# John Christoph Süverman to Thomas Jefferson, 5 May 1810 CITATION: “John Christoph Süverman to Thomas Jefferson, 5 May 1810,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-02-02-0321. [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. 364–365.] URL (original): https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-02-02-0321 URL (fetched, Wayback Machine capture): https://web.archive.org/web/2024/https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-02-02-0321 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: This is the document reporting John Pernier's death (Sunday 29 April 1810) by laudanum in Washington. Süverman was a former servant of Jefferson's at the President's House, blind and poor by 1810. ---- VERBATIM TEXT (Founders Online page) ---- John Christoph Süverman to Thomas Jefferson, 5 May 1810 From John Christoph Süverman City of Washington 5 th May 1810 Sir, Respectfully I wish to inform you of the Unhappy exit of M r Pirny, he boarded, and lodged, with us ever since his return from the Western Country, the principal part of the time he has been confined by Sickness, I believe ariseing from uneasyness of mind, not having rec d anything for his late services to Gov r Lewis. he was wretchedly poor and destitute. every service in our power was render’d him to make him comfortable; not doubting but the moment he had it in his power he would thankfully & honestly pay us. last Week the poor Man appeared considerably better, I believe in some respects contrary to his wishes, for unfortunately on Saturday last he procured himself a quantity of Laudenam. on Sunday Morning under the pretence of not being so well went upstairs to lay on the bed, in which situation he was found dead, with the bottle by his Side that had contained the Laudanam. Our distress was great but it was to late to render him any assistance. he was buried neat and decent the next day which in addition to his former expences, fall very heavy upon us, whose circumstances you are well acquainted with, cannot bear it without suffering considerably, and hope you will be so oblidgeing as assist us as soon as it is possible to recover anything on behalf of the poor Man. I am with great Respect Sir your Obed t H’ble Serv t John Christoph Süverman 1 RC ( MHi ); in an unidentified hand, signed by Süverman; at foot of text: “Tho s Jefferson Esq r Montocello Virginia”; endorsed by TJ as received 9 May 1810 and so recorded in SJL . Enclosed in TJ to William D. Meriwether, 21 Aug. 1810 . John Christoph Süverman, formerly one of TJ’s servants at the President’s House, had become blind and impoverished by 1810, when he was working as a grocer (Donald Jackson, “On the Death of Meriwether Lewis’s Servant,” WMQ description begins William and Mary Quarterly , 1892– description ends , 3d ser., 21 [1964]: 445–8). John Pernier died on sunday , 29 Apr. 1810. 1 . Here and in Süverman’s 8 Aug. 1810 letter to TJ, the umlaut in his signature is rendered in the old style of a small “e” over the letter “u.” Index Entries Lewis, Meriwether; J. Pernier’s claim against estate of search medicine; laudanum search Pernier (Purney), John; account with M. Lewis search Süverman, John Christoph; and J. Pernier search Süverman, John Christoph; identified search Süverman, John Christoph; letters from search Permanent Link What’s this? https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-02-02-0321 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 John Christoph Süverman to Thomas Jefferson, 5 May 1810 Author Süverman, John Christoph Recipient Jefferson, Thomas Date 5 May 1810 Reference Cite as “John Christoph Süverman to Thomas Jefferson, 5 May 1810,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-02-02-0321. [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. 364–365.] More between these correspondents Next From Süverman to Jefferson [8 August 1810] All All correspondence between Süverman and Jefferson