Jefferson: Reader and Surveyor

Father of a President

Peter Jefferson read considerably and studied with Joshua Fry, who was Professor of Mathematics at William and Mary College. The result of this study enabled Jefferson to run the boundary-line between Virginia and North Carolina. The map made from this survey was published in London in 1751, and remained a standard for many years. His reading included the writings of Addison, Swift, Pope, and Shakespeare.

In his politics, Jefferson was a Whig. He was a noted member of the Virginia upper society. In spite of this higher standing in the community he was known to be a friend of the Indians. One particular friend Peter had was the Indian Chief Ontassete. The chief and his Cherokee followers often visited the seat of government. As the chief and his men traveled to Williamsburg they were often welcomed guests in Peter Jefferson's home.

That there may have been, also, a bit of the mountain man in Peter Jefferson is born out in the journal kept by Thomas Lewis who accompanied Jefferson on the first of the 1746 expeditions as they explored and surveyed what was called the Fairfax Line. This Fairfax Line was the outer limits of an immense grant from the King to Lord Fairfax. On this mountainous trek they experienced horses tumbling over rocks and precipices, cold, rain and near starvation. But they were also excited over killing "one old Bair & three Cubs." One area they explored resulted in so much possible danger that they named this "tirable place" Purgatory.

Peter Jefferson: Father of a President continued.

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