04/13/2026
~ Happy Birthday to Thomas Jefferson!! ~
As is our custom, we celebrate Mr. Jefferson's birthday with much gratitude for the life he lived and the extraordinary man he was.
As a substitute for a birthday party, we offer many tributes to his goodness written by those who actually knew him during his lifetime. Here is a but a very brief sampling.
“…no man can be personally acquainted with Mr. Jefferson and remain his personal enemy.” ~ Judge Patterson of the Supreme Court (and a Federalist)
“…when the fires of Liberty shall be kindled on every hill and shall blaze in every valley, shall not the name of Jefferson be pronounced by every lip, and written on every heart ?” ~ John Tyler, July 11, 1826
“The love of liberty, the rights of man, was his ruling passion.” ~ Felix Grundy, August 3, 1826
“the polar star of his conduct was his country’s good…” ~ William Johnson, 1826
“the name of Jefferson will be known as the benefactor of the human race.” ~ C. Cambreleng, 1826
“…his heart embraced the human family and his works were intended for the happiness of every people.” ~ Henry Potter, July 20, 1826
Among his contemporaries no one was more early or more deeply imbued with the spirit of his age, and few have contributed more to its diffusion.” ~ Nicholas Biddle, April 11, 1827
“[Jefferson's] whole life was nothing but good,” said he, ”it was his meat and drink, all he thought of and all he cared for, was to make every body happy. Yes, the purest body.” He was sure nobody could know him without loving and blessing him.” ~ Joseph Dougherty (Jefferson’s servant in Washington D.C.) as related by Margaret Bayard Smith, March 31st, 1830
“[Jefferson] whose name is one of the brightest in the revolutionary galaxy.” ~ William Linn, 1834
“He was curious, in short, in regard to every part of useful or elegant learning, and nothing that seemed likely to contribute to the general good escaped his attention.” ~ Alexander Hill Everett, July 4, 1836
“I know and highly respect the great abilities of Mr. Jefferson.-Providence has, for the happiness of mankind, accompanied those abilities with a disposition to make use of them for the good of his fellow beings.” ~ Judge Pendleton, 1800
“In the same legislature, fifteen years before a voice had been raised in condemnation even of the slave trade his great and humane mind went so far beyond the age, as to lead him to make a proposition for the gradual extinction of domestic slavery.” ~ George Tucker, 1838
“I know and highly respect the great abilities of Mr. Jefferson.-Providence has, for the happiness of mankind, accompanied those abilities with a disposition to make use of them for the good of his fellow beings.” ~ Judge Pendleton, 1800
“He had a taste for the fine arts, and highly approved my intention of preparing myself for the accomplishment of a national work. He encouraged me to persevere in this pursuit, and kindly invited me to come to Paris, to see and study the fine works there, and to make his house my home, during my stay.” ~ John Trumbull
“Jefferson’s name is a synonyme of the University of Virginia…” ~ Captain Edmund Bacon to Rev. Hamilton W. Pierson
“It will be [University of Virginia], we may fondly hope, the perpetual nursery of those great principles which it was the businesss of his life to inculcate.” ~ John Tyler, July 11, 1826
“My mother has told me that on the day of her sister’s death, she left her father alone for some hours. He then sent for her, and she found him with the Bible in his hands. He who has been so often and so harshly accused of unbelief, he, in his hour of intense affliction, sought and found consolation in the sacred volume. The comforter was there for his true heart and devout spirit, even though his faith might not be what the world calls orthodox.” ~ Ellen Randolph Coolidge to Henry S. Randall, Boston, 5 January, 1856
“I hesitate not to affirm that Mr. Jefferson is the man to whom the friends of religious society are more indebted than to any other in the United States..” ~ Samuel Knox, 1800
“It was impossible for anyone to be more amiable in his domestic relations; and it was delightful to observe the devoted and respectful attention that was paid him by all the family. In the neighborhood too he was greatly revered.” ~ Dr. Robley Dunglison, published 1963
“Mr. Jefferson was perfectly devoted to his grandchildren, and they to him. They delighted to follow him about over the grounds and garden, and he took great pleasure in talking with them, and giving them advice, and directing their sports” ~ Captain Edmund Bacon to Rev. Hamilton W. Pierson
“How often I have seen him walking over these grounds, and his grandchildren following after him as happy as they could be.” ~ Captain Edmund Bacon to Rev. Hamilton W. Pierson
“I have rode over the plantation, I reckon, a thousand times with Mr. Jefferson, and when he was not talking he was nearly always humming some tune, or sing-ins: in a low tone to himself.” ~ Captain Edmund Bacon to Rev. Hamilton W. Pierson
