Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 2.djvu/36

 FATHERS OF THE REVOLUTION

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done. This continued to be the rule for all his successors till present conditions having removed the old objections, President Wil- son revived the obsolete practice of John Adams. His most notable achievement as president was the purchase of the vast Lou- isiana territory, which was practically his own unaided work. Second only in im- portance to this was his success in keeping the country from becoming involved in the European wars. Re-elected in 1804, he re- tired after the close of his second term to his home, "Monticello," near Charlottesville. Virginia. The work of his latter days was the University of Virginia, which he pro- jected and lived long enough to see in per- fect working order. He superintended every detail, laid down the plans for all the severely classical buildings, procured the funds for their erection, and mapped out the collegiate curricula. At his beautiful man- sion. •*Monticello," he entertained the most distinguished men of his day, and there, after his death, his daughter, Mrs. Ran- dolph, passed the remainder of her life in ease and comfort, with the aid of $10,000 gratuity from the states of Virginia and South Carolina, granted as a tribute to the memory of her illustrious father. His affairs had become badly involved, and he had been obliged to sell to Congress his valuable library for about one-fourth of its cost. He died July 4, 1826, and was buried at "Mon- tirello." where his grave was marked with a stone bearing the following inscription written by himself: "Here was buried Thomas Jefferson, author of, the Declaration of Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, and Father of the ^ University of Virginia." This was after-

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wards replaced with a massive pillar erected by the government of the United Statej-, and bearing the same inscription. From the day of his death to the present ^ime, no other jublic man has been so often quoted. In originality of mind, versatility of talent, general sweep of intellect, universality of knowledge, power over men, and conceji- tion of the rights of mankind, he stood easily head and shoulders above all his great contemporaries. Washington alone sur- passed him in moral force.

Jones, Gabriel (q. v., i-267).

Jones, Joseph, son of James Jones, a build- ing contractor, was born in King George county, Virginia, in 1727, and was an in- fluential member of the house of burgesses from King George county in the assemblies of 1772-1774, and 1775, and was also a mem- ber of the committee of safety in 1775, and of all the conventions of 1774, 1775 ^tnd ijjii He was a delegate to the Continental Con- gress, 1777-7^ and 1780-83. He was judge of the general court, 1778-79, and was re- appointed November 19, 1789. He was a member of the conventions of 1788. and served in the Virginia state militia as major- general. He was frequently a member of the house of delegates, and through his opposition the proposition of the legislature to revoke the release given to the United States of the territory northwest of the Ohio river, was rejected, and the legislature was induced to conform to the wishes of the Federal Congress. His sister. Elizabeth, married Spence Monroe, and became thfi mother of James Monroe, president of the United States. Mr. Jones died in King George county, October 28, 1805. His let-

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