The Jefferson Desk
Last Spring, Richard Waller, my mentor and executive director of University of Richmond Museums, was surprised to hear that a desk once owned by Thomas Jefferson was returning to the University after a fifty years on loan at Monticello. Any record of the desk had disappeared. Luckily, Monticello staff sent along scans of their files, which gave me a jumping off point. One of the only historical records of the desk was a single photograph and three sentences in a book titled Furniture of Our Forefathers by Esther Singleton.
The book noted the first two owners of the desk: Governor George Rockingham Gilmer of Georgia, who bought the desk from the dispersal sale, and Colonel John Russell Jones, the original second bidder, who waited until Governor Gilmer's passing to buy the desk at his estate sale. In 1901, the date of the book's publication, Ella Marshall Thomas owned the Thomas Jefferson desk.
Using obituary records, I discovered that Ella Marshall Thomas was the daughter of William Dandridge Thomas, a former trustee and professor of philosophy at UR, and granddaughter of James Thomas Jr., a significant donor to UR. Knowing her family connections, I decided it was likely that she was the person to donate the desk to the university.
Luckily, University of Richmond President Dr. Frederic W. Boatwright’s (1895–1946) correspondence has been digitized. I was able to keyword search the Thomas family name. I found this letter (right) concerning Ella Thomas’ will, proving the university to be a beneficiary.
Richard and I scheduled an appointment at the Virginia Through the Virginia Baptist Historical Society's Thomas Family Papers Collection, hoping to locate Ella Thomas’ will. Unfortunately, it was not in the archive.
Noting our interest, the staff gifted us a small book titled One Man and His Family: The Story of James Thomas, Jr. On the walk back to the museum, I flipped through the pages as Richard chided me to be careful. Suddenly, the final link: Colonel John Russell Jones’ name appeared in the book.
Promptly returning to the Virginia Baptist Historical Society, I was able to access a handwritten letter that William Dandridge Thomas had sent to Colonel John Russell Jones asking for his daughter's hand in marriage. Ella's mother, Col. Jones’ daughter, had presumably inherited the desk from her mother.
Ella Marshall Thomas died in 1929 and left her entire estate to her sister, Mary Wortham Thomas, in life and to University of Richmond and in death. In 1950, Mary Wortham Thomas passed and the desk came into the University of Richmond's possession.
Works Cited
Index to Obituaries in the Religious Herald Richmond, Virginia 1828-1938. Prepared by The Historical Records Survey of Virginia Division of Professional and Service Projects, Works Projects Administration.
University of Richmond Digitized Collection, Frederic W. Boatwright: Presidential Correspondence, “FWB to John Jenkins - Concerns Ella Thomas & her will. 1p.CC",” fwb3197.1929.085.
One Man and His Family: The Story of James Thomas, Jr. The Virginia Baptist Register, no. 55, 2016.