Chapter X: Part III (8)

The mansion consists of 2½ stories over a basement and contains 35 rooms. The dominating feature is the central dome, over an octagonal room. The house is furnished largely with Jefferson belongings, including a replica of the small portable desk on which he probably wrote the Declaration of Independence. Some of the clever devices in the residence are a 7-day calendar-clock and a dumbwaiter. One room contains one of the first parquet floors in the United States. The upper levels, accessible only by narrow staircases, are not shown to the public.

Before Jefferson built Monticello, every plantation had a group of small outbuildings such as the laundry, smokehouse, dairy, stable, weaving house, schoolhouse, and kitchen. Jefferson sought to render these as inconspicuous as possible and increase the efficiency of the facilities they provided by constructing two series of rooms for these purposes beneath the outer sides of two long L-shaped terraces extending from the house. Below the south terrace, beyond the angle of the ell, are the kitchen, the cook’s room, servants’ rooms, room for smoking meat, and the dairy. At the end of this terrace, stands “Honeymoon Cottage.” Under the far side of the north terrace are the stables, carriage house, icehouse, and laundry. Jefferson used the small building terminating this terrace, adjacent to which is the paddock, as an office. An underground passageway—containing storage rooms for wine, beer, cider, and rum—connects the basement of the main house with the series of service rooms along the outer sides of the ells. Jefferson is buried in the family graveyard, which is adjacent to the road leading from the house.

Upon Jefferson’s death in 1826, his daughter Martha inherited Monticello, but was soon forced to sell it, to the first of a series of private owners. In 1923 the newly organized Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation purchased the estate, the following year opened it to the public, and has retained ownership to the present day.

Mount Airy, Virginia ∆

_Location: Richmond County, on the north side of U.S. 360, about 1½
miles west of Warsaw._

Francis Lightfoot Lee resided in this beautiful mansion for a short time in 1769, while its owner, his new father-in-law, Col. John Tayloe, completed building Menokin nearby as a residence for him and his bride.

Mount Airy, which sits on a ridge overlooking the Rappahannock Valley, is one of the finest late Georgian mansions to be erected in America. Built in the years 1758–62, it is attributed to noted Virginia architect John Ariss, and is considered to be his best work. It was the first residence in the English Colonies to carry out completely a full five-part Palladian villa plan: a main house connected to two dependencies by quadrant passageways that partially enclose a forecourt. The massive main section, standing over an elevated basement, and the two dependencies are two stories high and of dark brown sandstone construction trimmed in light-colored limestone. The one-story passageways curve from the main house to the dependencies and enclose a semicircular forecourt on the north, or entrance, facade.

Prominent characteristics of the main building are front and rear central projecting pavilions of rusticated limestone, both having loggias, three windows in the second story, and crowning triangular pediments; limestone belt course; rusticated angle quoins; and two pairs of interior chimneys near the ridge of the hip roof, which was rebuilt after a fire in 1844 and may have replaced a hip-on-hip roof. The four square piers gracing the front loggia are faced with Roman Doric pilasters. The rear loggia has three round arches topped with heavy, marked, voussoired keystones.

The two dependencies have hip roofs and central chimneys, and their corner quoins match those of the main house. The connecting passageways, also of stone, are covered with shed roofs concealed from the front. At the point where they connect with the main house, which rests on an elevated basement, they are stepped up to allow entrance to the first floor.

Fire destroyed the probably fine wooden interiors in 1844, but the original floor plan was retained in the reconstruction. A magnificent central hall extends through the house between the front and rear loggias. Full-height windows flank both central entrance doors. The elliptical stairway in the front northwest corner room, in which there is also a pantry, dates from the 19th century, but the original stairs may have been in the present cross hall between the two east drawing rooms, lighted by the central arch of a Palladian window in the east end wall. In the southwest corner is a large dining room.

Mount Airy, in good condition, is still used as a residence by Tayloe descendants and is not open to the public. Francis Lightfoot Lee is buried with his wife in the Tayloe family cemetery, located about 300 yards northwest of the mansion.

Nelson House (Colonial National Historical Park), Virginia ☑

_Location: York County, northwest corner of Main and Pearl Streets,
Yorktown; address: Colonial National Historical Park, P.O. Box 210,
Yorktown, Va. 23490._

Thomas Nelson, Jr., may have been born in this house in 1738, resided fulltime in it from 1767 until 1781, and probably stayed in it on occasion during the following 8 years prior to his death. During the latter period, he was living in partial retirement at his Hanover County estate, Offley Hoo.

The probable builder, between 1732 and 1741, was Thomas (“Scotch Tom”) Nelson, Sr., the signer’s grandfather. Thomas Jr.’s father, William, lived in the residence until about 1738, the year of his marriage, when he moved to his own house across the street. Thomas, Jr., could have been born at either place. After “Scotch Tom” died, in 1745, his widow continued in residence. Upon her death in 1766, Thomas, Jr., who since his marriage 4 years earlier had apparently lived with his father, acquired her home and moved in the next year.

According to family tradition, the Nelson House served as the second headquarters of Gen. Charles Cornwallis during the siege of Yorktown (September-October 1781), and with Nelson’s permission American artillery shelled and hit the house. The historical record indicates that both British and French military personnel likely used it, but their identities cannot be definitely ascertained. And the southeast face of the residence does show evidence of damage from cannon fire. The Marquis de Lafayette, who revisited the United States in 1824–25, was quartered there when in the former year he attended the celebration of the anniversary of the Battle of Yorktown, in which he had played a key role.

The Nelson House is an impressive specimen of early Georgian architecture, though the four south and five north dormers added in the 1920’s detract from the original design. The broad roof is gabled and pedimented at the ends, with two massive interior chimneys and strongly dentiled cornice. The Flemish bond brickwork includes gauged belt course, water table, and flat window arches with segmental soffits. Corner quoins, as well as the window sills and lintels and their tall keystones, are of stone. The quoins and two levels of tall windows give the house a strong vertical effect. The north center door has simple gauged and molded brick piers that are topped by a brick pediment. Destroying the symmetry of the south facade is the off-center door, enclosed in a vestibule. A more elaborate door on the west side is modern, replacing an original untrimmed service opening.

On one side of the off-center hall are two small rooms, with a lobby and service stairs between them; on the opposite side of the hall, are two larger rooms, divided by a tiny one, probably a pantry. The general plan is repeated upstairs, where there are four bedrooms. Most of the original interior woodwork, highlighted by the first-floor wall-to-ceiling paneling, is still intact. From a decorative standpoint, the most striking chamber is the northeast drawing room. All the fireplaces in the residence are apparently reconstructions, as are also the balusters and handrails of the stairs.

The house remained in possession of the Nelson family until 1914. In 1920–21 its owners rehabilitated and restored it and renamed it York Hall. In 1968 the National Park Service acquired it. When this volume went to press, an extensive research and restoration program was being carried out preparatory to opening the building to the public.

Poplar Forest, Virginia ∆

_Location: Bedford County, on the east side of County Route 661,
about 6½ miles west of Lynchburg._

In 1806–19 Thomas Jefferson designed and built this architecturally significant octagonal house on his 4,000-acre Bedford County plantation as a summer home and retreat. He occupied it intermittently until his death in 1826.

The plantation came into the possession of Jefferson through Martha Wayles Skelton, whom he married in 1772. For many years, whenever he visited it to superintend its management, he resided in a two-room cottage, the only dwelling. In June 1781, just after abdicating the governorship and narrowly escaping capture with a group of legislators during a British raid on Charlottesville, he temporarily moved his family to the cottage. Before the month was out, a horse threw and injured him. During his recuperation, he wrote _Notes on the State of Virginia_, a study of social and political life in 18th-century Virginia. In 1806–19 he erected Poplar Forest, whose completion coincided with his retirement from public office. When visitors became too numerous at Monticello or the fancy struck, he took up residence at his retreat for a month or two, usually twice a year. As the years went on, he refined the structure.

In 1845 a fire destroyed the roof and interior, leaving only the four chimneys, the brick walls, and possibly the portico columns. That same year, the present unadorned roof, octagonal and hipped like its predecessor, and dormers were added. Prior to the fire, there was a skylight and balustraded deck at the edge of the roof, with a Tuscan cornice below that extended around the building. The one-story brick building is set over a high basement. Because of the sloping ground on the rear side, the structure is two stories high there. One- and two-story tetrastyle Tuscan porticoes are attached to the front and rear of the house respectively. The front one is pedimented; the unpedimented rear one is built over a one-story arcade.

The original interior plan is unchanged. Four elongated octagonal rooms are grouped symmetrically around the present dining room, a square central room that was once lighted from above by the central skylight, not replaced in 1845. No aboveground traces remain of a flat-roofed office wing, referred to by Jefferson, but a kitchen and smokehouse still stand.

Poplar Forest, in good condition, is a private residence and is not open to the public.

Stratford Hall, Virginia ∆

_Location: Westmoreland County, just north of Va. 214, about 1 mile
northeast of Lerty._

This architecturally outstanding mansion along the Potomac River was the ancestral home of the Lee family. It was the birthplace and boyhood home of two signers of the Declaration of Independence, Richard Henry and Francis Lightfoot Lee, as well as their three distinguished brothers, Arthur, William, and Thomas Ludwell. A later resident was Col. Henry “Lighthorse Harry,” hero of the War for Independence. His son, Robert E., Confederate leader during the Civil War, was born in the house in 1807.

Thomas Lee—planter, merchant, shipowner, and politician—built the mansion in the years 1725–30 on his 16,000-acre plantation. Upon his death in 1750, the residence passed to his eldest son, Philip Ludwell. Meantime, Richard Henry had been born there in 1732 and Francis Lightfoot 2 years later. They maintained residence until 1757 and 1758 respectively, when they moved to their own estates. In 1782 Philip Ludwell’s oldest daughter, Matilda, wife of “Lighthorse Harry,” her cousin, inherited the mansion. In 1790 she died, and 3 years later her husband remarried. One of his sons by that union was Robert E. Lee, who lived in the house only 3 or 4 years, at the end of which his parents moved to Alexandria.

Stratford Hall is a magnificent and rare example of an H-shaped residence and illustrates the transition from the 17th-century William and Mary style of architecture to early Georgian. The mansion is one story high over an elevated basement and has a hip roof. Variations in color and size between the Flemish bond brickwork in the basement and upper story soften the austerity of the bold mass of the house. In the central connecting arm, the flights of stone steps leading up to the north and south entrances, which diminish in width as they ascend to the main floor level and are flanked by ponderous balustrades, are conjectural reconstructions, erected in 1929. Twin sets of four huge chimney stacks are centered over the east and west wings. The stacks are connected by arches and encompass balustraded roof decks, from which the Lees could view navigation on the Potomac River.

