# Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 25 October 1809 CITATION: “Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 25 October 1809,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-01-02-0492. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson , Retirement Series, vol. 1, 4 March 1809 to 15 November 1809 , ed. J. Jefferson Looney. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004, pp. 626–627.] URL (original): https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-01-02-0492 URL (fetched, Wayback Machine capture): https://web.archive.org/web/2024/https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-01-02-0492 DATE FETCHED: 2026-09-14 TRANSCRIPTION: scholarly edition text (Princeton, Papers of Thomas Jefferson / Madison Papers, as published on Founders Online); text below is verbatim from the fetched page, including the editors' source note and footnotes. Superscripts are flattened by the HTML-to-text conversion (e.g. 'Oct r' = Oct^r, '11 th' = 11^th). NOTE: Does not mention Lewis (written at Eppington before the news reached TJ); kept for the record. ---- VERBATIM TEXT (Founders Online page) ---- Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 25 October 1809 To James Madison Eppington Oct. 25. 09 Dear Sir I recieved at Richmond your favor covering a check on the bank of Norfolk for 743. Doll. 15. cents the balance in full of our accounts. I have learnt from P. Carr that under an idea that Rodney was about to resign, & on a desire expressed by mr R. Smith to him or some other person that Wirt should be sounded, it had been found that he would accept. I do not know whether it was communicated to me in expectation that I should write it to you, or whether it may have communicated to you more directly. Altho’ I repel all applications generally to recommend candidates for office yet there may be occasions where information of my own knolege of them may be useful & acceptable, & others where particular delicacies of situation may constrain me to say something. of the latter description is the application of John Monroe (cousin of the Colonel) who in expectation that the Governor of Illinois means to resign, has sollicited my saying to you he would accept that office. I had formerly appointed him Atty of the West district of Virginia. he resided at Staunton & there lost the respect of many by some irregularities which his subsequent marriage has probably put an end to. his talents I believe are respectable, without being prominent: but I really believe you know as much of him as I do, having seen him my self once or twice only, & then for short intervals. particular circumstances oblige me to mention him, without feeling a single wish on the subject, other than that it should be given to the fittest subject, which you will do of your own motion. ever affectionately yours Th: Jefferson RC ( DLC : Madison Papers); at foot of text: “The President of the US.” SC ( DLC ); endorsed by TJ. Madison’s favor of 13 Oct. 1809, not found, is recorded in SJL as received in Richmond from Washington on 20 Oct. 1809. Caesar rodney continued to serve as attorney general until his resignation in December 1811 after being passed over for a Supreme Court judgeship ( ANB description begins John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes, eds., American National Biography , 1999, 24 vols. description ends ). john monroe had asked that TJ recommend him for the governorship of Indiana. TJ’s conflation of the governorships of the Indiana and illinois territories probably resulted from the newness of Illinois, formed out of the western part of Indiana Territory by a congressional act of 3 Feb. 1809 ( U.S. Statutes at Large description begins Richard Peters, ed., The Public Statutes at Large of the United States . . . 1789 to March 3, 1845 , 1855–56, 8 vols. description ends , 2:514–6). Index Entries Bank of Norfolk search Carr, Peter (TJ’s nephew); on Supreme Court judgeship search Eppington (Eppes’s Chesterfield Co. estate); TJ visits search Illinois Territory; appointments in search Jefferson, Thomas; Correspondence; letters of application and recommendation from search Madison, James; letters from accounted for search Madison, James; letters to search Monroe, John; seeks TJ’s recommendation search Norfolk, Bank of search patronage; letters of application and recommendation from TJ search Rodney, Caesar Augustus; rumor of resignation search Smith, Robert; secretary of state search Wirt, William; recommended as attorney general search Permanent Link What’s this? https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-01-02-0492 Note: The annotations to this document, and any other modern editorial content, are copyright © Princeton University Press. All rights reserved. Back to top You Are Looking At Source Project Jefferson Papers Title Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 25 October 1809 Author Jefferson, Thomas Recipient Madison, James Date 25 October 1809 Reference Cite as “Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 25 October 1809,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-01-02-0492. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson , Retirement Series, vol. 1, 4 March 1809 to 15 November 1809 , ed. J. Jefferson Looney. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004, pp. 626–627.] More between these correspondents Preceding From Jefferson to Madison [9 October 1809] Next From Madison to Jefferson [30 October 1809] All All correspondence between Jefferson and Madison