Colonial Williamsburg Digital Library

FURNISHINGS OF THE GEORGE WYTHE HOUSE

Records pertaining to the furnishings of the house on the Palace Green occupied by George Wythe probably from the time of its erection in 1755 by Richard Taliaferro, his father-in-law, until 1791 when Wythe removed to Richmond, are but few, and these consist mostly of purchases of china, table linens, and books. There is an inventory of his estate in existence, and the meager information we have is gleaned from invoices of purchases and repairs, correspondence with John Norton and Sons and with Thomas Jefferson, and the correspondence of William Mumford and John Coalter and of William Duval and Thomas Jefferson.

In letters to the firm of John Norton & Sons of London, items were ordered by Wythe as follows:

May 9, 1768
… Be pleased to send me…a piece of irish linen 2/6 per yard, two large damask table cloths, and four small huckaback, … and a sett of balloting glasses such as are used in the house of commons. …

May 15, 1768
I beg the favour of you to send me the printed journals of the house of commons from September 1766, (until which I have them compleat), and of every future session so soon as they are published, an handsome large inkstand fit for a public office, a treatise concerning money-matters, (I think the title is "Of civil oeconomy") written by sir James Stewart, and Fawkes' Theocritus. …

2

June 1, 1768
…
I shall be obliged to you if you will send me eight or ten gallons of the best arrack in carboys properly secured, and some garden seeds…

June 13, 1768
The governours of Virginia by a royal instructions, have from time to time transmitted to the king, secretary of state, Lords of trade, &c two or more duplicates of the journals of the house of burgesses, after every session of the general assembly. The reason of ordering several to be sent is supposed to be for the better assurance of one coming to hand, so that the other it is imagined, can be of little, or no use. If I could procure one sett of those duplicates, from the first settlement of this colony til the year 1752, I expect it will be of considerable advantage to me. Your inquiring into this matter, conferring with M^r Montagu on the subject, and taking proper and effectual measures to obtain the papers desired, (or even copies of them if the other is not practicable,) so as it be not made public nor attended with great expense will be esteemed a very friendly office…

Aug. 18th 1768
I wrote many months ago to messrs. James Buchanan and company for an elegant set of table and tea china, with bowls of the same of differing sizes, decanters and drinking glasses, as handsome service of glass for a dessert, four middlesized and six lesser dishes, and three dozen plates of hard metal, 100 skins of writing parchment proper for enrolling our acts of assembly on, several bundles of best quilt, two pieces of blanketing and as many of rolls for servants, 10 or 12 pairs of shoes and two slippers for myself, and one or two other articles which I do not recollect... The goods have not come to hand, neither have I yet an account of sales of the tobacco. If they have not sent, nor design to send the goods I desire you will be so kind as let me have them, with a bonnet for mrs. Wythe, and present the inclosed order and receive the balance. A few days since I desired you would procure for me an handsome well built chariot, with the device now sent painted on it, for 3 which you may depend on a seasonable remittance. I again beg the favour of your attention to the affair of the journals. If they are not to be procured let me be informed what 120 printed copies of them to the year 1752 will cost. If they do not exceed the sum I suppose, the assembly, I doubt not, will defray the expense. The prospect of a benefit to me, I flatter myself, will not only excuse the earnestness and frequency of my importunities, but stimulate your endeavours to serve me in this business. You will oblige me by sending copper plate, with the arms of Virginia neatly engraved and some impressions of them to be pasted on the books belonging to the house of burgesses. If any additions are made on the plate in consequence of what is proposed within, I will cheerfully pay the extraordinary cost…

In 1768 the executors of Lieutenant Governor Francis Fauquier, who died March 3 of that year, made an inventory of his possessions, and those of no sentimental value to his relatives in England were sold. George Wythe, who was one of the executors, acquired several items for himself:

…
	Sold to George Wythe Esq.
1 large turkey carpet	5/0/0
12½ yds. printed cotton	0/18/9
12 yds. dowlas	0/18/0
1 hair broom and bottle brush	0/2/6
…
George Wythe
An inkhorne	0/3/9

(Book 22-Wills, Inventories York County Records, York County, Va.)

On February 7, 1771, Wythe advertised in the Virginia Gazette the loss of one volume of Burrow's Reports: 4

"I MISS a third volume of BURROW'S REPORTS. Whether it was lent out I forget. Perhaps some Gentleman's servant carried it from the Capitol by mistake last October court. Whoever will let me know where it is, I shall be obliged to him for the information.
GEORGE WYTHE."