“Lighthorse Harry” Lee made many changes. By 1800 he had altered or replaced the exterior stairs and changed most of the interior trim, except that in the central block’s great hall, to the Adam style. The floor plan is unusual in colonial dwellings. The two wings each have four rooms, divided laterally by a central hallway on the main floor. The connecting central block consists of the fully paneled great hall, or salon—one of the most formal and monumental rooms of the early Georgian period in the English Colonies. The basement contains service rooms and some bedrooms; the main floor, living quarters and bedrooms. In the east wing’s dining room is a service alcove, common in Virginia mansions. The 18th-century stairway was removed during the 1929 restoration. The only access between floors is now a small stairway in the east wing.

The mansion is built in the center of a square parterre, a service building being located at each corner of the square. Flanking the entrance forecourt are the kitchen and library, 1½-story brick structures with jerkin-head roofs. At the rear corners are a school and office, with hip roofs. Outside the square are balanced brick buildings: a stable on one side and smokehouse on the other. Seven of the 12 original structures that were still standing in 1929 have been restored. They provide an excellent picture of plantation life in the 18th century. Farther removed from the house, near the wharf on the river, is the reconstructed mill.

In 1929 the Robert E. Lee Memorial Foundation, Inc., acquired the mansion and 1,100 acres. Besides reconstructing the exterior stairs, the foundation restored the library and library closet in the west wing, as well as the dining room and service alcove in the east wing, to their 18th-century appearance. The east and west corridors, parlor in the west wing, Robert E. Lee’s birthplace room, and an adjoining bedroom in the east wing were left as they appeared about 1800. The formal garden, just east of the mansion, has also been restored. The foundation today operates Stratford Hall as a historic house museum.

Tuckahoe, Virginia ∆

_Location: Goochland County, on the south side of Va. 650, about 13
miles west of Richmond._

Tuckahoe, situated along the James River, was the boyhood home of Thomas Jefferson for 7 years and the place where he obtained his elementary education. The mansion, outbuildings, and surrounding gardens and lands constitute an outstanding example of a Southern colonial plantation.

The land on which Tuckahoe stands was patented in 1695 by William Randolph. His son Thomas inherited the plantation and built the north wing of the mansion about 1712. Sometime between 1730 and 1745, William Randolph II enlarged the residence to its present proportions. When Randolph died in 1745, Peter Jefferson moved his family, including 2-year-old Thomas, from Shadwell to Tuckahoe to fulfill a promise Peter had made to Randolph, his wife’s cousin, to act as guardian of his son, Thomas Mann Randolph. In 1752 the Jeffersons returned to Shadwell.

Like Stratford Hall, the house is an outstanding and rare example of an H-shaped structure of early Georgian style in the Colonies. It is a large, two-story frame structure lined with brick nogging and exterior weatherboarded walls, except for the two solid brick ends of the south wing. Two long gabled wings are connected by a broad central block. Tall slender chimneys accentuate the narrow gable ends and the marked verticality of the structure, which is further enhanced by the high brick foundations. The chimneys in the frame ends of the north wing project, but those in the south brick ends are flush with the walls. The second-floor level is marked by a wooden belt course and the roofline by a modillioned cornice.

The central doorways on the north and south sides have low porches with square posts supporting gable roofs. The south porch is approached by a long flight of stone steps, splayed but lacking a balustrade; the north porch is near ground level. The doors in the center block, on the east and west elevations, are sheltered by pedimented hoods. All four exterior doors, one in each wing and two in the central block, are original, as are also the weatherboarding and sash.

On the first floor of each of the wings are two rooms, divided by a center cross hall. The north wing contains two parlors; the south, a dining room and “children’s” room. The central connecting block contains one large room, or salon. The second floor repeats the plan of the first floor except that, of the original five bedrooms, the one in the central block has been modernized and subdivided into several rooms.

The interior decoration and trim, of the finest workmanship, is remarkably unaltered and in fine condition. All the walls are covered with simple paneling. The original wide floorboards remain throughout the structure. The hall stairways, especially the north one, with elaborately turned and spiraled balusters, are outstanding examples of early Georgian style. Mantels throughout the house date from the 19th century, but the marble fireplace facing in the west bedroom of the north wing is original.

East of the mansion is the small, one-room, brick, one-story schoolhouse attended by Jefferson, as well as fine boxwood gardens. A short distance to the west of the main house is a plantation street, containing a complex of eight early 18th-century buildings, all in excellent condition and little altered. They include kitchen, tobacco house, three slave quarters, smokehouse, and barn.

Since Tuckahoe passed out of the possession of the Randolph family in 1830, a succession of individuals have owned it. It is still a private residence, not open to the public.

Wythe House, Virginia ∆

_Location: On the west side of the Palace Green, between Duke of
Gloucester and Prince George Streets, Williamsburg._

This house in Colonial Williamsburg is a superb example of a Georgian brick house. It was the residence of George Wythe from around 1755 until 1791, a period that spanned some of his most active years in politics and jurisprudence. His father-in-law, the noted Virginia architect Richard Taliaferro, designed and built it for him and his second wife about 1755. When Taliaferro died two decades later, Wythe inherited it and resided in it until 1791, when he moved to Richmond. A decade earlier, the house had served as Gen. George Washington’s headquarters prior to the siege of Yorktown.

