You make our work possible. Please help us continue.

Donate Now

Thomas Garth (c. 1740-1812) was a resident of Albemarle County and a contemporary of Thomas Jefferson. The two men shared several business connections. Jefferson's memorandum books are dotted with notations such as "beef had of T. Garth" and "tobacco purchased of Garth."[1]

From around 1772 to 1775, Garth, along with Shadwell overseer Walter Mousley, leased parts of Jefferson's Albemarle county lands for farming.[2] The lease worked well for Jefferson, who reported receiving corn, fodder, and pork from Garth and Mousley.[3]

By 1775, Garth had sold Jefferson more than 800 acres of land adjacent to Jefferson's property at Shadwell. Jefferson then leased the land back to Garth, and a deed for the sale was not executed until 1783.[4] This was the tract that Jefferson would call "Lego."

Between 1776 and 1782, Garth served as Jefferson's steward at Monticello.[5] He also appears to have acted as Jefferson's financial agent for the latter's properties in Bedford and Goochland counties.[6]

Thomas Garth later moved to the western part of Albemarle county where he owned a large tract of land. He was appointed as an Albemarle county magistrate in 1791 and served as sheriff in 1807.[7]

-Nancy Verell, 10/15

References

  1. ^ MB, 1:252 (transcription available at Founders Online), 1:395 (transcription available at Founders Online).
  2. ^ See Jefferson to Francis Eppes, July 30, 1787, in PTJ, 11:653. Transcription available at Founders Online. See also MB, 1:252-53n71. Transcription available at Founders Online.
  3. ^ MB, 1:295 (transcription available at Founders Online), 1:333 (transcription available at Founders Online).
  4. ^ Deed for the Purchase of Lego, August 14, 1783, in PTJ, 27:731-33. Transcription available at Founders Online. See also MB, 1:390n61. Transcription available at Founders Online.
  5. ^ MB, 1:252-53n71. Transcription available at Founders Online. See also Betts, Farm Book, 148-49.
  6. ^ MB, 1:252-53n71 (transcription available at Founders Online), 1:447 (transcription available at Founders Online).
  7. ^ Edgar Woods, Albemarle County in Virginia (Bridgewater, Va.: C.J. Carrier Co., [1956]), 203. See also Betts, Farm Book, 517.