In 1771 Wythe was planning to have a house built in Elizabeth City County, and he wrote to John Norton, on July 18, to secure an estimate of the cost of the English materials that would be needed, together with a few items which he wished to be sent him in Williamsburg:

[Enclosed invoice]

A chest of Nice joiner's and other tools, to cost six or seven guineas, or even eight to be complete.
A set of tea china.
3 dozen wine glasses & one dozen beer glasses and four wine decanters.
oil, colour & brushes to cost	3.0.0
400 panes of crown glass	20.0.0
2 Mortis locks large	1.13.0
4 ditto smaller	2.12.0
3 ditto	1.2.6
6 pr. 4 inch door dovetail hinges	1.4.0
3 pr. smaller do.
48 pr. HL rising joint for shutters	4.0.0
48 pr. side hinges do	2.0.0
40 2/2 wainscot pullies for sashes	0.8.0
65 yds white line for do	2.10.0
48 brass jointed rings for shutters	1.16.0
10 pieces flywire 3 feet 1 inch square	10.15.0
A cask of nails
The tea china & glass ware to be sent to Williamsburg, the others to be left with Mr. Jacob Wray at Hampton for G. Wythe.

When he received the appraisal of the items he wished, he replied:

June 17, 1772

I am much obliged to you for the estimate you was so good as to send me by capt. Robinson, which I received this morning. The articles exceed what I can afford; and 5 therefore I shall content myself without most of them, if not all…

On May 29, 1772, when Wythe was clerk of the House of Burgesses, he wrote John Norton, saying, "You will oblige me by sending the books and robe mentioned in the inclosed. I shall draw upon you soon for the cost of two pipes of Madeira wine." The invoice enclosed listed the following:

To be bought for G. Wythe
The works of Theophilus in greek and latin, two volumes in quarto, published at the Hague in 1751, by Gul. Otto Reitz,
Glanville,
Bracton,
Britton,
Fleta
Lamb cirenarcha,
Erassmus's adages,
Common prayer in greek
A robe, such as is worn by the clerk of the house of commons, but better than the one I had before from mr. Child, which indeed was scandalous

During 1772 Wythe sent the following orders:

Sept. 8th 1772
I beg the favour of you to send me a telescope. For a good one I would go as far as eight or ten guineas. I would have a light stand to keep it steady upon…

12th of Dec. 1772
…Jacob Walker, a youth of great hopes, who lives with me, is likely to make a good progress in the mathematics, which he is pursuing with some other branches of useful knowledge. To assist him, I beg you will send me a set of instruments, which his tutor informs me may be had for two or three guineas…

6

There are in the Virginia State Library fifteen volumes of the acts of the General Assembly from 1776 to 1783 bound under one cover with George Wythe's signature on the fly loaf. On the title page of the acts for the session beginning October 20, 1777, Richard Taliaferro's signature appears, and on the acts for the session beginning October 4, 1779, the signature of J. H. Norton is on the title page.

During the last months of the Revolutionary War, George Washington had his quarters at the Wythe house, and it is not until "10 jan. 1786" that we again have a record of Wythe. This is in his correspondence with Jefferson, in which he requests that he get for him a copy of his Notes on our Country, which later correspondence revealed to be the title of Jefferson's work, and the arms of the Taliaferro family engraved on a copper plate.

"... Before i opened the pacquet, observing it to contain books, I hoped to see the copy of one, with a cursory reading of which i had then lately been delighted. You will know what i mean, when I tell you, that he, who indulged me with the reading of it, informed me that the author had not yet resolved to publish it. I shall rejoice to find myself judged worthy one of those copies already printed, it there will be no more. I wish to get the arms of Taliaferro, which, from information, i believe to have been a tuscan family, engraven on a copper-plate, with this motto [OΥ ΔOΚΕΙΝ ΑΡΙΣΤOΣ ΑΛΛ EINAI], and the name Richard Taliaferro. But i would not have this done, if it can not be without giving you trouble, nor unless you will order to whom here i shall repay the cost. Perhaps the motto, taken from Aeschylus [(EπΤα [illegible]πε [illegible] [Six 598])] would be sufficient without agisos. If you think so, leave out that word..."(William and Mary Quarterly, first series, vol. 20, pp. 211-212.)

7

Williamsburg, 10 februa. 1786.

"In a letter, written lately to you, after acknowledging the receipt of a pacquet, i begged you, if it would not be inconvenient, to procure for me the arms of Taliaferro, engraven on a small copper plate, with the name Richard Taliaferro, … I also desired a copy of the book which i had seen in the hands of your friend M. I now beg another favour of you—it is, that you will send a copy of the same book to Richard Paul Jodrell, esq.; F. R. S. Berners street, London…"

(Ibid., p. 212.)