The outstanding aspects of the little-altered early Georgian structure are its good lines and fine brickwork, in Flemish bond. It is two stories high over a basement and has a hip roof and two interior chimneys. Smaller windows on the upper level create an illusion that the modestly sized house is larger than it actually is. The simple facade is enriched mainly by the broad muntins and wide frames of the windows and a fine paneled double door with rectangular transom. The flat window arches are constructed of gauged brick. Windows, doors, and house corners have rubbed dressings, and a modillioned cornice decorates the eaveline.

Each floor consists of four rooms bisected into pairs by a central hall. Chimneys between each of the pairs afford fireplaces for all eight rooms. The handsome but unpretentious stairway contains the only elaborate woodwork. Plaster dadoes, however, are found in every room, with chair rails on plasterboard, and single molded cornices. On the first floor are study, parlor, students’ room, and dining room; on the second, four bedrooms. The existing mantels are replacements. Furnishings are of the late 18th century or earlier and represent American craftmanship. Extending behind the house is the formal garden; along the north, the kitchen, smokehouse, laundry, lumberhouse, and stable.

In 1926, when Bruton Parish acquired the residence, it was in poor condition. By 1931 the parish had repaired and restored it, and utilized it as a parish house for 6 years. Colonial Williamsburg then acquired it, and in 1939–40 accomplished additional restoration. Today the building is one of the main attractions at Colonial Williamsburg and is part of Williamsburg Historic District, a National Historic Landmark.

Appendix

The Declaration and Its History

_Text of the Declaration_

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.——That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.——That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.——Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

_He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good._

_He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them._

_He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only._

_He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures._

_He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people._

_He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within._

_He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands._

_He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers._

_He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries._

_He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance._

_He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures._

_He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power._

_He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:_

_For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:_

_For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:_

_For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:_

_For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:_

_For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:_

_For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:_

_For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:_

_For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:_

_For suspending our own Legislatures and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever._

_He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us._

_He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people._

_He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation._

_He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands._

_He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions._

_In every stage of these Oppressions we have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people._

_Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends._

=We, therefore=, the Representatives of the =united States of America=, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be =Free and Independent States=; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do.

And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

_History of the Document_

The best known of all the copies of the Declaration of Independence is the parchment copy, engrossed by Timothy Matlack. This one, signed by 56 Delegates of the Continental Congress on and after August 2, 1776, is displayed today in Exhibition Hall at the National Archives Building. Jefferson’s final draft of the Declaration, known as the “rough draft,” cumulatively bearing the corrections, amendments, and deletions of the drafting committee and of Congress as a whole, as well as Jefferson’s marginal and textual notes, is preserved among the Jefferson Papers at the Library of Congress. The revised draft, adopted by the Delegates on July 4, 1776, and signed only by John Hancock and Charles Thomson, President and Secretary of the Continental Congress, is known as the broadside copy. It was sent to the printer and has never been located. Sixteen copies of the printed broadside have survived. In addition to the “rough draft,” as least six other handwritten contemporary copies of the Declaration, one fragmentary, have survived and are in various archival collections. Five were made by Jefferson and one by John Adams.

The history of the parchment copy of the Declaration is fascinating. From 1776 until 1789, along with other important national papers, it was safeguarded by Secretary of Congress Thomson, who carried it with him as Congress, at first to escape British troops and later for other reasons, convened in various cities: Philadelphia, Baltimore, Lancaster, York, Princeton, Trenton, Annapolis, and New York.

When the Constitution took effect in 1789 and Thomson left office, he relinquished the Declaration to the newly created Department of State, which was under the temporary stewardship of Acting Secretary John Jay. Its offices were in New York’s old City Hall (Federal Hall). The next March, Thomas Jefferson became the first Secretary of State and custodian of the instrument he had created. Later that year, Philadelphia became the seat of the Federal Government and the Declaration returned to its birthplace. There it remained for a decade, until 1800, when the Government moved to the new national Capital of Washington.

Secretary of State John Marshall apparently at first stored the Declaration in his Department’s temporary offices in the old Treasury Building, at 15th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW., and possibly then at Seven Buildings, 19th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. After a few months, likely in 1801, the document was transferred to the War Office Building, at 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW., where the Department of State moved its offices. The Declaration remained there until the summer of 1814, during the War of 1812, when British troops invaded the Capital. Shortly before they arrived, Secretary of State James Monroe packed the instrument and other state papers in linen sacks and sent them by wagon to a barn on the Virginia side of the Potomac 2 miles above Chain Bridge for one night, and then to a clergyman’s home in Leesburg, Va. Within a few weeks, after the British threat had subsided, the documents were brought back to Washington and probably temporarily kept in various structures because of the burning of the War Office Building by the British.

In 1820 the Department of State moved the Declaration to its headquarters at 15th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. Stored for years in scroll fashion, the document had already been damaged by numerous unrollings, other handling, and frequent moves. In the period 1820–23 the use of a “wet” copying process to produce a facsimile apparently divested the parchment of some of its ink, especially that of the signatures.

Subsequently the Declaration remained relatively undisturbed until 1841, when Secretary of State Daniel Webster, concluding that it should be on public view, ordered that it be mounted, framed, and moved to the newly constructed Patent Office, in the block bounded by Seventh, Ninth, F, and G Streets NW. The Patent Office was then part of the Department of State. Placed beside George Washington’s commission as commander in chief of the Continental Army in a large frame on a wall of the second floor hall opposite a window, for 35 years the Declaration endured exposure to glare, summer heat, and winter cold. The text retained its legibility, but the parchment faded and yellowed, cracked and warped. Many of the signatures had faded, some becoming blurred or almost invisible.

