Speech Differences And Stutter Series-Disabled Legend Clara Barton

Clarissa Harlowe Barton was born on 25 December, 1821 in Oxford Massachusetts, USA
and died on 12 April, 1912. Clara Barton was a pioneer American teacher, nurse, and humanitarian. Clara Barton has been described as having a "strong and independent spirit" and is best remembered for organising the American Red Cross.

Clara Barton was born to Stephen and Sarah Barton. Clara Barton was the youngest of 5children. Clara Barton's father and mother were abolitionists. Clara Barton's father was a farmer and horse breeder, while her mother Sarah managed the household. The 2 later helped found the 1st Universalist Church in Oxford.

Clara Barton had 2 brothers, Stephen and David. Young Clara was educated at home and extremely bright. It is said that her siblings were kept busy answering her many questions, and each taught her complementary skills. Clara Barton's brothers were happy to teach her how to ride horses and do other things that, at the time, were thought appropriate only for men.

When Clara Barton was 11, her brother David became her 1st patient after he fell from a rafter in their unfinished barn. Clara Barton stayed by his side for 2 years and learned to administer all his medicines, including the "great, loathsome crawling leeches".

As she continued to develop an interest in nursing, Clara Barton may have drawn inspiration from stories of her great-aunt, Martha Ballard, who served the town of Hallowell (later Augusta), Maine, as a midwife for over 3 decades. Ballard helped deliver nearly 1000 infants between 1777 and 1812, and in many cases administered medical care in much the same way as a formally trained doctor of her era.

On his death bed, Clara Barton's father gave her advice that she would later recall:

"As a patriot, he had me serve my country with all I had, even with my life if need be; as the daughter of an accepted Mason, he had me seek and comfort the afflicted everywhere, and as a Christian he charged me to honour God and love mankind."

In April 1862, after the First Battle of Bull Run, Clara Barton established an agency to obtain and distribute supplies to wounded soldiers. Clara Barton was given a pass by General William Hammond to ride in army ambulances to provide comfort to the soldiers and nurse them back to health and lobbied the U.S. Army bureaucracy, at first without success, to bring her own medical supplies to the battlefields. Finally, in July 1862, she obtained permission to travel behind the lines, eventually reaching some of the grimmest battlefields of the war and serving during the sieges of Petersburg, Virginia and Richmond, Virginia. In 1864 she was appointed by Union general Benjamin Butler as the "lady in charge" of the hospitals at the front of the Army of the James.

In 1865, President Abraham Lincoln placed Clara Barton in charge of the search for the missing men of the Union Army. Around this time, a young soldier named Dorence Atwater came to her door. Dorence Atwater had copied the list of the dead without being discovered by the Andersonville officials, and taken it with him through the lines when he was released from the prison. Having been afraid that the names of the dead would never get to the families, it was his intention to publish the list. Dorence Atwater did accomplish this. Dorence Atwater's list of nearly 13,000 men was considered invaluable. When the war ended, Clara Barton and Dorence Atwater were sent to Andersonville with 42 headboard carvers, and Clara Barton gave credit to young Dorence Atwater for what came to be known as “The Atwater List” in her report of the venture. Dorence Atwater also has a report at the beginning of this list, still available through Andersonville National Historic Site in Georgia. Because of the work they did, they became known as the "Angels of Andersonville," according to a biography of Clara Barton. Clara Barton's work in Andersonville is displayed in the book, Numbering All the Bones, by Ann Rinaldi. This experience launched her on a nationwide campaign to identify all soldiers missing during the Civil War. Clara Barton published lists of names in newspapers and exchanged letters with soldiers’ families.

Clara Barton then achieved widespread recognition by delivering lectures around the country about her war experiences. Clara Barton met Susan B. Anthony and began a long association with the suffrage movement. Clara Barton also became acquainted with Frederick Douglass and became an activist for black civil rights, or an abolitionist.

The years of toil during the Civil War and her dedicated work searching for missing soldiers debilitated Clara Barton's health. In 1869, her doctors recommended a restful trip to Europe. In 1870, while she was overseas, she became involved with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and its humanitarian work during the Franco-Prussian War. Created in 1864, the ICRC had been chartered to provide humane services to all victims of war under a flag of neutrality.

When Clara Barton returned to the United States, she inaugurated a movement to gain recognition for the International Committee of the Red Cross by the United States government. When she began work on this project in 1873, most Americans thought the U.S. would never again face a calamity like the Civil War, but Clara Barton finally succeeded during the administration of President James Garfield, using the argument that the new American Red Cross could respond to crises other than war. As Clara Barton expanded the original concept of the Red Cross to include assisting in any great national disaster, this service brought the United States the "Good Samaritan of Nations" label.

