Excerpts from The Papers of Thomas Jefferson

Julian P. Boyd, ed. (Princeton, N.J., 1950)

Volume 2: 1777 to 18 June 1779

25 August 1777 From Richard Henry Lee (in Philadelphia), pp. 29-32.

p. 31: "The Confederation goes on but slowly, occasioned by the immensity of business created by the war. But I find our right to our Charter bounds, as stated by our Act of Government will be strongly contested. The Charter of 1609 it is said has been vacated, and that no transfer of that Charter can be shewn from the Company to the people of Virginia. That therefore the ungranted lands were the property of the Crown, and being taken from it by common exertions, must become common Stock. Will you be so kind as [to] favor me with your reasons and authorities in support of our right?"

[19 November 1777] Notes and Documents relating to the Transylvania and Other Claims, pp. 64-66.

p. 65: Ed. Note: "On 4 July 1776 the Virginia Convention appointed William Russell, Arthur Campbell, Thomas Madison, Edmund Winston, John Bowyer, John May, Samuel McDowel, John Harvie, Abraham Hite, Charles Simms, James Wood, Hugh Innes, Paul Carrington, Bennett Goode, and Joseph Speed as commissioners to collect evidence in behalf of the government "against the several persons pretending to Claim Lands within the Territory and limits of Virginia, under Deeds and purchases from the Indians. . . ." (Conv. Jour., May 1776, 1816 edn., p. 83-4).

1776-1786 The Revisal of the Laws, pp. 303-665.

p. 305: Ed. Note: It is an extremely difficult task to bring into proper focus, to say nothing of fully encompassing, the far-reaching revision of the laws that Jefferson and other leading Virginians embarked upon in the autumn of 1776. This is chiefly because the revision of the laws itself never came into focus. It was a long-drawn-out movement, ending in something of an anti-climax, and never became embodied in a single enactment as in the case of earlier or later revisions in Virginia and other states. . . . [The purpose of the revisal] was not that of forming a collection of laws then in force but of reforming the entire structure of law so as to strip it of all vestiges of its earlier monarchical aspects and to bring it into conformity with republican principles. . . . Jefferson, Pendleton, Wythe, Mason and others apparently never entertained the idea of making a mere collection of laws. Certainly Jefferson never did. The failure of the Virginia Convention of 1776 to adopt his proposed Constitution undoubtedly emphasized the need he felt for reform of the laws.

p. 313: Ed. Note: There can be no doubt that Jefferson was nominally and actually the leading figure in the revisal. [The commissioners were Jefferson, Edmund Pendleton, George Wythe, George Mason, and Thomas Ludwell Lee, Esquires. Mason resigned in short order, as did Lee, who soon died. (p. 314-315).]

pp. 454-463: "47. A Bill for Establishing Public Ferries"

p. 454: "Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that ferries be constantly kept, at the places hereafter mentioned at the rates annexed to each ferry; that is to say."

"Over the BAY of CHESAPEAK."

[There follows a list of 32 ferries, 17 of which cross over to Maryland. Although the list mentions the Potomac River only once ("From the land of Abraham Shepherd, in the county of Berkely, over Potowmack, to the land of Thomas Swearingen in Maryland), it is clear from the descriptions (e. g., "From Mason's, opposite to Rock creek, over to Maryland") that many, if not most, of the ferries listed in this section cross the Potomac, and not the bay itself. Later sections of the bill describe about 130 other ferries that cross Virginia's internal rivers.]

p. 461: "And that ferries be kept, opposite to all the places hereby appointed, across the rivers Rappahannock, Piankatank, York, James and Nottoway below the falls thereof; and the several county courts are impowered to appoint opposite ferries, where they shall judge it necessary, at all other places herein appointed, above the falls of the said rivers, or across any branches thereof; also on such parts of the rivers Potowmack and Roanoake, or their branches, as have places hereby established for ferries, where both sides are within this commonwealth. . . . And for the transportation of wheel carriages, tobacco, or live stocks, at either of the ferries hereby, or hereafter established; the ferry keepers may respectively demand the rates following, to wit: [list].

p. 463: Ed. Note: Bill presented by Madison 31Oct. 1785; it was read the first and second times the same day. No further action was taken on it. This Bill was a modification and restatement of the Act of 1748 for the settlement and regulation of ferries and for dispatch of public expresses (Hening, VI, 13-23). It apparently included all of the public ferries established by the General Assembly up to the time the Committee of Revisors reported, together with general regulations concerning ferries and ferry-keepers as based on the Act of 1748. But, instead of acting on this Bill, the House passed another which was limited merely to the authorization of new ferries not already established; most of these were on the Kentucky and Ohio rivers and other "western waters" (JHD, Oct. 1785, 1828 edn., p. 12-15, 116, 119, 122, 125, 128, 144; the Act for establishing several new ferries is in Hening, XII, 83-4).