On August 13, 1786, Thomas Jefferson replied to these two letters from Paris:

"… I myself of the first opportunity which occurred, by a gentleman going to England, of sending to Mr. Joddrel a copy of the Notes on our country, with a line informing him that it was you who had emboldened me to take that liberty. Madison, no doubt, informed you of the reason why I had sent only a single copy to Virginia... Your wishes, which are laws to me, will justify my destining a copy for you, …

Immediately on the receipt of your letter, I wrote to a correspondent at Florence to inquire after the family of Tagliaferro as you desired. I received his answer two days ago, a copy of which I now inclose. The original shall be sent by some other occasion. I will have the copper-plate immediately engraved. This may be ready within a few days, but the probability is that I shall be long getting an opportunity of sending it to you, as these rarely occur. You do not mention the size of the plate but, presuming it is intended for labels for the inside of books, I shall have it made of a proper size for that. I shall omit the word agisos, according to the liscense you allow me, because I think the beauty of a motto is to condense much matter in as few words as possible. The word omitted will be supplied by every reader..."

(Ford, Paul Leicester, Editor The Works of Thomas Jefferson Vol V, pp. 151-155)

8

On December 13, 1786, Wythe wrote to Jefferson in regard to the latter's nephew:

"… Peter Carr attends the professors of natural and moral philosophy and mathematics, is learning the french and spanish languages, and with me reads Aeschylus and Horace, one day, and Herodotus and Cicero's orations, the next, and moreover applies to arithmetic, the pleasure, which he gives me, will be greater, if you approve of the course, or will recommend another… I wish you to send to me Polybius and Vitruvius…"(William and Mary Quarterly, first series, vol. 20, pp. 213-214.)

Jefferson replied from Paris, September 16, 1787:

"… I sent you formerly copies of the documents on the Tagliaferro family which I had received from Mr. Febroni. I now send the originals. I have procured for you a copy of Polybius, the best edition; but the best edition of Vitruvius, which is with the commentaries of Ticinus, is not to be got here. I have sent to Holland for it. In the mean time the Polybius comes in a box containing books for Peter Carr & for some of my friends in Williamsburg & it's vicinities…"(Ford, Paul Leicester, Editor The Works of Thomas Jefferson Vol. V, pp. 338-341.)

On August 2, 1787, the Virginia Gazette and Weekly Advertiser, Thomas Nicolson, editor, carried an announcement of the establishment of George Wythe's private school:

"I PURPOSE in October, when the next course of lectures on law and police will commence, to open a school for reading some of the higher Latin and Greek classicks, and of the approved English poets and prose writers, and also some exercises in arithmetic.
GEORGE WYTHE"

The same paper three weeks later carried a notice of the death of his wife, August 23, 1787, "after a very long and lingering sickness which she bore with the patience of a true Christian."

9

On September 15, 1789, Wythe resigned from the College of William and Mary as professor of "law and police," nit he continued his private school, for William Mumford wrote his friend, John Coalter, on June 13, 1790:

"°
My great resource is Mr. Wythe. If I was to live with him, I should at the same time think a great point gained, and be highly pleased… Nothing could advance me faster in the world then the reputation of having been educated by Mr. Wythe, for such a man casts a light upon all around him."(Transcript of a letter from William Mumford to John Coalter, College of William and Mary.)

On April 23, 1791, Mumford again wrote that, after an absence of eight months from Williamsburg, he was settled as a student of law in the house of Chancellor Wythe. Years later, when Wythe was living at Fifth and Grace Streets in Richmond, Mumford spoke with fondness and genuine gratitude of his old teacher and friend who, for three years, had made him a member of his family without remuneration either for board or tuition,

"…giving me the best and most excellent advice, and imparting knowledge which I never could have acquired otherwise. Subsequently he gave me the use of his law library, and instructed me in the course pursued by himself in studying law, saying, 'Don't skim it; read deeply, and ponder what you read; they begin to make lawyers now without the viginti annorum lucubrationes of Lord Coke; they are mere skimmers of law, and know little else.' Old as he is, his habit is, every morning, winter and summer, to rise before the sun, go to the well in the yard, draw several buckets of water, and fill the reservoir for his shower-bath, and then drawing the cord, let the water fall over him in a glorious shower. Many a time have I heard him catching his breath and almost shouting with the shock. When he entered the breakfast room his face would be in a glow, and all his nerves were fully braced. Only a 10 few days ago, when I called upon him he was teaching himself Hebrew, studying closely with grammar and dictionary, and once a week a Jewish rabbi by the name of Seixas attend him, to see how he progresses and to give him advice..."(Mumford, George Wythe The Two Parsons … Richmond, 1884, pp. 363-364.)