The Federal Government in 1876 lent the Declaration to the city of Philadelphia, site of the national Centennial Exposition. On July 4 Richard Henry Lee, grandson of the signer, read it publicly. It was then exhibited in a fireproof safe behind a plate glass window and seen by more people than ever before. Philadelphians, deploring its condition, fought to retain it and only reluctantly returned it to Washington. Heeding the outcry of those who had viewed the timeworn parchment, a Government commission studied the possibility of restoration and in time concluded that such an attempt might be damaging.

Meantime, in 1877, as a safeguard the Declaration was moved from the Patent Office to a more fireproof building at 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. shared by the State, War, and Navy Departments. It had narrowly escaped destruction, for only a few months later fire gutted the Patent Office. Finally, in 1894, for protection from the light, State Department officials sealed the 118-year-old sheet between two glass plates and locked it in a safe in the basement. There it lay, except for rare occasions, in darkness and unobserved for more than a quarter of a century.

In 1921 the Department of State, responding to the recommendation of a special commission, relinquished custodianship of the Declaration to the Library of Congress. The transfer was made personally by Herbert Putnam, the Librarian, using a library mail truck, a Model T Ford. At first he kept the document in his office. In 1924, however, he placed it together with the Constitution, on public exhibition in a bronze-and-marble shrine on the second floor. At this time, the Declaration was encased between heavy glass panes specially treated to keep out harmful rays of light.

The Declaration and the Constitution remained there until the outbreak of World War II. On December 26, 1941, just 19 days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, they left Washington under heavy guard by train en route to Fort Knox, Ky., where they arrived the following day. Specialists took advantage of the opportunity and cleaned and restored the Declaration to the maximum degree. In 1944 both it and the Constitution were taken back to the Library of Congress. They remained there until 1952, at which time a tank under military escort carried them to Washington’s National Archives Building, repository of the Nation’s permanent records, which are under the jurisdiction of the National Archives and Records Service of the U.S. General Services Administration.

* * * * *

Still enshrined there today, along with thousands of other priceless national records, is the parchment copy of the Declaration. The massive bronze doors at the Constitution Avenue entrance to the building lead to the circular Exhibition Hall. At its rear center stands a marble shrine containing the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. They are sealed in helium-filled bronze and glass cases, screened from harmful light rays by special filters, and can be lowered within seconds into a large fireproof, shockproof, and bombproof vault.

The hall also features a “Formation of the Union” exhibit, a collection of documents illustrating the evolution of the U.S. Government from 1774 until 1791. They include the Articles of Association (1774), the Articles of Confederation (1777), the Treaty of Paris (1783), and Washington’s inaugural address (1789). Above the exhibits are two murals. In one, Jefferson is presenting the Declaration to John Hancock, President of the Continental Congress; in the other, James Madison is submitting the Constitution to George Washington, President of the Constitutional Convention.

Suggested Reading

BECKER, CARL L. _The Declaration of Independence: A Study in the
History of Political Ideas._ New York: rev. ed., Harcourt, Brace,
1942. A classic and scholarly study, originally published in
1922, that analyzes the Declaration in terms of its political
background, philosophical origins, and literary merit, and
discusses subsequent reaction to it.

BOYD, JULIAN P. _The Declaration of Independence: The Evolution
of the Text as Shown in Facsimiles of Various Drafts by Its
Author, Thomas Jefferson._ Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University
Press, 1945. This valuable work is a revised edition of a study
published by the Library of Congress in 1943 in connection with
the bicentennial celebration of Jefferson’s birth. Examines the
nature and evolution of the various drafts.

BURNETT, EDMUND C. _The Continental Congress._ New York: Macmillan,
1941. Although written in a cumbersome style, this book remains
one of the best on its subject. Includes chapters dealing with
the events surrounding adoption of the Declaration.

DUMBAULD, EDWARD. _The Declaration of Independence and What It Means
Today._ Norman, Okla.: University of Oklahoma Press, 1950.
Phrase-by-phrase study of the contents of the document and
differences in the several drafts. Also treats the underlying
intellectual and political influences.

MALONE, DUMAS. _The Story of the Declaration of Independence._ New
York: Oxford University Press, 1954. Enhancing this readable
account of the early phases of the Revolution and biographical
sketches of the signers is a fine collection of illustrations
assembled by Hirst Milhollen and Milton Kaplan.

McGEE, DOROTHY H. _Famous Signers of the Declaration._ New York:
Dodd, Mead, 1955. One of a series oriented to young readers, this
volume presents biographies of selected signers.

NATIONAL ARCHIVES. _The Formation of the Union._ Washington: National
Archives and Records Service (Pub. No. 70-13), 1970. A handsome
but moderately priced brochure that consists of a brief history
of the period 1774–91 and facsimiles of key documents.

WHITNEY, DAVID C. _Founders of Freedom in America: Lives of the Men
Who Signed the Declaration of Independence and So Helped to
Establish the United States of America._ Chicago: J. G. Ferguson,
1964. This superbly illustrated work is one of the best popular
versions of the events of the Revolutionary period and those
associated with the signing. Includes biographies of the signers
and patriots Patrick Henry and James Otis.

Criteria for Selection of Historic Sites of National Significance

=A.= National significance is ascribed to buildings, sites, objects, or districts which possess exceptional value or quality in illustrating or interpreting the historical (history and archeology) heritage of our Nation, such as:

1. Structures or sites at which events occurred that have made a significant contribution to, and are identified prominently with, or which outstandingly represent, the broad cultural, political, economic, military, or social history of the Nation, and from which an understanding and appreciation of the larger patterns of our American heritage may be gained.

2. Structures or sites associated importantly with the lives of persons nationally significant in the history of the United States.

3. Structures or sites associated significantly with an important event that outstandingly represents some great idea or ideal of the American people.

4. Structures that embody the distinguishing characteristics of an architectural type specimen, exceptionally valuable for a study of a period, style, or method of construction; or a notable structure representing the work of a master builder, designer, or architect.

5. Objects that figured prominently in nationally significant events; or that were prominently associated with nationally significant persons; or that outstandingly represent some great idea or ideal of the American people; or that embody distinguishing characteristics of a type specimen, exceptionally valuable for a study of a period, style, or method of construction; or that are notable as representations of the work of master workers or designers.

6. Archeological sites that have produced information of a major scientific importance by revealing new cultures, or by shedding light upon periods of occupation over large areas of the United States. Such sites are those which have produced, or which may reasonably be expected to produce, data affecting theories, concepts, and ideas to a major degree.

7. When preserved or restored as integral parts of the environment, historic buildings not sufficiently significant individually by reason of historical association or architectural merit to warrant recognition may collectively compose a “historic district” that is of historical significance to the Nation in commemorating or illustrating a way of life in its developing culture.

=B.= To possess national significance, a historic or prehistoric structure, district, site, or object must possess integrity. For a historic or prehistoric _site_, integrity requires original location and intangible elements of feeling and association. The site of a structure no longer standing may possess national significance if the person or event associated with the structure was of transcendent importance in the Nation’s history and the association consequential.

For a historic or prehistoric _structure_, integrity is a composite quality derived from original workmanship, original location, and intangible elements of feeling and association. A structure no longer on the original site may possess national significance if the person or event associated with it was of transcendent importance in the Nation’s history and the association consequential.

For a historic _district_, integrity is a composite quality derived from original workmanship, original location, and intangible elements of feeling and association inherent in an ensemble of historic buildings having visual architectural unity.

For a historic _object_, integrity requires basic original workmanship.

=C.= Structures or sites which are primarily of significance in the field of religion or to religious bodies but are not of national importance in other fields of the history of the United States, such as political, military, or architectural history, will not be eligible for consideration.

=D.= Birthplaces, graves, burials, and cemeteries, as a general rule, are not eligible for consideration and recognition except in cases of historical figures of transcendent importance. Historic sites associated with the actual careers and contributions of outstanding historical personages usually are more important than their birthplaces and burial places.

=E.= Structures, sites, and objects achieving historical importance within the past 50 years will not as a general rule be considered unless associated with persons or events of transcendent significance.

Acknowledgments

_Advisory Board on National Parks, Historic Sites, Buildings, and Monuments (1971)_

Durward L. Allen, _Purdue University_.
Hon. E. Y. Berry, _Rapid City, S. Dak._
Anthony A. Buford, _Clayton, Mo._
Loren C. Eiseley, _University of Pennsylvania_.
Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson, _Stonewall, Tex._
Peter C. Murphy, Jr., _Springfield, Oreg._
Nathaniel A. Owings, _San Francisco, Calif._
Melvin M. Payne, _National Geographic Society_.
Linden C. Pettys, _Ann Arbor, Mich._
Steven Rose, _Arcadia, Calif._
William G. Shade, _Lehigh University_.
Elisha Walker, Jr., _New York, N.Y._
James W. Whittaker, _Seattle, Wash._

_National Park Service_

Edwin C. Bearss, _Historian, Historic Preservation Project (East),
Denver Service Center_.

S. Sydney Bradford, _Chief, Plans and Grants, National Register of
Historic Places_.

George S. Cattanach, Jr., _Program Coordinator, National Register of
Historic Places_.

Henry A. Judd, Chief, _Park Historic Architecture, Division of
Historic Architecture_.

Herbert E. Kahler, _Chief (retired), Division of History and
Archeology_.

Ronald F. Lee, _Special Assistant to the Director_.

John Luzader, Historian, _Historic Preservation Project (East),
Denver Service Center_.

Warren A. McCullough, _Management Assistant, Independence National
Historical Park, Pa._

John D. McDermott, _Assistant Executive Secretary, Advisory Council
on Historic Preservation_.

Thomas W. Mullen, _Student Research Assistant (Northeastern
University), Division of History_.

Denys Peter Myers, _Architectural Historian, Division of History_.

John D. R. Platt, _Historian, Independence National Historical Park,
Pa._

Charles W. Porter III, _Chief Historian (retired), Division of
History_.

Charles W. Snell, _Historian, Division of History_.

Martin I. Yoelson, _Supervisory Interpretive Specialist, Independence
National Historical Park, Pa._

_Other Individuals_

Roland A. Block, _Regional Director, Taconic State Park Commission,
Staatsburg, N.Y._

Jerry M. Bloomer, _Secretary-Registrar, R. W. Norton Art Gallery,
Shreveport_.

Edwin Cox, _President, Virginia Historical Society, Richmond_.

Alonzo T. Dill, _West Point, Va._

Educational Programs Staff, _National Archives and Records Service,
U.S. General Services Administration_.

