JEFFERSON 



3135 



JEFFERSON CITY 



of the national highways, was begun. In 1807 

 Congress voted to abolish the slave trade, and 

 the act went into effect on January 1, 1808. 

 One of the first results of the Louisiana Pur- 

 chase was the Lewis and Clark Expedition 

 (which see) ; it not only secured much valuable 

 information about the land purchased from 

 France but strengthened the claim of the 

 United States to the great Oregon country. 

 The purchase of Louisiana Territory, on the 

 other hand, had one unfortunate result the 

 various attempts of Aaron Burr to set up a 

 new government in the West. Burr had killed 

 Alexander Hamilton in a duel in 1804, and was, 

 in consequence, far from popular, especially in 

 the East. In the West, however, he found 

 new friends, men who were willing to support 

 the more 'or less treasonable schemes which 

 are explained elsewhere in these volumes (see 

 BURR, AARON). 



The "Sage of Monticello." Following the 

 example of Washington, Jefferson refused to be 

 a candidate for a third term, and on March 

 4, 1809, laid aside the cares of office. He 

 continued his interest in political affairs, how- 

 ever, and was constantly consulted by Presi- 

 dents Madison and Monroe, whose policies he 

 approved. As was often said, they were "three 

 men and one system." Not only Madison and 

 Monroe, but hundreds of others consulted him. 

 Visitors came to Monticello from all parts of 

 the United States and even from Europe, to 

 seek his advice, to bring him gifts, or merely 

 to pay their respects. On many occasions his 

 housekeeper had to provide sleeping accommo- 

 dations for as. many as fifty guests. Living 

 with Jefferson were his daughter, Martha, her 

 husband, and their eleven children, and also 

 the son of his deceased daughter Mary. Sur- 

 rounded by grandchildren and honored by all, 

 he lived the life of a patriarch. But his 

 finances, seriously embarrassed by the War of 

 1812 and by hard times, could not stand the 

 strain of his open-handed hospitality, and in 

 the closing years of his life he was practically 

 a bankrupt. Contributions from friends and 

 the public kept his last days from poverty 

 and deeply touched his heart. 



The last great work of 'his life was the estab- 

 lishment of the University of Virginia. For 

 forty years he dreamed of this institution, 

 which was to crown the school system of the 

 state, and he finally secured an appropriation 

 for it from the legislature. He drew the plans 

 for the buildings, and personally superintended 

 their construction. He engaged the laborers, 



bought the bricks and selected the very trees 

 to be i used for timber. He mapped out the 

 courses of study and engaged the faculty. The 

 university opened in March, 1825, with forty 

 students, but Jefferson lived to see this number 

 increase in the next year to 177. It is a high 

 tribute to him that in its educational aims, 

 in administration and in its curriculum it 

 anticipated the typical American university of 

 the twentieth century. The university was a 

 fitting capstone to the life which came to an 

 end on July 4, 1826, just fifty years after the 

 adoption of the document which first made 

 Jefferson's name a household word in the new 

 American nation. John Adams, his old rival, 

 died a little later, on the same day. W.F.Z. 



Consult Merwin's Thomas Jefferson; Watson's 

 Life and Times of Thomas Jefferson; Dodd's 

 Statesmen of the Old South; Schouler's Thomas 

 Jefferson, in Makers of America Series. 



JEFFERSON CITY, Mo., the capital of the 

 state and county seat of Cole County, situated 

 near the geographical center of the state, on 

 the Missouri River. Saint Louis is 125 miles 

 east, and Kansas City is 160 miles northwest. 

 The Missouri Pacific, the Missouri, Kansas & 

 Texas and the Chicago & Alton railways serve 

 the city. Germans predominate in the foreign 

 element of its population, which increased from 

 11,850 in 1910 to 13,484 in 1916. The area is 

 about four square miles. 



The site of Jefferson City is partly on the 

 bank of the river and partly on an elevation 

 which affords a fine view of the river and sur- 

 rounding country; upon this stands the state 

 capitol, an imposing structure. Other notable 

 buildings are the Federal building, erected at 

 a cost of $150,000, the state penitentiary, which 

 cost $600,000, the $400,000 Supreme Court 

 building, the state armory, governor's mansion, 

 courthouse, Carnegie Library and Lincoln In- 

 stitute. The latter is for negroes, and was 

 founded in 1866 by colored infantry upon their 

 discharge from the United States Army; the 

 Institute was taken over by the state in 1879. 



The penitentiary is partly self-supporting, 

 employment being furnished on the premises to 

 the convicts by incorporated companies. The 

 state law library is one of the best in the 

 United States. Aside from its interest as a 

 state capital, the city has natural advantages 

 as the center of a rich agricultural and mineral 

 region; its manufactures are varied and ex- 

 tensive clothing, flour, boots, shoes, saddle- 

 trees, agricultural implements, foundry prod- 

 ucts and bricks being the most important 



