Thomas Jefferson by Tadeusz Kościuszko (1746-1817) who not only assisted the American Revolutionaries but also designed and built the cliff-side gardens at West Point
An Uncultivated Legacy:
Jefferson’s Botanical Garden at the University of Virginia
By Lily Fox-Bruguiere 2009
Perhaps due to his well-known interest in plants and botany, Thomas Jefferson received a number of letters from various correspondents concerning the establishment of, as well as shipments to, botanical gardens in the United States. William Roscoe, co-founder and first president of the Liverpool Botanic Garden, wrote a letter of introduction to the recently retired Jefferson in 1809 concerning the forthcoming botanical expedition of fellow Englishman John Bradbury. In August 1809, on his way to explore Kentucky and the Louisiana Territory at the behest of the Liverpool Botanic Garden, Bradbury first stopped at Monticello to officially meet Jefferson and also to deliver Roscoe’s Address at the Opening of the Botanic Garden of Liverpool as well as A Catalogue of Plants in the Botanic Garden, at Liverpool (1808). These two documents would have given Jefferson a good idea of the standard mission and typical plant collections of botanical gardens in Europe at the time, which were focusing most of their energies on the support of economic botany for the benefit of the imperial powers.After returning from his plant-collecting mission to the western frontier in 1812, Bradbury wrote to Jefferson to inquire about rumors relating to the establishment of a botanical garden in the city of Washington. Bradbury hoped to be considered for the position of Superintendent and wondered if Jefferson could put in a good word for him with those in charge of such a venture. He also pointed out that his “extensive acquaintance amongst the Naturalists in Great Britain,” as well as his recent findings in Louisiana, would be of great advantage to this new endeavor. At the time, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, under the direction of Sir Joseph Banks, was leading the way in the cultivation and dissemination of plants valuable to England and her colonies. No doubt the connections with British botanists, including those working under the banner of Kew, would have been quite a boost to a budding botanical garden in America. However, Jefferson provided Bradbury with a prompt response to his botanical garden inquiry: “be assured it is an idea without the least foundation.” While Jefferson agreed, “no doubt it is desired by every friend of science,” he did not believe that the current government would support the garden’s establishment.
Another of Jefferson’s correspondents, William Thornton, was considerably more determined than Bradbury to see a botanical garden established in the nation’s capital. Thornton, a physician and architect most notable for designing the United States Capitol, exchanged many letters with Jefferson over the years, especially related to matters of agriculture and manufactures. Writing to Jefferson from the city of Washington on August 30, 1809, several years before Bradbury showed interest in the subject, Thornton noted, “Nothing has yet been done towards the Establishment of a Botanic Garden. Mr. Hamilton has a thousand valuable Exotics to dispose of at this time at the woodlands.” William Hamilton, owner of the Woodlands near Philadelphia, and was another friend with which Jefferson shared botanical interests. Jefferson wrote one more friend, Dr. Caspar Wistar, in 1807, that he hoped to send his grandson, Thomas Jefferson Randolph, to Philadelphia for his education, believing that Philadelphia was home to the most learned scientific minds, including Mr. Hamilton of the Woodlands. In a letter from 1808, Jefferson referred to Hamilton’s Woodlands as a botanical garden where some of the seeds brought back by Lewis and Clark “have been very successfully raised.” Although Jefferson later responded to Thornton’s gift of figs and tarragon that accompanied the 1809 letter, he left out any reference to a botanical garden.
Writing to Jefferson in 1812, Thornton again raised the matter of a botanical garden in Washington. Revealing his direct involvement in the endeavor, Thornton notified Jefferson that he applied to Congress to allow Charles Whitlow to take charge of the area “destined for a Botanical Garden” near the President’s Square. Appealing to Jefferson’s particular interest in useful plants, Thornton described Whitlow as “the person who has made so many valuable Discoveries in this Country of new Plants, and lately one of immense Importance as a substitute for Flax and Hemp.” Thornton then tried to attract
Jefferson’s attention with mention of Whitlow’s ties to the collections of the botanical gardens of the Universities of Edinburgh and Cambridge. While Jefferson, in his response to Thornton’s letter, did comment on Whitlow’s possible substitute for flax and hemp, he again made no reference to Thornton’s entreaties for a botanical garden in the nation’s capital. Then again, five years later, Thornton brought up the nation’s need for a botanical garden. In addition to the Urtica, or flax and hemp substitute, Whitlow had also discovered a new species of Asclepias in Canada. Therefore, Thornton wrote, “If we only had here a botanic garden, we could send various valuable seeds to all parts of our country- and render incalculable benefits.” No response from Jefferson to this letter has yet been found.