Ms. Constance M. Greiff, _Vice President, Historical Society of
Princeton, N.J._

Ms. Virginia Gunter, _Curator, New Hampshire Historical Society,
Concord_.

Edgar R. Lafferty, Jr., _Elsing Green, King William, Va._

Charles H. McCormick, _Assistant Professor of History, Fairmont State
College, Fairmont, W. Va._

Ms. Mildred Steinbach, _Librarian, Frick Art Reference Library, New
York_.

E. Berkeley Tompkins, _Director, Division of Historical and Cultural
Affairs, Department of State, State of Delaware, Dover_.

Art and Picture Credits

The National Park Service gratefully acknowledges the assistance of agencies and individuals furnishing illustrations and granting permission to reproduce them.

_Page_

ii Oil (1817) by John Trumbull, after his earlier painting of
the same name (1786–95). Color separations courtesy United
States Capitol Historical Society and Eastern National Park
and Monument Association. Of the 48 individuals in the
painting, 44 are signers. The likenesses were the basis for
many later portraits by other artists.

4 Oil (date unknown) by Allan Ramsay. Library of Congress.

5 Engraving (1770) by Paul Revere. Library of Congress.

6 Lithograph (1830) by either William or John Pendleton,
after a cartoon (1774) published in London. Library of
Congress.

7 Lithograph (1846) by Nathaniel Currier. Library of Congress.

8 Engraving (1775) by Amos Doolittle. National Park Service.

9 Detail from broadside, publisher unknown. National Park
Service.

10 Engraving (ca. 1776) by an unknown artist. Library of
Congress.

11 Library of Congress.

12 Oil (ca. 1858) by Bass Otis, after George Romney.
Independence National Historical Park.

13 Mezzotint (1778) by an unknown artist, after Corbutt.
Library of Congress.

14 Oil (ca. 1782) by Charles Willson Peale. Independence
National Historical Park.

17 Library of Congress.

19 Engraving (1823) by William Stone. Library of Congress.

21 Library of Congress.

22 Engraving (1859) by John C. McRae, after Johannes A. S.
Oertel. Library of Congress.

23 Oil (date unknown) by Xavier D. Gratta. Valley Forge (Pa.)
Historical Society.

28 Oil (before 1897) by an unknown artist, after Thomas Sully.
Independence National Historical Park.

29 Oil (date unknown) by W. Trego. Valley Forge (Pa.)
Historical Society.

30 Engraving (ca. 1725–26) by William Burgis. Library of
Congress.

33 Oil (ca. 1791–94) by Charles Willson Peale. Independence
National Historical Park.

36 Oil (1873) by Nahum B. Onthank, after John S. Copley.
Independence National Historical Park.

39 Oil (1871) by Caroline Weeks, after John Trumbull.
Independence National Historical Park.

41 Oil (1901) by Albert Rosenthal, after a miniature by an
unknown artist. Independence National Historical Park. In
1913 Charles H. Hart, an authority on historical portraits,
maintained that this likeness was not Carter Braxton but was
that of his brother George.

43 Oil (1823) by Charles Willson Peale, after Rembrandt Peale.
Independence National Historical Park.

45 Oil (1819) by Charles Willson Peale, after his 1773
painting. Independence National Historical Park.

47 Oil (1873) by James R. Lambdin, after John Trumbull.
Independence National Historical Park.

48 Wood engraving by an unknown artist, after F. O. C. Darley,
from Henry Howe, _Life and Death on the Ocean_ (1855).
Library of Congress.

49 Oil (1872) by Edward D. Marchant, after Charles Willson
Peale. Independence National Historical Park.

50 Pen and ink drawing by an unknown artist, from _Magazine of
American History_ (September 1880). Library of Congress.

51 Oil (1876) by Samuel B. Waugh, after John Trumbull.
Independence National Historical Park.

53 Oil (1874) by Edward L. Henry, after Ralph Earl (Earle).
Independence National Historical Park.

55 Oil (date unknown) by David Martin. Pennsylvania Academy of
Fine Arts, Philadelphia.

57 Engraving (1859) by Robert Whitechurch, after Christian
Schussele. Library of Congress.

59 Oil (1861) by James Bogle, after John Vanderlyn.
Independence National Historical Park.

62 Detail from the lithograph “Signers of the Declaration of
Independence,” published in 1876 by Ole Erekson. Library of
Congress. The detail is a conjectural representation; no
portrait or reliable likeness of Button Gwinnett is known to
exist.

63 Lithograph, probably by an artist named Ferris, from William
Brotherhead, _The Book of the Signers_ (1861). Library of
Congress.

65 Detail from the lithograph “Signers of the Declaration of
Independence,” published in 1876 by Ole Erekson. Library of
Congress.

67 Oil (1816) by Samuel F. B. Morse, after John S. Copley.
Independence National Historical Park.

70 Oil (1873) by James R. Lambdin, after John Trumbull.
Independence National Historical Park.

71 Oil (ca. 1884) by Herman F. Deigendisch, after Henry Bryan,
Jr. Independence National Historical Park. Some authorities
have questioned the authenticity of this likeness.

73 Oil (before 1893) by an unknown artist, after Charles
Willson Peale. Independence National Historical Park.

74 Engraving by James B. Longacre, after Charles Willson Peale,
from James Herring and James B. Longacre, _The National
Portrait Gallery of Distinguished Americans_ (1836). Library
of Congress.

75 Oil (before 1851) by Charles Fraser, after Jeremiah Theus.
Independence National Historical Park.

77 Oil (1873) by James R. Lambdin, after John Trumbull.
Independence National Historical Park.

79 Oil (1873) by James R. Lambdin, after John Trumbull.
Independence National Historical Park. According to one
authority, Trumbull based his likeness on the features of
Hopkins’ eldest son, Rufus, who bore a close resemblance to
his father.

81 Oil (before 1854) by Dubois (probably Samuel T.), after
Robert E. Pine. Historical Society of Pennsylvania and
Independence National Historical Park.

83 Oil (1783) by Charles Willson Peale. Independence National
Historical Park.

85 Oil (1791) by Charles Willson Peale. Independence National
Historical Park.

87 Library of Congress.

89 Engraving (1826) by Benjamin Tanner. Library of Congress.

90 Detail from the lithograph “Signers of the Declaration of
Independence,” published in 1876 by Ole Erekson. Library of
Congress.

92 Oil (1784) by Charles Willson Peale. Independence National
Historical Park.

94 Oil (1906) by Albert Rosenthal, after an engraving from John
Sanderson, _Biography of the Signers to the Declaration of
Independence_ (1824). Independence National Historical Park.

96 Oil (ca. 1770) probably by Abraham Delanoy, Jr. Frick Art
Reference Library, New York City, and Taconic State Park
Commission, Staatsburg, N.Y.

97 Pen and ink drawing by an unknown artist, from _Magazine of
American History_ (December 1885). Library of Congress.

99 Oil (1875) by Anna Lea, after John Trumbull. Independence
National Historical Park.

100 Oil (1797) by Charles Willson Peale. Independence National
Historical Park.

103 Oil (1872) by Philip F. Wharton, after Benjamin West.
Independence National Historical Park.

104 Oil (1873) by Charles N. Flagg, after John Trumbull.
Independence National Historical Park.

106 Oil (ca. 1872) by Charles Willson Peale. Independence
National Historical Park.

107 Engraving by William Birch, from _The City of Philadelphia_
(1800). Independence National Historical Park.

109 Watercolor (ca. 1765) by Pierre Eugene Du Simitière. The
R. W. Norton Art Gallery, Shreveport, La.

110 Oil (ca. 1876) by William L. Sheppard, after Mason
Chamberlin. Independence National Historical Park.

112 Oil (date unknown) by Louis E. Lami. Hangs in the Virginia
State Capitol. National Park Service.

113 Oil (date unknown) by Francis B. Mayer, after Charles
Willson Peale. Independence National Historical Park.

115 Oil (1876) by Richard M. Staigg, after Edward Savage.
Independence National Historical Park.

116 Detail from the lithograph “Signers of the Declaration of
Independence,” published in 1876 by Ole Erekson. Library of
Congress.

118 Oil (1860) by Thomas Sully, after Robert E. Pine.
Independence National Historical Park.

120 Detail from the lithograph “Signers of the Declaration of
Independence,” published in 1876 by Ole Erekson. Library of
Congress.

122 Oil (1873) by Philip F. Wharton, after Benjamin West.
Independence National Historical Park.

123 Oil (1783) by Charles Willson Peale. The Henry Francis du
Pont Winterthur Museum, Winterthur, Del. Gift of Mrs. Julia
B. Henry.

125 Engraving (1799) by William Birch & Son. Library of Congress.

127 Oil (1873) by Philip F. Wharton, after James Earl (Earle).
Independence National Historical Park.

129 Oil (1874–75) by Thomas Hicks, after Ralph Earl (Earle).
Independence National Historical Park.

130 Lithograph by an unknown artist, from William Brotherhead,
_The Book of the Signers_ (1861). Library of Congress.

132 Watercolor (ca. 1760) by an unknown artist. The R. W. Norton
Art Gallery, Shreveport, La.

133 Oil (1873) by George W. Conarroe, after John Wollaston.
Independence National Historical Park.

135 Library of Congress.

137 Oil (1912) by Laura J. Schneider, probably after George T.
Pool. Independence National Historical Park.

139 Oil (date unknown) by an unknown artist. New Hampshire
Historical Society, Concord.

140 Oil (1874) by Samuel B. Waugh, after Charles Willson Peale.
Independence National Historical Park.

142 Oil (1888) by Ulysses D. Tenney, after John Trumbull. Hangs
in the Moffatt-Ladd House, Portsmouth, N.H. Photographer,
Douglas Armsden, Kittery Point, Maine.

144 Oil (1873) by James J. Sawyer, after John Trumbull.
Independence National Historical Park.

145 Oil (1873) by Philip F. Wharton, after a miniature
attributed to James Peale. Independence National Historical
Park.

146 Sketch (date unknown) by C. A. Poulson. Historical Society
of Pennsylvania and Independence National Historical Park.

149 Oil (ca. 1783) by Charles Willson Peale. Independence
National Historical Park.

150 Engraving by Henry Dawkins, after W. Tennant, from _An
Account of the College of New Jersey_ (1764). Library of
Congress.

152 Oil (1873) by James R. Lambdin, after Ralph Earl (Earle).
Independence National Historical Park.

154 Oil (1876) by John F. Weir, after John Trumbull.
Independence National Historical Park.

164 National Park Service (Tony P. Wrenn).

165 National Park Service (Wrenn).

167 National Park Service (Wrenn).

168 National Park Service (Wrenn).

169 National Park Service (Wrenn).

171 National Park Service (Abbie Rowe).