Clara Barton naturally became President of the American branch of the society, which was founded on 21 May, 1881 in Dansville, NY.(www.redcrossclara.com) John D. Rockefeller donated funds to create a national headquarters in Washington, DC, located one block from the White House.

Clara Barton at first dedicated the American Red Cross to performing disaster relief, such as after the 1893 Sea Islands Hurricane. This changed with the advent of the Spanish-American War during which it aided refugees and prisoners of war. In 1896, responding to the humanitarian crisis in the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of the Hamidian Massacres, Clara Barton sailed to Constantinople and after long negotiations with Abdul Hamid II, opened the 1st American International Red Cross headquarters in the heart of Asia Minor. Clara Barton herself traveled along with 5other Red Cross expeditions to the Armenian provinces in the spring of 1896. Clara Barton also worked in hospitals in Cuba in 1898 at the age of 77. As criticism arose of her management of the American Red Cross, plus her advancing age, Clara Barton resigned as president in 1904, at the age of 83.

Various authorities have called Clara Barton a “Deist-Unitarian.” However, her actual beliefs varied throughout her life along a spectrum between freethought and deism. In a 1905 letter to her friend, Norman Thrasher, she called herself a “Universalist."

Clara Barton Birthplace Museum in North Oxford, Massachusetts is operated as part of the Barton Center for Diabetes Education, a humanitarian project established in her honour to educate and support children with diabetes and their families.

In 1975, Clara Barton National Historic Site was established as a unit of the National Park Service at Clara Barton's Glen Echo, Maryland home, where she spent the last 15 years of her life. One of the first National Historic Sites dedicated to the accomplishments of a woman, it preserves the early history of the American Red Cross, since the home also served as an early headquarters of the organization.

The National Park Service has restored 11 rooms, including the Red Cross offices, the parlours and Clara Barton's bedroom. Visitors to Clara Barton National Historic Site can gain a sense of how Clara Barton lived and worked. Guides lead tourists through the 3 levels, emphasizing Clara Barton's use of her unusual home. Modern visitors can come to appreciate the site in the same way visitors did in Clara Barton's lifetime.

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Speech Differences And Stutter Series-Disabled Legend Cotton Mather

Cotton Mather was born on 12 February, 1663 and died on 13 February, 1728 was a socially and politically influential New England Puritan minister, prolific author, and pamphleteer. Cotton Mather was the son of influential minister Increase Mather. Cotton Mather is often remembered for his connection to the Salem witch trials.

Cotton Mather was named after his grandfathers, both paternal (Richard Mather) and maternal (John Cotton). Cotton Mather attended Boston Latin School, and graduated from Harvard in 1678, at only 16 years of age. After completing his post-graduate work, he joined his father as assistant Pastor of Boston's original North Church (not to be confused with the Anglican/Episcopal Old North Church). It was not until his father's death, in 1723, that Cotton Mather assumed full responsibilities as Pastor at the Church.

Author of more than 450 books and pamphlets, Cotton Mather's ubiquitous literary works made him one of the most influential religious leaders in America. Cotton Mather set the nation's "moral tone," and sounded the call for 2nd and 3rd generation Puritans, whose parents had left England for the New England colonies of North America to return to the theological roots of Puritanism.

The most important of these, Magnalia Christi Americana (1702), is composed of 7 distinct books, many of which depict biographical and historical narratives which later American writers such as Nathaniel Hawthorne, Elizabeth Drew Stoddard, and Harriet Beecher Stowe would look to in describing the cultural significance of New England for later generations following the American Revolution. Cotton Mather's text thus was one of the more important documents in American history because it reflects a particular tradition of seeing and understanding the significance of place. Cotton Mather, as a Puritan thinker and social conservative, drew on the figurative language of the Bible to speak to present-day audiences. In particular, Cotton Mather's review of the American experiment sought to explain signs of his time and the types of individuals drawn to the colonies as predicting the success of the venture. From his religious training, Cotton Mather viewed the importance of texts for elaborating meaning and for bridging different moments of history (for instance, linking the Biblical stories of Noah and Abraham with the arrival of eminent leaders such as John Eliot, John Winthrop, and his own father Increase Mather).

The struggles of 1st, 2nd and 3rd-generation Puritans, both intellectual and physical, thus became elevated in the American way of thinking about its appointed place among other nations. The unease and self-deception that characterized that period of colonial history would be revisited in many forms at political and social moments of crisis (such as the Salem witch trials which coincided with frontier warfare and economic competition among Indians, French and other European settlers) and during lengthy periods of cultural definition (e.g., the American Renaissance of the late 18th and early 19th century literary, visual, and architectural movements which sought to capitalise on unique American identities).

