Thomas Jefferson Encyclopedia

Paxton's Tavern

Wooden barrels sit on their sides next to smaller boxes and barrels hold bottles in Monticello Beer Cellar.

Monticello's Beer Cellar; photographic image (c) Thomas Jefferson Foundation.

Thomas Jefferson noted having "pd. at Paxton's for entertainment. 2/6" in his accounts on August 23, 1767. "Paxton's" may have been the tavern of either Captain John Paxton (1743-1787) or Captain William Paxton (1733-1795). Both men lived at the time in Rockbridge County, near present-day Glasgow, Virginia.1 Jefferson noted a payment in the same amount on the same day to a guide, which presumably represents a visit to Natural Bridge.2

- Monticello Library Staff, 2008.

Footnotes

  1. MB, 1:39.
  2. Ibid.