Thomas Jefferson DS Jan 1, 1829...

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Thomas Jefferson DS Jan 1, 1829 Headline Rare receipt for the sale of Thomas Jefferson's 25-year-old slave Moses Gillette - signed three times by Thomas Jefferson Randolph as his grandfather's executor Description Partly Printed Promissory Note Signed "Th J Randolph" three times on verso, 1p, 7.75" x 3.5". Completed in manuscript. Lower right corner infilled where 3.25" x 1" portion of purchasers Sydner R. & Ira Pellet's signatures torn off (only Sy" remains), most likely when the promissory note was paid. Foxed and toned. Printing dark and clear. Tipped to a 19th century rectangular card frame upon which a previous owner penned "Jefferson Note / Owned by J.P. Thurman" on top and "Given for a Slave at sale / of Tho's. Jefferson" on bottom. Very good condition. Thomas Jefferson Randolph (1792-1875) was the eldest son of President Jefferson's eldest child Martha Washington Jefferson (1772-1836) and Thomas Mann Randolph (1768-1828). In full, "$545. On or before the first day of January 1830 we Sydner R. Pellet & Ira Pellet of Albemarle county, Virginia, promise to pay or cause to be paid unto THOMAS J. RANDOLPH, Executor of Thomas Jefferson, dec. his heirs or assigns, the just and full sum of Two hundred and forty five dollars with interest thereon from the date hereof current money of Virginia, for value received; to which payment well and truly to be made, we bind ourselves jointly and severally, our and each of our joint and several heirs, &c, in the penal sum of One thousand & ninety dollars like money. As witness our hand & seal this first day of January 1829. Syº. Teste Alex Garrett." Alexander Garrett (1778-1860) was clerk of the Albemarle County Superior Court of Law from 1819-1852. Jefferson and Garrett were longtime acquaintances and frequent correspondents. In March 1826, Jefferson requested Garrett to safeguard a copy of his will. Garrett was present at Monticello when Jefferson died and aided Randolph in the sale of Jefferson's estate. On verso, all penned by Thomas Jefferson Randolph: "eceived Payment / Th J Randolph" (infilled at left removing "R"), "Pellet & Pellet / T. J / Bond / Randolph / $545," and "If the principal of the within / bond is punctually paid the / interest will be remitted. / Th J Randolph." Records from Monticello show that Jefferson's slave Moses Gillette (1803-after 1880) was the son of Ned Gillette and Jenny. He was known as Moses or Moses Ned's. Moses was a cooper at Monticello where he lived with his wife Martha. He made pails and firkins (small wooden tubs for butter or lard) in his own time which he sold to the Monticello household. In 1826, after Thomas Jefferson's death, Moses' value was appraised in Albemarle and, in 1829, was sold to Sydner Pellet. The Pellet brothers operated a mill in Albemarle County. After emancipation in 1865, Moses moved to southern Ohio to live near his older brother Israel. Moses Gillette is listed in "The Slave Families of Thomas Jefferson." In 1873, Moses' brother Israel Gillette Jefferson (he added a new last name after becoming free in 1844) was interviewed and his memoir was published in the "Pike County (Ohio) Republican." His memoir provided detailed information on life at Monticello. In it, he also attested to Thomas Jefferson's fathering the children of Sally Hemings, affirming former Jefferson slave Madison Hemings' account published that same year. In 1998, a DNA study helped to confirm his account, as it showed a match between the Jefferson male line and a descendant of Eston Hemings, Sally's youngest son.