William Douglass Meriwether

William Douglass Meriwether (d. 1845)^[1] was a miller, land speculator, a director of the Rivanna Navigation Company, a county magistrate for fifty years, and sheriff in 1801 and 1828-1830. His mill produced wool, cotton, flour, and timber.^[2] He was cousin to Meriwether Lewis and after Lewis' death in 1809, Meriwether settled his affairs.

He married Elizabeth, a daughter of Nicholas Lewis, and had William H., Charles J., Mary, Margaret D., and Thomas. Through his wife, he inherited part of "The Farm," Lewis' estate near Charlottesville. In 1825, he sold that land to University of Virginia professor John A.G. Davis. Meriwether lived at Cloverfields, just down the road from Edgehill. The Meriwether house no longer exists on the property.

Thomas Jefferson and Meriwether discussed the trading of agricultural items, including peaches, apricots, and pecans. Meriwether also felt able to ask Jefferson for a bottle of port wine in order to treat an ill son, as well as able to recommend Jefferson's art collection to a visiting artist.^[3] By 1816, Jefferson turned over all affairs with Meriwether to Thomas Jefferson Randolph and the two friends never wrote again. One possible reason for the animosity is that Meriwether was an opponent to development of Jefferson's mills on the Rivanna river, and subsequently, the lawsuit Jefferson had against the Rivanna Navigation Company was regarding title and responsibility for the canal and locks at his Shadwell mills.^[4]

Primary Source References^[5]

1804 April 10. "Planted in the orchard below the garden black soft peaches of Georgia from W Mer."^[6]

1809 April 10. "Planted in the Nursery next below the little grass terras, in a bed ranging with the upper strawberry bed, 68. peach stones [W. Meriwether's Georgia black. unknown, but suppos'd good because saved]."^[7]

1809 December 6. "W.D. Meriwether for lambs 12.D."^[8]

1811 August 3. "Pd. Wm. D. Meriwether 26. ewes 12. ewe lambs 5. weather lambs = 43 @2D. 86. owe him for 3. lambs before rcd. @10/ 5/ payable 90. days from this time 91.D."^[9]

1811 November 13. "Paid Wm. D. Meriwether for sheep 91.D. ante Aug. 3."^[10]

1813 October 7. "Pd. at W.D. Meriwether's machine for carding cotton & wool 7.67."^[11]

1816 March 14. (Jefferson to Ellen Wayles Randolph Coolidge). "We had scarcely wished Jefferson joy of his daughter when we recieved [sic] the news of the death of Mrs. Judy Randolph. Have they told you that our neighbor Mr. Sthreshly has sold out to Capt. Meriwether thus giving us a double subject of regret?"^[12]

1817 March 4. "Pd. for carding wool at W. Meriwether's 1.67."^[13]

Jefferson-Meriwether Correspondence^[14]

• Thomas Jefferson to William Douglass Meriwether. 24 November 1807. Polygraph Copy at Massachusetts Historical Society.
• Meriwether to Jefferson. 23 March 1809. PTJ:RS, 1:74. Recipient Copy at the Library of Congress.
• Jefferson to Meriwether. 24 March 1809. PTJ"RS, 1:79. Polygraph Copy at Massachusetts Historical Society.
• Meriwether to Jefferson. 1 September 1809. PTJ"RS, 1:483. Recipient Copy at Massachusetts Historical Society.
• Jefferson to Meriwether. 27 December 1809. PTJ"RS, 2:97-98. Polygraph Copy at the Library of Congress.
• Jefferson to Meriwether. 7 March 1810. PTJ"RS, 2:281. Polygraph Copy at Massachusetts Historical Society.
• Meriwether to Jefferson. 7 March 1810. PTJ"RS, 2:282. Recipient Copy at Massachusetts Historical Society.
• Meriwether to Jefferson. 8 March 1810.PTJ"RS, 2:286. Recipient Copy at Massachusetts Historical Society.
• Jefferson to Meriwether. 14 March 1810.PTJ"RS, 2:293-294. Polygraph Copy at the Library of Congress.
• Jefferson to Meriwether. 21 August 1810.PTJ"RS, 3:49. Polygraph Copy at the Library of Congress.
• Meriwether to Jefferson. 13 June 1811. PTJ"RS, 3:650. Recipient Copy at Massachusetts Historical Society.
• Meriwether to Jefferson. 19 March 1812.PTJ"RS, 4:562. Recipient Copy at Massachusetts Historical Society.
• Jefferson to Meriwether. 17 September 1813. Polygraph Copy at Massachusetts Historical Society.
• Jefferson to Meriwether. 3 June 1816. The Thomas Jefferson Papers at the Library of Congress.
• Meriwether to Jefferson. 17 October 1816. Recipient Copy at Massachusetts Historical Society.
• Jefferson to Meriwether. 30 October 1816. Polygraph Copy at Massachusetts Historical Society.
• Meriwether to Jefferson. 16 December 1816. Recipient Copy at Massachusetts Historical Society.
• Jefferson to Meriwether. 16 December 1816. Polygraph Copy at Massachusetts Historical Society.
• Jefferson to Meriwether. 30 December 1816. Polygraph Copy at Massachusetts Historical Society.

Footnotes

1. ↑ This article is based on Douglas Evans, Jefferson's Neighbors, Monticello Research Report, 1995.
2. ↑ PTJ:RS, 74.
3. ↑ See September 1, 1809 and June 13, 1811 respectively.
4. ↑ Ibid and MB, 2:1374-1375.
5. ↑ Please note that this list should not be considered comprehensive.
6. ↑ Betts, Garden Book, 291. Manuscript and transcription at the Massachusetts Historical Society.
7. ↑ Ibid, 385. Manuscript and transcription at the Massachusetts Historical Society.
8. ↑ MB, 2:1263.
9. ↑ Ibid, 2:1267.
10. ↑ Ibid, 2:1271.
11. ↑ Ibid, 2:1294.
12. ↑ Family Letters, 412.
13. ↑ MB, 2:1331.
14. ↑ Please note that this list should not be considered comprehensive.