Monticello. Via Wikimedia.
By John Titus
PEACHTREE CORNERS, Ga. | One of the three achievements for which Thomas Jefferson wanted to be remembered was as the author of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. Although he initially wrote it in 1777, it ultimately did not pass the Virginia legislature until 1786. The statute disestablished the Church of England in Virginia and guaranteed freedom of religion to people of all religious faiths including Christians of all denominations, Jews, Muslims, and Hindus. It was a precursor for the establishment and free exercise clause in the First Amendment to our Constitution.
Titus
Fast forward 40 years to the death of Thomas Jefferson in 1826. Jeff Randolph, Jefferson’s grandson, was the executor of the estate and found that it had debts of $100,000 [more than $3 million today]. The family decided to sell everything except the physical structure and some surrounding land. But by 1828, he agreed to sell the house. He hoped it would attract an offer of about $10,000.
Finally in 1831, James Turner Barclay, a Charlottesville pharmacist, offered $4,500 and a home in Charlottesville, for Monticello and 552 surrounding acres. The Barclays moved in and had plans, but they soon foundered, in part because of the continuing hordes of tourists. By October 1833, the Barclays put the house back on the market.
Uriah P. Levy, a Philadelphia-born Jewish lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, who greatly admired Jefferson for his efforts on behalf of religious freedom, visited the house on April 5, 1834, made an offer of $2,700 for the house and 218 surrounding acres. The deal was finalized on May 20, 1836. As his naval career allowed, he visited and spent a month or more annually at Monticello and spent thousands of dollars rehabilitating the home. Toward the end of 1858 Levy drew up a will proposing to bequeath it to the U.S., but Congress did not know how the Constitution could allow the government to accept it or pay for renovation.
At the start of the Civil War the Confederate States of America seized it on the grounds that an officer of the U.S. Navy owned it. The Levy estate regained it in 1873. The house had deteriorated by that time.
Uriah Levy’s nephew, aptly named Jefferson Monroe Levy, stepped in to rescue the home. Over time he bought out the other members of the family and became the sole owner. He had the interest and resources to return it to its former glory. We can credit him with saving Monticello. Eventually, he found it necessary to sell. In 1923 the newly formed Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation raised funds to purchase Monticello from Jefferson Monroe Levy for $500,000. That is roughly $8,250,000 in 2023. This information comes from TJ Foundation and an inflation calculator website.
The Foundation’s initial focus was on architectural preservation, with the goal of restoring Monticello as close to its original appearance as possible. It has since grown to include other historic and cultural pursuits and programs such as its Annual Independence Day Celebration and Naturalization Ceremony. It also publishes and provides a center for scholarship on Jefferson and his era.
That’s why Monticello is restored and open to the public today.
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