1827 Slave Auction on Monticello's West Lawn
In mid-January 1827, nearly 100 people were sold during a five-day auction held on Monticello's West Lawn.
Monticello's West Lawn, which features the "Nickel View" of the house, is an icon of American landscapes.
The winding walk defines the perimeter of the leveled, oval-shaped West Lawn. The "smooth, level" lawn was a favorite playground for the children, although the earliest images of the West Front of Monticello reveal a weedy, disheveled surface. The lawn was probably scythed once or twice a year and its appearance inevitably reflected the pre-lawn mower technology of the early nineteenth century.
Monticello's West Lawn
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The West Lawn and West Front of Monticello today.
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The West Lawn and Fish Pond at Dusk (Photo: Bill Bergen)
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This 1825 watercolor by Jane Braddick Peticolas shows Jefferson's grandchildren enjoying the West Lawn.
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The West Front of Monticello was first featured on the U.S. Nickel in 1938.
While there is a reference to sheep browsing on the choice orange trees Jefferson cultivated in the nearby greenhouse, it is doubtful he would allow them to graze on the lawn in such proximity to his flower borders. Edmund Bacon, a Monticello overseer, was instructed in 1808 to manure the "grass grounds" around the house. Instead, he mistakenly covered the lawn with a heavy covering of charcoal. At times, grounds keeping at Monticello seemed like a comedy of errors.
