BROTHER
Edited by Bernard Mayo
University Press of Virginia, 1981, 59 pages
This short treatise contains the text of letters written back and forth between the former U.S. president and his brother, Randolph. The letters are dated between 1789 and 1815. These are original documents and the text has all the flaws of the actual letters on archive.
It is clear in the letters the difference in education between the two brothers. The topics include health status of various family members. A number of the letters mention a watch that belonged to Randolph that had been loaned to a family friend and his anxiety at wanting it back. It is eventually returned. He also often asks Thomas for some puppies from several dogs the two of them have invested in. At one point a series of writings concern a spinning jenny Thomas procured on behalf of Randolph. There are discussions on the logistics of getting it from Monticello to Randolph’s estate. Thomas convinces his brother to first send a young slave girl to Monticello to be trained on how to work the device. After some months he pronounces the girl proficient. The slave and device are at last sent to Randolph. There is also some back and forth around seeds for planting, where to get them and when best to plant them.
All in all the letters seem mundane, but there are insights into the thinking of the time and place. Dogs, devices, seeds, watches, and slaves are clearly spoken of (and thought of) in equal terms of ownership and use.
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