A friend of a number of the judges charged with hearing the Salem witch trials, Cotton Mather admitted the use of "spectral evidence," (compare "The Devil in New England") but warned that, though it might serve as evidence to begin investigations, it should not be heard in court as evidence to decide a case. Despite this, he later wrote in defense of those conducting the trials, stating:

"If in the midst of the many Dissatisfaction among us, the publication of these Trials may promote such a pious Thankfulness unto God, for Justice being so far executed among us, I shall Re-joyce that God is Glorified...".

Highly influential due to his prolific writing, Cotton Mather was a force to be reckoned with in secular, as well as in spiritual, matters. After the fall of James II of England in 1688, Cotton Mather was among the leaders of a successful revolt against James's Governor of the consolidated Dominion of New England, Sir Edmund Andros.

Cotton Mather was influential in early American science as well. In 1716, as the result of observations of corn varieties, he conducted one of the 1st experiments with plant hybridisation. This observation was memorialised in a letter to a friend:

"My friend planted a row of Indian corn that was coloured red and blue; the rest of the field being planted with yellow, which is the most usual colour. To the windward side this red and blue so infected 3 or 4 rows as to communicate the same colour unto them; and part of ye 5th and some of ye 6th. But to the leeward side, no less than 7 or 8 rows had ye same colour communicated unto them; and some small impressions were made on those that were yet further off."

Of Cotton Mather's 3 wives and 15 children, only his last wife and 2 children survived him. Cotton Mather was buried on Copp's Hill near Old North Church.

A smallpox epidemic struck Boston in May 1721 and continued through the year.

The practice of smallpox inoculation (as opposed to the later practice of vaccination) had been known for some time. In 1706 a slave, Onesimus, had explained to Cotton Mather how he had been inoculated as a child in Africa. The practice was an ancient one, and Cotton Mather was fascinated by the idea. Cotton Mather encouraged physicians to try it, without success. Then, at Cotton Mather's urging, 1 doctor, Zabdiel Boylston, tried the procedure on his only son and 2 slaves–1 grown and 1 a boy. All recovered in about a week.

In a bitter controversy, the New England Courant published writers who opposed inoculation. The stated reason for this editorial stance was that the Boston populace feared that inoculation spread, rather than prevented, the disease; however, some historians, notably H. W. Brands, have argued that this position was a result of editor-in-chief James Franklin's (Benjamin Franklin's brother) contrarian positions. Zabdiel Boylston and Cotton Mather encountered such bitter hostility, that the selectmen of the city forbade him to repeat the experiment.

The opposition insisted that inoculation was poisoning, and they urged the authorities to try Zabdiel Boylston for murder. So bitter was this opposition that Zabdiel Boylston's life was in danger; it was considered unsafe for him to be out of his house in the evening; a lighted grenade was even thrown into the house of Cotton Mather, who had favoured the new practice and had sheltered another clergyman who had submitted himself to it.

After overcoming considerable difficulty and achieving notable success, Zabdiel Boylston traveled to London in 1724, published his results, and was elected to the Royal Society in 1726.

New Englanders perceived themselves abnormally susceptible to the Devil’s influence in the 17th century. The idea New Englanders now occupied the Devil’s land established this fear. It would only be natural for the Devil to fight back against the pious invaders. Cotton Mather shared this general concern, and combined with New England’s lack of piety, Cotton Mather feared divine retribution. English writers, who shared Cotton Mather’s fears, cited evidence of divine actions to restore the flock. In 1681, a conference of ministers met to discuss how to rectify the lack of faith. In an effort to combat the lack of piety, Cotton Mather considered it his duty to observe and record illustrious providences. Cotton Mather’s first action related to the Salem Witch Trials was the publication of his 1684 essay Illustrious Providences. Cotton Mather, being an ecclesiastical man believed in the spiritual side of the world and attempted to prove the existence of the spiritual world with stories of sea rescues, strange apparitions, and witchcraft. Cotton Mather aimed to combat materialism, the idea that only physical objects exist.

Such was the social climate of New England when the Goodwin children received a strange illness. Cotton Mather seeing an opportunity to explore the spiritual world, attempted to treat the children with fasting and prayer. After treating the children of the Goodwin family, Cotton Mather wrote Memorable Providences, a detailed account of the illness. In 1682 the Parris children received a similar illness to the Goodwin children; and Cotton Mather emerged as an important figure in the Salem Witch trials. Even though Cotton Mather never presided in the jury; he exhibited great influence over the witch trials. In 31 May, 1692, Cotton Mather sent a letter “Return of the Several Ministers,” to the trial. This article advised the Judges to limit the use of Spectral evidence, and recommended the release of confessed criminals.