“I looked upon him as he walked, the top of this mountain, as a being elevated above the mass of mankind, as much in character as he was in local situation…He had been a faithful labourer in the harvest field of life, his labours were crowned with success, and he had reaped a rich harvest of fame and wealth and honor…In him I perceive no decay of mind or debility of frame and to all the wisdom and experience of age, he adds the enthusiasm and ardour of youth…If full occupation of mind, heart and hands, is happiness, surely he is happy. The sun never sees him in bed, and his mind designs more than the day can fulfil, even his long day. The conversation of the morning, the letters I had read, and the idea that this was the last day I was to spend in his society, the last time I was ever to see him, filled my heart with sadness. I could scarcely look at or speak to him without tears.” ~ Margaret Bayard Smith
“To his humane and just principles are we indebted for the measure prohibiting the importation of slaves.” ~ C. Cambreleng, 1826
While here [House of Burgesses, 1769], he made one strenuous but fruitless effort for the emancipation of the slaves: so early had a love of liberty and a detestation of tyranny been imprinted on his mind…The share of Mr. Jefferson in this great task was prominent and laborious. To him Virginia is indebted for the laws prohibiting the future importation of slaves.” ~ William Linn, 1834
“To his slaves he was an indulgent master, always sacrificing his own interests to their comforts.”–Stephen Simpson, 1833
“Of manners simple, affable and winning, and with an understanding penetrating and perspicacious, he had long commanded in the wide circle of his friends a respect softened by affection. Even his enemies, notwithstanding their dislike of his political opinions and actions, acknowledged their love for the man.” ~ Curtius (John Taylor), 1804
“I have had the good fortune to see the first Magistrate of this great republic living with the simplicity of a philosopher who received me with that profound kindness that makes for a lasting friendship.” ~ Alexander von Humboldt, June 27, 1804
“…my high admiration for your writings, your actions, and the liberalism of your ideas, which have inspired me from my earliest youth.” ~ Alexander von Humboldt, May 24, 1804
“My thoughts dwell often in Monticello and it is then that I picture the statesman, who established the welfare of an entire continent, among his magnolia trees. Tears come to my eyes when i imagine the most virtuous of men living in such happiness. How worth while it must be, Sir, to live in the society of enterprising citizens, active for the sake of liberty which you have achieved and preserved.” ~ Alexander von Humboldt, September 23, 1810
“And is this,” said I, after my first interview with Mr. Jefferson, “the violent democrat, the vulgar demagogue, the bold atheist and profligate man I have so often heard denounced by the federalists? Can this man so meek and mild, yet dignified in his manners, with a voice so soft and low, with a countenance so benignant and intelligent, can he be that daring leader of a faction, that disturber of the peace, that enemy of all rank and order?” ~ Margaret Bayard Smith, December 1800 (written in her notebook in 1837)
…He shook hands cordially with us both when he departed, and in a manner which said as plain as words could do, “I am your friend.” ~ Margaret Bayard Smith, December, 1800 (written in her notebook in 1837)
“I looked upon him as he walked, the top of this mountain, as a being elevated above the mass of mankind, as much in character as he was in local situation…He had been a faithful labourer in the harvest field of life, his labours were crowned with success, and he had reaped a rich harvest of fame and wealth and honor…In him I perceive no decay of mind or debility of frame and to all the wisdom and experience of age, he adds the enthusiasm and ardour of youth…If full occupation of mind, heart and hands, is happiness, surely he is happy. The sun never sees him in bed, and his mind designs more than the day can fulfil, even his long day. The conversation of the morning, the letters I had read, and the idea that this was the last day I was to spend in his society, the last time I was ever to see him, filled my heart with sadness. I could scarcely look at or speak to him without tears.” ~ Margaret Bayard Smith
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Thomas Jefferson born April 2 (Old Style, which he preferred) ~ April 13 (New Style, when we celebrate today)
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The portrait is by Jamie Wyeth, circa 1975. It was painted in preparation for the U.S. 1976 Bicentennial celebrations.
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