pp. 464-467: "48. A Bill concerning Mill dams and Other Obstructions of Water Courses"

p. 464: "Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that when any person owning lands on one side of any watercourse the bed whereof belongeth to himself, or to the commonwealth, and desiring to build a water grist mill on such lands, and to erect a dam across the same, for working the said mill, shall not himself have the fee simple property in the lands on the opposite side thereof, against which he would abutt his said dam, he shall make application for a writ of ad quom damnum to the court of the county wherein the lands proposed for the abuttment are, having given ten days notice to the proprietor thereof . . . "

p. 466: "Where the owner of any mill, now standing or licensed to be built, hath by any act of Assembly been compelled to make locks, slopes, or openings for navigation or the passage of fish, the same shall be continued under the conditions imposed by such an act, and shall be deemed sufficient in law as long as the dam now standing or building shall remain: But it shall not be lawful to rebuild such a dam in future but on enquiry by jury into obstructions of fish and navigation and the means of preventing the same, and the final order of the court, to be applied for and conducted in the manner before directed in other cases."

"It shall not be lawful for any person to erect, or fix, in any watercourse, any dam, hedge, weir, seine, drag, or other stoppage whereby navigation, or the passage of fish, may be obstructed, save only for the purpose of working some machine or engine useful to the public, in which cases the same proceedings shall be had, as are before directed, in the case of a water grist mill, or for the purpose of a water grist mill before provided for. . . ."

pp. 466-467: "The bed of all tide waters within the low water mark shall be vested in the commonwealth, and shall not be granted to any, except such part thereof as shall be capable of being reclaimed from the water, and shall actually be reclaimed by the grantee within three years after the passing of this act; in all cases of grants heretofore made. and in all cases of future grants within three years after the date thereof. And the channel of all other watercourses, capable of being navigated by any loaded craft, great or small, shall be open to the citizens of this commonwealth, for the purpose of navigation, notwithstanding the bed thereof shall have been granted to any." [Ed. Note: This paragraph is not in the Act as adopted.]

p. 467: Ed. Note: Bill presented by Madison 31 Oct. 1785, amended and passed by House 29 Nov. and 1 Dec., approved by Senate 5 Dec. (JHD, Oct. 1785, 1828 edn., p. 12-15, 54, 64, 68, 71, 132). Text of Act as adopted agrees with Bill as proposed except for the difference indicated . . . and for the addition of a final clause putting the Act into effect 1 Jan. 1787. See the 1748 Act concerning water mills (Hening, VI, 55-60).

pp. 467-468: "49. A Bill for Unlading Ballast and Burial of dead Bodies from on Board Ships"

p. 467: "Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that the court of every county, adjacent to any navigable river or creek, shall from time to time, as vacancies happen, appoint one or more ballast masters, residing near to the places where vessels usually ride in such a river or creek, to be overseers and directors of the delivery and unloading of ballast from on board any ship or vessel within a certain district, to be by them ascertained. . . . That ballast is to be . . . brought on shore and laid at some convenient place near the vessel, where it may not obstruct navigation nor be washed into the channel; . . ."

p. 468: Ed. Note: Bill was presented by Madison 31 Oct. 1785, amended 29 Nov., and passed by House 1 Dec.; amended by Senate 16 Dec.; Senate amendment agreed by House 19 Dec. (JHD, Oct. 1785, 1828 edn., p. 12-15, 54, 64, 68, 95, 98, 133).

pp. 468-470: "50. A Bill concerning Public Store-Houses"

p. 468: "Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that the courts of the respective counties, situate upon any navigable river or creek, may appoint any place or places within the county, which to them shall appear convenient or necessary, for the lading and unlading of goods or merchandise, which, together with such as have been heretofore so appointed shall be deemed public landings: . . ."

p. 469: "The proprietor shall constantly keep and maintain such store-house in repair, for the reception of all goods and merchandise brought to the same, and shall be entitled to the following rates and prices of storage, . . . that is to say; for every hogshead of tobacco brought to a store-house, above the falls of any river, eight pence; [etc.]

[I quote this passage, because it suggests that storehouses would not be built below the fall lines.]