# Benjamin Smith Barton to Thomas Jefferson, 16 October 1810 CITATION: “Benjamin Smith Barton to Thomas Jefferson, 16 October 1810,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-03-02-0107. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson , Retirement Series, vol. 3, 12 August 1810 to 17 June 1811 , ed. J. Jefferson Looney. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2006, pp. 166–167.] URL (original): https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-03-02-0107 URL (fetched, Wayback Machine capture): https://web.archive.org/web/2024/https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-03-02-0107 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: Retirement Series vol. 3; Barton's reply on Lewis's papers and 'some difference' with Lewis in Philadelphia. ---- VERBATIM TEXT (Founders Online page) ---- Benjamin Smith Barton to Thomas Jefferson, 16 October 1810 From Benjamin Smith Barton Oct. 16. 1810. Dear Sir, I have received your kind letter , with the seeds & M r Vater’s book. I beg you to accept of my thanks for your attention. M r Vater, I find, has made very free use of my publication on the American languages, but not, indeed, without acknowledgment, in several instances. I have not time at present, to study his book. I think, Sir, we should not be too liberal in sending our collections of vocabularies abroad : I mean, before we shall have published them in America. In regard to M r Lewis’s papers, I assure you, and I beg you, Sir, to assure his freinds, that they shall be taken good care of; that it is my sincere wish to turn them, as much as I can, to his honour & reputation; and that they shall ultimately be deposited, in good order, in the hands of General Clark, or those of M r Conrad, the publisher. During the Governor’s last visit to Philadelphia, there was some difference between him & me; originating wholly in the illiberal and jealous conduct of some of my enemies here, who laboured, not without some effect, to excite 1 uneasiness in his mind, as to my friendship 2 for him.—I cherish, with respect, the memory of your friend; and believe me, Sir, the manner in which you speak of him, in your letter, will act not feebly in making me careful of his fame. His fate was, indeed, melancholy and unhappy: but similar has sometimes been the fate of the best and the wisest of men. I have now, Sir, to make a request of you, the granting of which would most essentially serve me. In a letter which I wrote to M r Randolph, some weeks since, I informed him, that I was busily employed in printing my inquiries concern’g the plants of our country, and especially, indeed, concern’g the plants of Virginia . A portion, not inconsiderable, of my labours, will appear before the public early in the spring. My references are numerous to authors, for synonimia , &c. I find the work of Persoon 3 very valuable, and have now in my possession a copy of it, belonging to the Rev d M r Muhlenberg, of Lancaster: but as this gentleman is also engaged assiduously in botanical inquiries, I have given him a promise, that the work shall be returned to him Early in November, next. I know of no other copy in the country, that at Monticello excepted. If you can lend me your copy, I pledge my honour to return it to you, in good order, early in April next; and probably much earlier : for I have written to Europe for the work, and am not without hopes of receiving it, as my own, before the setting in of the winter—should you be able to share the work, it might be sent by some of the young men who will leave your vicinity for the lectures: or in any other way you please. Be assured of my utmost attention to the 4 books. Permit me to request you to present my respects to M r & M rs Randolph & family, and be assured of the sincere & high regard with which I am, Dear Sir, Your obliged friend, &c., B. S. Barton. RC ( DLC ); dateline at foot of text; addressed: “M r Jefferson, Monticello, near Milton, Albemarle, Virginia”; franked; endorsed by TJ as received 21 Oct. 1810 and so recorded in SJL . synonimia : synonymy. TJ received Christiaan Hendrik Persoon’s work entitled Synopsis Plantarum, seu Enchiridium Botanicum , 2 vols. (Paris, 1805–07; Sowerby, description begins E. Millicent Sowerby, comp., Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson , 1952–59, 5 vols. description ends no. 1073; Poor, Jefferson’s Library description begins Nathaniel P. Poor, Catalogue. President Jefferson’s Library [1829] description ends , 6 [no. 277]), in 1808 (Persoon to TJ, 15 Dec. 1807 [ ViW : TC-JP ]). 1 . Barton here canceled “some.” 2 . Manuscript: “friendhip.” 3 . Word canceled and rewritten for clarity, possibly in a different hand. 4 . Barton here canceled “works.” Index Entries Arikara bean search Barton, Benjamin Smith; and history of Lewis and Clark Expedition search Barton, Benjamin Smith; and J. S. Vater’s work search Barton, Benjamin Smith; botany work search Barton, Benjamin Smith; letters from search beans; Arikara search books; on botany search books; on plants search botany; books on search Clark (Clarke), William; as M. Lewis’s executor search Conrad, C. & A., and Company (Philadelphia firm); and journals of Lewis and Clark Expedition search food; salsify search Lewis, Meriwether; and publication of journals search Lewis, Meriwether; executor of search Lewis, Meriwether; seeds brought by from the West search Lewis and Clark Expedition; history of search Lewis and Clark Expedition; plants from search Lewis and Clark Expedition; seeds from search Muhlenberg, Henry (Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst); as botanist search Persoon, Christiaan Hendrik; Synopsis Plantarum, seu Enchiridium Botanicum search plants; books on search plants; specimens from Lewis and Clark Expedition search Randolph, Martha Jefferson (Patsy; TJ’s daughter; Thomas Mann Randolph’s wife); greetings to search Randolph, Thomas Mann (1768–1828) (TJ’s son-in-law; Martha Jefferson Randolph’s husband); botanical skills of search Randolph, Thomas Mann (1768–1828) (TJ’s son-in-law; Martha Jefferson Randolph’s husband); greetings to search salsify, Missouri (wild salsify) search Synopsis Plantarum, seu Enchiridium Botanicum (C. H. Persoon) search Untersuchungen über Amerika’s Bevölkerung aus dem alten Kontinente (Vater) search Vater, Johann Severin; Untersuchungen über Amerika’s Bevölkerung aus dem alten Kontinente search Permanent Link What’s this? https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-03-02-0107 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 Benjamin Smith Barton to Thomas Jefferson, 16 October 1810 Author Barton, Benjamin Smith Recipient Jefferson, Thomas Date 16 October 1810 Reference Cite as “Benjamin Smith Barton to Thomas Jefferson, 16 October 1810,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-03-02-0107. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson , Retirement Series, vol. 3, 12 August 1810 to 17 June 1811 , ed. J. Jefferson Looney. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2006, pp. 166–167.] More between these correspondents Preceding From Jefferson to Barton [6 October 1810] Next From Jefferson to Barton [22 October 1810] All All correspondence between Jefferson and Barton