To Thomas Jefferson from William Bartram, 18 March 1805
From William Bartram
Kingsess near Philadelphia March 18th. 1805
Sir
I have taken the liberty to cover a Letter for Your Excelly. from Mr. Alexander Wilson accompanying a fine and accurate drawing of two rare Birds, which he lately procured when on a tour through the No.eastern parts of the State of Nw York to view the Catarach of Niagara Mr. Willson shewed me the birds well preserved: The Jay seemes to differ from Mr. Pennants Corvus cinorius. Arct. Zool. And the Butcher Bird Lanius Excubitor Linn. Mr. Wilson excited by motives of benevolence, from a high opinion of Your personal & Publick character, requests me to convey to you this offering as a testimony of his esteem & affection.
Some time past Your worthy friend Doctr. Barton soon after his return home from Virginia informed us, that it was your wish to have the horns of the Stone Buck, (Capra Cervicapra?) I am directed by my brother to assure you that you are perfectly wellcome to them, and should have sent them, but living so remote from Philadelphia, have not yet found a safe mode of conveyance.
We have, a horn of a species of Cervus from the coast of Hudsons Bay, brought and presented to my father by Capt. Swain, who many years since, made a voyage thither, when on a descovery of a N. Western passage across our Continent, Tho’ this horn appears to have belonged to an adult, it is singularly small & light, & must have shaded the brows of a very small Animal. I beg leave to repeat that you are wellcome to both these specimens, and wish for an oportunity of safe conveyance.
I sincerely unite with my friend W. and every True American in congratulations, for Your reelection to the Presidency of U. States
On wishing You a long and happy Life, beg leave to subscribe Your Excellencys Sincere Friend
William Bartram
RC (DLC); endorsed by TJ as received 6 Apr. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure: Alexander Wilson to TJ, 18 Mch.
William Bartram (1739-1823), the son of John Bartram, Sr., was a naturalist who explored the American south in the 1760s and 1770s. After returning to Philadelphia, Bartram settled at the family estate in Kingsessing Township on the Schuylkill River, where he operated a botanical garden and later, in 1791, published an account of his journeys. A printed proposal for Bartram’s travel narrative is in TJ’s papers, and TJ was a subscriber to the publication. The two men knew one another from the time TJ spent in Philadelphia, and they regularly corresponded about seeds and plants (; William Bartram, Travels through North & South Carolina, Georgia, East & West Florida, the Cherokee Country, the Extensive Territories of the Muscogulges, or Creek Confederacy, and the Country of the Chactaws [Philadelphia, 1791; No. 4029]; DLC: TJ Papers, 56:9532-3; , 1:759; Vol. 26:167-8, 272-4; Vol. 29:4-5, 117, 136, 319, 389-92; Vol. 30:232-3; Vol. 31:89-90; Bartram to TJ, 29 Oct. 1808).
Benjamin Smith Barton visited Monticello in 1802 (Vol. 38:532).
Capt. Swain: in 1753 and 1754, Charles Swaine commanded two voyages from Philadelphia in search of the Northwest Passage (Leonard W. Labaree and others, eds., The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, 43 vols. [New Haven, 1959- ], 4:380-4).