Mary Stith (abt. 1743 - 1816)

Born about 1743 in Henrico Co., VA.

Ancestors

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This person was created on 31 October 2010 through the import of Pioneer Stock.GED.

A letter to Mary from Thomas Jefferson in regard to lands they owned thru inheritance within the Limestone survey. Mary was Jefferson's second cousin. [1]

To Mary Stith Monticello Mar. 7. 1811.Dear Madam In the year 1753. your father, mine, Colo Fry, Dr Hopkins, Major Meriwether and mr Scott purchased of Philip Mayo a tract of 400. as of land in this county (Albemarle) on the branches of Hardware, for the sum of seventeen pounds. the land itself was deemed, as it now is, of little or no value; but the vein of Limestone which passes from North to South through this state, shews itself in this tract, and as all of them had valuable lands not very distant, they supposed the use of the limestone might become a convenience worth the 9. or 10. dollars a piece they were to pay. mr Stith then held Edgehill about a dozen miles on this side of the tract, and the Barringer’s creek estate, 8. miles on the other side. my father held the lands I live on adjoining Edgehill, and those my brother holds, 10 miles on the other side, to whom the share in the Limestone tract was given. he sold it to me some years ago for £10. being about the original cost of the share, with 5. per cent simple interest on it to that time. two persons have taken & held possession of about half the tract, one of them upwards of 50. years, & the other nearly as long, under claims unknown to me. some of our copartners desire to bring suits to oust these persons, and cannot do it without making us either plaintiffs or defendants. I doubt whether the object is worth the expence, were the event of the suit more certain than it is, as to the oldest tenant at least. but on the whole I have thought it better to be a plaintiff than a defendant: and they have requested me to ask of you to join on the same side of the action. it is taken for granted the title to your father’s portion is in you, as we have not heard of it’s being sold, by his representatives, to whom indeed it is probable that their right to this small piece of property was unknown. the object of this letter therefore is to request that your name may be joined in the action with the co-plaintiffs, and it is for your information of the nature of the case that I have entered into all these details. may I ask the honor of an answer on this subject? I avail myself of this occasion of recalling myself to your recollection. I imagine our acquaintance is of longer standing than that of either of us with any other person now1 living. I believe it goes back to about 1748. or 1749. I recollect the infantile scenes in which we participated with peculiar pleasure even at this day, and I beg leave to tender you the assurances of uninterrupted friendship, esteem & respect. Th: Jefferson

PoC (MHi); at foot of first page: “Miss Stith”; endorsed by TJ. Mary Stith (d. 1816), the daughter of Judith Randolph Stith and William Stith, president of the College of William and Mary, 1752–55, lived in Williamsburg, where she owned several buildings. She was TJ’s second cousin. In her will Stith freed her slaves and left them most of her property (Christopher Johnston, “The Stith Family,” WMQ, 1st ser., 21 [1913]: 185; Robert Anderson to TJ, 22 May 1819; TJ to Anderson, 13 June 1819; Stith’s will, 15 Dec. 1813, proved 26 Feb. 1816, and estate administration papers [ViHi: Robert Anderson Papers]). Stith and TJ owned one-sixth shares of 66⅔ acres apiece in the land known as the limestone survey on the Hardware River. TJ bought his brother Randolph Jefferson’s share in 1796. TJ and Christopher Hudson, who acquired several of the shares, ultimately filed suit against the two persons who had occupied the land, John Hudson and Charles Hudson (Albemarle Co. Deed Book, 14:75–6; PTJ, 28:570–1, 29:66–7; MB, 2:1052, 1359; TJ to Anderson, 13 June 1819; Albemarle Co. Law Order Book [1822–31], 43).

Mary replied by gifting the land to him since she had no heirs. When Mary passed, she freed her slaves and gave them her remaining property. [2] From Mary Stith [17 Mar. 1811] I have recieved your letter, the subject matter of which I was an entire stranger to.—when you write of plaintiffs & defendants, you make me shudder, not having ever had any thing to do with law, but willingly to obey those of my country. the more I reflect upon it the less I like it.—there is an impropriety in my going to law at my time of life, where there is no children to be benefited by it.—I have a remedy for you which I hope will do better. the property in question can be of no service to me, therefore it is but just to put it into hands that know how to use it. I Mary Stith of the city of Williamsburg do herein invest Thomas Jefferson of Monticello, to all my share in the limestone tract of land. this may not be a perfect conveyancy, but may do as there is nobody to dispute the point with you.—the intimacy in which our parents lived caused our acquaintance to commence at a very early period of life. much of our infancy was spent together

Tr (MHi); extract in TJ’s hand, forming part of PoC of TJ to Robert Anderson, 13 June 1819, prefaced by TJ’s comment that this letter from “miss Mary Stith” was “dated Mar. 17. 1811.” Recorded in SJL as a letter of 17 Mar. received 10 Apr. 1811. Enclosed in a brief covering letter from Bishop James Madison to TJ, 18 Mar. 1811, stating that he had forwarded TJ’s letter “as soon as it was receiv’d” and that Stith’s reply, “owing to her ill Health, I beleive, was not returned till this Morning” (RC in MoSHi: TJC-BC; endorsed by TJ as received 10 Apr. 1811 and so recorded in SJL).