Thomas Jefferson Hopes for “The Prosperity of the Plough”

Jefferson considered himself first and foremost a farmer. In 1795, he wrote, “I am to become the most industrious and ardent farmer of the canton…” He said that his day was spent “From breakfast, or noon at the latest, to dinner, I am mostly on horseback, attending to my farm or other concerns, which I find healthful to my body, mind, and affairs.” His farm was indeed his first love, and as he looked back on his career, wrote “There has never been a moment of my life in which I should have relinquished for it the enjoyments of my family, my farm, my friends & books.” He confided to George Washington, “Agriculture is our wisest pursuit, because it will in the end contribute most to real wealth, good morals, and happiness.”

Jefferson had an abiding interest in improving the technology of farming. One of his more important contributions to agriculture was the moldboard plow. Invented in 1794, in 1814 he began to have the moldboards cast in iron. He informed Charles Willson Peale in 1815 that the plow with his iron moldboard was “so light that the two small horses or mules draw it with less labor than I have ever before seen necessary. It does beautiful work and is approved by everyone.” Just how widely Jefferson’s moldboard was adopted by others is unclear. He never sought to patent it so that others could freely use it, and sent numerous models to friends at home and abroad, where his design met with general approval.

Jonathan Russell was a young, rising light in the Jeffersonian Republican Party in 1800, and an excellent orator. He campaigned for Thomas Jefferson in the election that year and continued as a party loyalist thereafter. He came to note because his roots were in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, and New England was a Federalist stronghold; the Republicans were weak there. Russell shared Jefferson’s interest in agriculture, and spoke on the subject in an “Address delivered before the Worcester Agricultural Society, September 27, 1821.” Russell was vice president of that organization, and his speech mirrored the Jeffersonian philosophy completely, praising husbandmen, detailing and approving agricultural improvements, and speaking expansively of the centrality of the plow to agriculture, and indeed of the plow as a symbol of agriculture.  Russell also conflated freedom and agriculture, saying “To ensure the practical improvement of agriculture, a people must be civilized and free.” Farmers were guarantors of a nation’s liberties, and in liberated soil would flourish agriculture. The speech was printed by Manning and Trumbull later that year, and Russell sent a copy to Monticello.

Autograph Letter Signed with an oversize signature at the start of the letter, Monticello, January 5, 1822, to Russell, referring to himself as a retired farmer, and reinforcing his continued personal interest in the plow, which term he uses metaphorically below to encompass the work of the plow – agriculture itself. “Th. Jefferson returns thanks to Mr. Russell for the agricultural address he has been so kind as to send him. Retired from such occupations himself, he receives it as a mark of friendly recollections and good will from Mr. Russell, which he reciprocates sincerely; and with best wishes for the prosperity of the plough, he salutes Mr. Russell with great esteem and respect.”  This letter was obtained by us direct from the Russell descendants and has never before been offered for sale. A copy of Russell’s speech is included.