On September 30, 1791, he wrote that he had removed to Richmond with Mr. Wythe. On November 4, 1791, the Wythe house and lot were advertised for sale, and they became the property of James Madison in 1792, as shown by the Williamsburg Land Tax Books in the Virginia State Library.

On January 16, 1796, Jefferson wrote Wythe from Monticello:

"In my letter which accompanied the box containing my collection of Printed laws, I promised to send you by post a statement of the contents of the box. On taking up the subject I found it better to take a more general view of the whole of the laws I possess, as well Manuscript as printed, as also of those which I do not possess, and suppose to be no longer extant..."

(Ford, Paul Leicester, Editor The Works of Thomas Jefferson Vol. VIII, pp. 214-218.) The next year, January 22nd, Jefferson wrote again, this time requesting some information of Wythe as to parliamentary rules of procedure:

"It seems probable that I will be called on to preside in a legislative chamber. It is now so long since I have acted in the legislative line, that I am entirely rusty in the Parliamentary rules of procedure. I know they have been more studies and are better known by you than by any man in America, perhaps by any man living. I am in hopes that while inquiring into the subject you made notes on it. If any such remain in your hands, however informal, in books or in scraps of paper, and you will be so good as to trust me with them for a little while, they shall be most faithfully returned..."(Ibid., Vol. VIII, p. 274.)

11

On April 20, 1803, George Wythe wrote his will. Three years later, on January 19, added a codicil, whereby

"… I give my books and small philosophical apparatus to Thomas Jefferson, President of the United States of America, — a legacie, considered abstractlie, perhaps not deserving a place in his museum, but estimated by my good will to him, the most valuable to him of anything which I have power to bestow…

"I give to my friend, Thomas Jefferson, my silver cups and gold-headed cane, and to my friend, William Duval, my silver ladle and table and teaspoons."
…

(From published account of Will in book, The Two Parsons, published by Col. George Wythe Mumford of Richmond in 1884.)

Wythe died in 1806, and William Duval, his friend and executor, wrote Thomas Jefferson after the will was probated:

Richmond July 12^th 1806

A Catalogue of the Books, the small Philosophical Apparatus, with the two Cups & Gold headed Cane, also M^r Wythe's portrait are delivered to the Care of M^r Geo Jefferson — The Terrestrial Globe is missing. It is apprehended G. W S. [George Wythe Sweeny] sold it — He sent last Year several Books belonging to M^r Wythe to Vendue. Have you the profile of M^r Wythe in miniature? If you have not I can furnish you with one — I have not sold M^r Wythe's Watch, it was appraised to $20 — It is an old silver Watch. M^r Wythe told me it kept good Time — The Seal & Key I suppose Cost about $12. The Stone is a white Cristal found in Virginia. It has engraved, the Initial Letters of his Name, under which, are some Greek Characters, on the other side is his Coat of Arms — I did not know but the Seal might attract your Attention(Transcript of photostat College of William and Mary)

Richmond November 21^st 1806

I have a profile of the venerable George Wythe taken by M^r. W. Bache in 1804 by an Instrument he calls by the name of his patent Physiognotrace which profile 12 much resembles that great & good Man, & M^r E Deaney I have written to, who is a man of some eminence as a portrait Limner to take a Copy thereof — Both of which I will leave with M^r George Jefferson, that you may take either of them — The profile you have, will shew his appearance at that period of his Life, & the one I have, will exhibit a strong likeness a few Years before his untimely Death —

… The portrait of M^r Wythe which you desired was inventoried and accounted for at the appraised value

If you prefered the Original Lyddia would be contented with a profile Copy - ...

(Transcript of photostat College of William and Mary)

Richmond Decem^r 10^th 1806

… The originnal [sic] profile of our Friend M^r George Wythe set in a plain neat Frame is this day delivered to M^r George Jefferson to be conveyed to to [sic] Washington for you Sir —

I received the other profile of our good and Virtuous Friend with the two folio fee Books which were packed up thro' mistake for which I return you my thanks —
…

(Transcript of photostat College of William and Mary.)

There is in the folder of the Wythe papers in the library of the College of William and Mary a printed sheet showing together with a portrait of George Wythe, a cut of the Wythe House and the seal of Virginia, a picture of Wythe's bookplate, bearing the motto, "Secundis dublisque rectus," and underneath, this motto:

George Wythe
Virginia