Fitzhugh to Jefferson (Letter 8)


To Thomas Jefferson from Peregrine Fitzhugh


15 October 1797

This letter is written from Fitzhugh to Jefferson.
Historical Background for this letter
Col. Fitzhugh still lives in Ann Arundel, Maryland, and resided there until he moved to Geneva, N.Y., in 1799. This letter is written when John Adams was in his first year of his presidency as the second president of the United States. In Europe, war is waging between France and Britain and there is concern that we may declare war against France.

The first part of this letter repeats information he has been told about Logan and Cresop and their involvement in 1774 in what is known as the Yellow Creek Massacre. . This discussion requires some historical background that many people today do not have. A good discussion of the historical events behind this discussion can be found on wikipedia:
in the next part of the letter, Fitzhugh (in his long flowery style of writing) apologizes to Jefferson for the fact that someone has used the contents of one of Jefferson’s letters to Fitzhugh and misrepresented it in an attempt to damage Jefferson’s reputation. He recounts that he has publicly written newspapers to deny these misrepresentations as gossip.He then discusses the situation in France and their attempt at Democracy.
The last part of the letter deals with a subject near and dear to every farmer: the weather. They have suffered a great drought and he wanes almost poetic in his description of its affect on his crops. He ends the letter by thanking Jefferson for the peas he sent him and relates how successful the resulting crop was.
You can click on the letter below to read the letter: