Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), sometimes referred to as America’s Da Vinci, was the third President of the USA from 1801-1809, and a great intellect across a wide range of areas. Here, William Floyd Junior tells us about three of his great early educational influences: George Wythe, William Small, and Francis Fauquier.
Thomas Jefferson in London in 1786. By Mather Brown.
President John F. Kennedy addressing a group of Nobel Prize winners at the White House on April 29, 1962 stated, “I think this is the most extraordinary collection of human knowledge, that has gathered in the White House with the possible exception when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.” It says something about Jefferson that the obelisk that marks his grave at Monticello and lists what he believed were his greatest accomplishments, has no mention of his being President of the United States. Some historians have referred to him as “America’s Da Vinci.” However, Jefferson did not achieve all that he did alone. He had plenty of help along the way and was fortunate in the three remarkable men he met while a student at William and Mary College.
Early years
Thomas Jefferson’s earliest education began with his father Peter, a self-educated man. Young Tom’s first formal education began at the English School at age 5 and then the Latin School at 9. He would then go on to the Reverend Maury, a classical scholar, where he would remain for two years. In March 1760, Jefferson and his slave, Jupiter, packed a wagon and drove 150 miles east to Williamsburg where Thomas would take up his studies at William and Mary. It would be his first real exposure to the outside world. At the college he gained a reputation as an obsessive student, sometimes spending as many as fifteen hours a day in study and three hours practicing the violin.
During his time in Williamsburg, Jefferson would have the very good fortune of meeting three extraordinary men who were living in Williamsburg at the time. They included George Wythe, William Small, and Francis Fauquier, the Royal Governor, all of whom played a huge roll in Jefferson’s education, both inside and outside the classroom. The four would dine regularly at the Governor’s Palace where they would play music and discuss a wide range of topics. Jefferson would remark about their partee quaree, “To the habitual conversations on these occasions I owed much instruction.”
George Wythe
George Wythe (1726-1806) mastered Greek and Latin as a teenager, graduated college at nineteen and was admitted to the bar at twenty. Among Wythe’s many accomplishments included, being a self-taught lawyer, a member of the House of Burgesses and the Virginia State Legislature, delegate to the Continental Congress, assisting in writing a new legal code for the state of Virginia, a judge on Virginia’s Chancery Court, and Chief Justice of Virginia.
After two years at William and Mary, Jefferson would begin a legal apprenticeship with George Wythe that would last five years, an unusually long period during this time, in which the first year was spent at home reading the assigned texts. In addition to the reading of law books, there was a good deal of time reading in the humanities. In 1767, Jefferson would be admitted to the bar of the General Court which would consume his time until 1774, when the work of the Revolution drew him in to politics and diplomacy.
In response to the Stamp Act, Wythe would be the author of a remonstrance sent to the British government in protest. However, the Stamp Act would go into effect in November 1765.
In 1790 Wythe would resign from William and Mary. One of the reasons for his resignation was his need to travel to Richmond four times a year as the single judge on the High Court of Chancery. In the autumn of 1791, with mixed emotions, Wythe would move to Richmond and purchase a home close to the capitol. Judge Wythe would rule on a variety of issues which included rulings against cases on slavery.
In 1806, George Wythe Sweeney, the judge’s grandnephew was living in Wythe’s house. On May 25, 1806, as Wythe was having breakfast, he became violently ill. Lydia Broadnax and Michael Brown, both free African Americans living in Wythe’s house also became ill. Brown would die on June 1. It is believed that Sweeney thought he would receive a larger share of Wythe’s will by the poisoning of Broadnax and Brown. Before passing away on June 8, Wythe amended his will to disinherit Sweeney. Sweeney was later acquitted of the murder charge.
George Wythe probably had more direct influence on Jefferson’s thinking, by virtue of the long periods of time they spent together. Jefferson would later say that: “Mr. Wythe continued to be my faithful and beloved mentor in youth, and my most affectionate friend through life.”
William Small
After fifty years of not having seen William Small, Jefferson would write: “It was my great good fortune, and what probably fixed the destinies of my life that Dr. William Small of Scotland was then professor of mathematics, a man most profound in the useful branches of science, with a happy talent of communication, correct, gentlemanly manners & an enlarged and liberal mind. He, most happy for me, became soon attached to me & made me his daily companion when not engaged in the school.” Small’s influence over the young Thomas Jefferson was one of his most outstanding accomplishments in a life filled with outstanding accomplishments.
William Small was born October 13, 1734 in the Scottish town of Carmyllie, Forfarshire at the time of the Enlightenment. He would graduate from Marischal College in 1755, one of the most scientifically and philosophically advanced schools in the country. There is some evidence that Small studied medicine at King’s College after leaving Marischal.
The College of William and Mary where Small would arrive in 1758 was chartered in 1693 and was practically a reproduction of Oxford and Cambridge in England. Small would teach both mathematics and moral philosophy. He would also introduce to the college the study of the natural sciences and experimental philosophy. He acquainted Jefferson and other students with Sir Isaac Newton and would open the wonders of an ordered universe while demonstrating what the mind can do.
In the six years he spent at William and Mary, Small would do much to liberalize the college. He would do away with the old practice of making students memorize lessons. Instead, he instituted the modern lecture system. It was also believed to be the first time in America when physics principles came into use in the classroom. For a year, Small would be the only recorded master of the philosophical school, which gave him control of the curriculum.
Jefferson continued to be excited by all he was learning and found that Dr. Small had awakened in him a love of mathematics that had begun with his father years earlier. It would remain his favorite subject from then on. Whenever Jefferson travelled, he would carry mathematical instruments, a ruler, and a book of logarithms.
Much to Jefferson’s disappointment, Small would return to England in 1764. The circumstances surrounding his departure were not pleasant. Among his reasons for leaving was the passing of a new rule by the college board affirming the right to remove any member of the faculty at will, something that Small could not accept. In spite of his short time at William and Mary, his influence at the college would have a long-lasting effect.
Back in England, Small would become one of the founders of the Birmingham Hospital. Although, he often felt that medicine was a prison while his real interests were mathematics, mechanics, and chemistry.
There is some evidence that upon his return, Small may have played a central role in the founding of the Lunar Society. The Society would become the most prominent and influential of any provincial intellectual club. Meetings were normally held on the Sunday closest to the full moon so the members could more easily find their way home. When the members could not meet, they would write to one another and would ship samples and other items such as bones, fossils, vases, and urns. Their inquiries and discussions covered almost every topic imaginable.
Small’s health had been poor since leaving Virginia, possibly suffering from malaria he may have contracted while living in Williamsburg. At the beginning of 1775, Small became increasingly ill and died on February 25, 1775. On May 5, 1775, Jefferson would write to Small, not knowing that he had died months before. The letter had been sent with three dozen bottles of Moderia wine.
Francis Fauquier
Francis Fauquier would be made Lieutenant Governor of the colony of Virginia by a commission given to him in on February 10, 1758. It was the custom at this time that the Governor would remain in England with the Lieutenant Governor residing in the colony.
Thus, would begin Francis Fauquier’s term beginning in 1758 and continuing until his death in Williamsburg on March 3, 1768. Fauquier would bring his wife and elder son, Francis, with him to Virginia where the two would stay until May 1766.
In John Burke’s, “The History of Virginia from its First Settlement to the Present Day,” he describes Francis Fauquier’s arrival in Williamsburg, “as having an effect on the literature of Virginia.” He goes on to write that, “Fauquier was elegant in his manners, correct and classical in conversation and writing. He was a patron of learning and was thought of in Virginia as a model scholar.” However, Burke would also mention Fauquier’s habit of gambling, which was very popular among the state’s elite.
Francis was the second child of John Francis and his wife, Elizabeth. He was born in late June or early July 1703. The date of Francis’ marriage to Catherine Dalston is not known, but by the start of 1733, a son, Francis, had been born and a second son, William, not long after. Francis would be elected a director of the South Sea Company, and a governor of the Foundling Hospital. He was also elected a “Fellow of the Royal Society.”
As governor, Fauquier would face a number of difficult issues, the most serious of which were the Stamp Act and the French and Indian War. The Stamp Act, passed by the British Parliament in 1765 would impose a stamp duty on newspapers and legal documents. Colonial opposition to the “Act” led to its repeal in 1766. The French and Indian War (1756-1763) was also known as the Seven Years War. It began with France’s expansion into the Ohio River Valley resulting in a number of battles between the warring parties.
Without a doubt, Fauquier’s most enjoyable times as governor were the dinners he hosted at the Governor’s Palace with his three good friends. It was here that Jefferson would learn the art of living well. At the dinners elegance and good conversation took place, two things he greatly cherished. The older men would encourage Jefferson in his playing of the violin. He would be invited to join Fauquier on the governor’s musical evenings, performing at the palace. Jefferson would later write about the time he spent at the Palace: “I have heard more good sense, more rational, and philosophical conversation than in all my life besides.” The group represented four of the most brilliant minds in Virginia at the time, and perhaps in all of the colonies.
For the remainder of his life Jefferson attempted to replicate those nights he would spend at the Governor’s Palace as a member of the “Partee Quarre.” Whether it was at Monticello, the salons of Paris, the rooms of boarding houses, or the White House, Jefferson encouraged conversation in science, the arts, politics, or other topics of the day.
Francis Fauquier would pass away on March 3, 1768 and was buried in the north isle of Bruton Parish Church in Williamsburg.
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