Perhaps Jefferson was too busy to reply to Thornton on these matters because theyear, 1817, was one of considerable importance for the beginnings of the University of Virginia, then called Central College. 1817 saw the first meeting of the Board of Visitors in May, which included two other Presidents, Madison and Monroe, as well as the laying of the first cornerstone on October sixth. Jefferson was occupied with the design and construction of his Academical Village and asked Thornton to make a few sketches of ideas for the Pavilions that would “help us to provide snug and handsome Lodges” for the professors. In addition to Thornton’s extensive notes on architecture in response, he also made suggestions for the school’s grounds, including groves of trees, a fountain for ornament and in case of fire, a pond for swimming and skating, and, understandably due to Thornton’s previously demonstrated interests, a botanical garden. A second early advocate for a botanical garden at the University of Virginia was Dr. Thomas Cooper, a longtime friend of Jefferson’s with many similar philosophical interests who was selected to be the University’s first professor of chemistry, mineralogy, and natural philosophy, as well as a temporary law professor. Writing to Jefferson in 1819 with suggestions for the University, Dr. Cooper revealed that both he and Abbe Correa da Serra, a visiting Portuguese naturalist, recommended the Englishman Thomas Nuttall as botanist because of his extensive knowledge of American plants.
Cooper then went on to say “I wish a botanical garden was established, for it grieves me to see the annual present of seeds from the Jardin des Plantes to the Agricultural Society here, so negligently thrown away.” However, due to complications over construction delays and religious opposition, Dr. Cooper gave up his position at the University and was soon replaced by Dr. John Patton Emmet who was required to teach botany himself, along with the other sciences first delegated to Dr. Cooper.
Before Dr. Emmet was selected as Professor of Natural History, Constantine Samuel Rafinesque vied heavily for the position. Rafinesque, a naturalist who had met and impressed Jefferson once in 1804, wrote him numerous letters between 1819 and 1824 in a great effort to offer his “zeal and industry” in the teaching of Botany, Zoology, Mineralogy, and various other branches of science at the University of Virginia. In addition to presenting the University with his considerable collection of mineral, animal, and plant specimens, Rafinesque proposed to establish and direct a botanical garden at his
own expense, except for the cost of accompanying buildings and the salary of a gardener, and to supply this garden with his own stock of 300 to 400 kinds of European seeds, to be augmented annually by the addition of 1000 species of seeds from his various acquaintances.40 While Jefferson claimed to have put Rafinesque’s requests for employment before the Board of Visitors on multiple occasions, his strong desire to teach the sciences at the University of Virginia was never fulfilled.
While Jefferson showed some reluctance in becoming involved in the creation of various new botanical gardens, he obligingly accepted the role of middleman in the exchange of seeds, especially between European sources and botanical gardens at home in the United States. Jefferson directed many of these shipments from overseas, including the annual box from Thouin, to the botanical garden begun by physician David Hosack in New York City, the Elgin Botanical Garden. Begun in 1801, the garden was comprised of twenty acres around the site of what is now Rockefeller Center. Jefferson recommended that seeds be forwarded to Hosack’s botanical garden in 1816, 1818, and 1821.
Writing to Jonathan Thompson in 1821, Jefferson explained that the Jardin des Plantes in Paris sent seeds to him annually, “depending on my applying it for the public benefit,” therefore he “generally had them delivered for a public garden at Philadelphia [possibly Bernard McMahon’s nursery and botanical garden] or to Dr. Hosack for the Botanical Garden at N. York.” It is essential to note that Jefferson could have sent these particular seeds to any one of his numerous plant-loving acquaintances, as he did on many occasions. However, both he and the French botanists believed that plants should be grown not merely for their ornamental qualities but more importantly for their ability to improve the nation’s agriculture and economy. Botanical gardens provided the proper location for the cultivation and dissemination of such beneficial plants.
Jefferson also considered the Cambridge Botanic Garden at Harvard College a worthy recipient of useful seeds, instructing a correspondent to forward seeds sent from Marseilles there in 1820. Established in 1807, the garden was directed by William Dandridge Peck until 1822. Peck’s successor was Thomas Nuttall, the botanist recommended several years earlier by Dr. Cooper to be employed by the University of Virginia. In 1818, Peck compiled A Catalogue of American and Foreign Plants Cultivated in the Botanic Garden, Cambridge, Massachusetts in which he wrote “The Botanic Garden at Cambridge was intended for the cultivation of plants from various parts of the world, to facilitate the acquisition of botanical knowledge. It was also intended to receive all such indigenous trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants, as are worthy of attention, as being useful in domestic economy, in the arts, or in medicine.”
Lily Fox-Bruguiere is the Garden & Outreach Coordinator for the Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants at Monticello. A University of Virginia graduate with an M.A. in Architectural & Landscape History, Lily has worked professionally as a gardener for 15 years, including 9 years at Monticello.
