# Thomas Jefferson to C. & A. Conrad & Company, 23 November 1809 CITATION: “Thomas Jefferson to C. & A. Conrad & Company, 23 November 1809,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-02-02-0011. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson , Retirement Series, vol. 2, 16 November 1809 to 11 August 1810 , ed. J. Jefferson Looney. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2005, pp. 30–31.] URL (original): https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-02-02-0011 URL (fetched, Wayback Machine capture): https://web.archive.org/web/2024/https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-02-02-0011 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). ---- VERBATIM TEXT (Founders Online page) ---- Thomas Jefferson to C. & A. Conrad & Company, 23 November 1809 To C. & A. Conrad & Company Monticello Nov. 23. 09. Mess rs Conrad & co. On my return after an absence of a fortnight, I yesterday recieved your letter of the 13 th . Gov r Lewis had in his lifetime apprized me that he had contracted with you for the publication of his account of his expedition. I had written to him some time ago to know when he would have it ready & was expecting an answer when I recieved the news of his unfortunate end. James Neelly , the US. agent to the Chickasaws, writes me that ‘he has his two trunks of papers (at Nashville, I suppose, from whence his letter is dated) amongst which is said to be his travels to the Pacific ocean; that some days previous to his death he requested of him (Neely) in case any accident happened to him, to send his trunk, with the papers therein to the President , but he thinks it very probable he meant, to me , and wishes to be informed what arrangements may be considered best in sending on his trunks E t c.’ I am waiting the arrival of Gen l Clarke, expected here in a few days, to consult with him on the subject. his aid & his interest in the publication of the work may render him the proper depository to have it prepared & delivered over to you. but my present idea is (if he concurs) to order it on to the President, according to his literal desire, and the rather because it is said that there are in his trunks vouchers for his public accounts. be assured I shall spare no pains to secure the publication of his work, and when it may be within my sphere to take any definitive step respecting it, you shall be informed of it by, Gentlemen, Your most obed t serv t Th: Jefferson PoC ( DLC ); endorsed by TJ. In his extract from the 18 Oct. 1809 letter of james neelly reporting Meriwether Lewis’s death, TJ combined and slightly altered two separate portions of the letter’s final paragraph. According to William Clark’s journal, shortly after his arrival in Charlottesville on 7 Dec., the ex-president invited him “to go and Stay at his house, & c . I went with him and remained all night, Spoke much of the af s of Gov Lewis & c ” ( MS in MoSHi : Breckenridge Collection; in Clark’s hand). Index Entries Clark (Clarke), William; and journals of Lewis and Clark Expedition search Clark (Clarke), William; visits Monticello search Conrad, C. & A., and Company (Philadelphia firm); and journals of Lewis and Clark Expedition search Conrad, C. & A., and Company (Philadelphia firm); letters to search Lewis, Meriwether; and J. Neelly search Lewis, Meriwether; death of search Lewis, Meriwether; Lewis and Clark Expedition search Lewis, Meriwether; papers of search Lewis and Clark Expedition; journals of search Lewis and Clark Expedition; publication of journals search Madison, James; M. Lewis’s papers sent to search Monticello (TJ’s estate); Visitors to; Clark, William search Neelly, James; and M. Lewis’s effects search suicide; and M. Lewis search Permanent Link What’s this? https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-02-02-0011 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 C. & A. Conrad & Company, 23 November 1809 Author Jefferson, Thomas Recipient Conrad, C. & A., & Co. Date 23 November 1809 Reference Cite as “Thomas Jefferson to C. & A. Conrad & Company, 23 November 1809,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-02-02-0011. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson , Retirement Series, vol. 2, 16 November 1809 to 11 August 1810 , ed. J. Jefferson Looney. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2005, pp. 30–31.] More between these correspondents Next From Jefferson to Conrad, C. & A., & Co. [11 December 1809] All All correspondence between Jefferson and Conrad, C. & A., & Co.