From Thomas Jefferson to John Benson, 23 March 1805
To John Benson
Monticello Mar. 23. 05.
Th: Jefferson took the liberty of desiring that a box or package of plants should be sent by the stage from Washington to Fredericksburg addressed to the care of mr Benson. he now asks the favor of mr Benson to forward them by the stage to Milton with a recommendation of them to the particular care of the driver. he expects they may arrive at Fredericksburg about the time this note does. he presents to mr Benson his salutations & good wishes
PoC (MHi); endorsed by TJ as a letter to Egbert Benson and so recorded in SJL.
John Benson (d. ca. 1815) became postmaster of Fredericksburg in 1802 after the removal of Federalist Timothy Green. At that time he was described as poor, with a large family, and “quite respectable.” Benson operated the city’s principal tavern and livery, the Old Stage Office. TJ lodged at the tavern during his days traveling to and from Philadelphia in the 1790s. On those occasions when he used the stage from the capital to Fredericksburg, TJ would have his enslaved servant Jupiter meet him at Benson’s livery with horses for the trip on to Monticello. This sometimes required days of waiting by Jupiter and enabled Benson to collect boarding fees (Williamsburg Virginia Gazette [Dixon & Nicolson], 20 Nov. 1779; Baltimore Republican; or, Anti-Democrat, 17 May 1802; Norwich Connecticut Centinel, 14 Sep. 1802; George H. S. King, “General George Weedon,” , 20 [1940], 248; , 2:912, 957, 966, 987; , 1:14n; Vol. 29:436).
mr Benson: TJ wrote Benson a number of letters from 1805 to 1812, each one endorsed as a letter to Egbert Benson. His endorsement on letters from Benson varied (Benson to TJ, 26 Mch. 1805, 25 Mch., 15 Aug. 1807, 18 Nov. 1808, 3 Mch. 1809, 8 Apr. 1812).