Edmund Bacon (1785-1866), a native of Albemarle County, was the overseer at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello from 1806 until 1822. In 1823, Bacon and his family moved to Trigg County, Kentucky, where he farmed successfully until his death.

Bacon's recollections of his experiences as overseer at Monticello and his relationship with Thomas Jefferson were collected by the Reverend Hamilton W. Pierson and published as Jefferson at Monticello in 1862.1

Further Sources

• Bacon-Jefferson Correspondence. Transcriptions available at Founders Online.
• Betts, Edwin M., ed. Thomas Jefferson's Farm Book: With Commentary and Relevant Extracts from Other Writings. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1953. Rep. 1976, 1987, 1999. A chronogical list of Monticello's overseers can be found on page 1:149 of the edited volumes. Manuscript and transcription available online at Massachusetts Historical Society.
• Martin, Russell Lionel. "Mr. Jefferson's Business: The Farming Letters of Thomas Jefferson and Edmund Bacon, 1806-1826." PhD diss., University of Virginia, 1994.
• Martin, Russell L. "Thomas Jefferson and Edmund Bacon: Two American Farmers." The Magazine of Albemarle County History 50 (1992): 1-27.
• Memoranda Book of Edmund Bacon, 1802-1822 (microform of original manuscript in Special Collections, University of Virginia Library).

• 1. Hamilton W. Pierson, Jefferson at Monticello: The Private Life of Thomas Jefferson (New York: Charles Scribner, 1862).