JEFFERSON COUNTY. 359 



House of Representatives, Judge Gamble, and Major John 

 Berrien. The celebrated Patrick Carr, we believe, resided in 

 this county. He was murdered, it is thought, by some of the 

 descendants of the tories. 



Minerals, Rocks. — There are several localities in which 

 shell marl is found, particularly on Brushy creek. Near 

 Louisville is found burr stone, equal, it is said, to the cele- 

 brated French burr ; nodular oxyde of iron, agate, chalce- 

 dony, hornstone, carnelian. Fossils of great variety and inte- 

 rest are abundantly diffused, such as the Clypeaster, Spantangus, 

 Anunchyles, Turritella, Ammonites, &c. 



Name. — This county was called after Thomas Jefferson. 

 For nearly a century was this illustrious man engaged in the 

 service of his country ; and probably next to Washington, the 

 people of the United States are more indebted to him than 

 any other man. He was born at Shadwell, in the county of 

 Albemarle, Virginia, April 2, 1743, and educated at the College of 

 William and Mary ; after which he studied law under the cele- 

 brated George Wythe, afterwards Chancellor of the State of 

 Virginia. When his oppressed country demanded his assist- 

 ance, he cheerfully rendered it. With his able pen, he zeal- 

 ously defended the rights of the colonies. In 1774, he 

 published his summary views of the rights of the colonies in 

 America, one of the greatest productions of the day, and 

 which contributed much to open the eyes of his countrymen 

 to the nefarious designs of the British Parliament. In 1775, 

 he was elected a member of the Continental Congress, and 

 continued until 1777 one of its brightest ornaments. The 

 part which he acted in the Declaration of American Indepen- 

 dence merits particular notice. On the 7th of June, 1776, 

 Richard Henry Lee submitted his motion for independence. It 

 was debated until the 10th, when its further consideration was 

 postponed until the 1st of July, and a committee in the interim 

 was appointed to prepare the Declaration. The committee 

 consisted of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, 

 Robert R. Livingston, and Thomas Jefferson. Mr. Adams 

 and Mr. Jefferson were named as a sub-committee to prepare 

 a draft. This was written by Mr. Jefferson, and submitted to 

 Mr. Adams, who made no alterations. It was then presented 