Critics of Cotton Mather assert that he caused the trials because of his 1688 publication Remarkable Providences, and attempted to revive the trial with his 1692 book Wonders of the Invisible World, and generally whipped up witch hunting zeal. Others have stated, “His own reputation for veracity on the reality of witchcraft prayed, "for a good issue.” Charles Upham mentions Cotton Mather called accused witch Martha Carrier a ‘rampant hag.’ The critical evidence of Cotton Mather’s zealous behaviour comes later, during the trial execution of George Burroughs {Harvard Class of 1670}. Upham gives the Robert Calef account of the execution of Mr George Burroughs;

Mr George Burroughs was carried in a cart with others, through the streets of Salem, to execution. When he was upon the ladder, he made a speech for the clearing of his innocency, with such solemn and serious expressions as were to the admiration of all present. Mr George Burroughs' prayer (which he concluded by repeating the Lord’s Prayer) was so well worded, and uttered with such composedness as such fervency of spirit, as was very affecting, and drew tears from many, so that if seemed to some that the spectators would hinder the execution. The accusers said the black man stood and dictated to him. As soon as he was turned off, Mr Cotton Mather, being mounted upon a horse, addressed himself to the people, partly to declare that he (Mr George Burroughs) was no ordained minister, partly to possess the people of his guilt, saying that the devil often had been transformed into the angel of light…When he [Mr George Burroughs] was cut down, he was dragged by a halter to a hole, or grave, between the rocks, about 2 feet deep; his shirt and breeches being pulled off, and an old pair of trousers of one executed put on his lower parts: he was so put in, together with Willard and Carrier, that one of his hands, and his chin, and a foot of one of them, was left uncovered.

The 2nd issue with Cotton Mather was his influence in construction of the court for the trials. Bancroft quotes Mather, “Intercession had been made by Cotton Mather for the advancement of William Stoughton, a man of cold affections, proud, self-willed and covetous of distinction.” Later, referring to the placement of William Stoughton on the trial, which Bancroft noted was against the popular sentiment of the town. Bancroft referred to a statement in Cotton Mather’s diary;

The time for a favour is come,” exulted Cotton Mather; “Yea, the set time is come. Instead of my being a made a sacrifice to wicked rulers, my father-in-law, with several related to me, and several brethren of my own church, are among the council. The Governor of the province is not my enemy, but one of my dearest friends.

Bancroft also noted that Cotton Mather considered witches “among the poor, and vile, and ragged beggars upon Earth”, and Bancroft asserts that Cotton Mather considered the people against the witch trials to be 'witch advocates.'

Chadwick Hansen’s Witchcraft at Salem, published in 1969, defined Cotton Mather as a positive influence on the Salem Trials. Chadwick Hansen considered Cotton Mathers handling of the Goodwin Children to be sane and temperate. Chadwick Hansen also noted that Cotton Mather was more concerned with helping the affected children than witch-hunting. Cotton Mather treated the affected children through prayer and fasting. Cotton Mather also tried to convert accused witch Goodwife Glover after she was accused of practicing witchcraft on the Goodwin children. Most interestingly, and out of character with the previous depictions of Cotton Mather, was Cotton Mather’s decision not to tell the community of the others whom Goodwife Clover claimed practiced witch craft. One must wonder if Cotton Mather desired an opportunity to promote his church through the fear of witchcraft, why he did not use the opportunity presented by the Goodwin family. Lastly, Chadwick Hansen claimed Cotton Mather acted as a moderating influence in the trials by opposing the death penalty for lesser criminals, such as Tituba and Dorcas Good. Chadwick Hansen also notes that the negative impressions of Cotton Mather stem from his defense of the trials in, Wonders of the Invisible World. Cotton Mather became the chief defender of the trial, which diminished accounts of his earlier actions as a moderate influence.

Some historians who have examined the life of Cotton Mather after Chadwick Hansen’s book share his view of Cotton Mather. For instance, Bernard Rosenthal noted that Cotton Mather often gets portrayed as the rabid witch hunter. Bernard Rosenthal also described Cotton Mather’s guilt about his inability to restrain the judges during the trial. Larry Gregg highlights Cotton Mather’s sympathy for the possessed, when Cotton Mather stated, “the devil have sometimes represented the shapes of persons not only innocent, but also the very virtuous.” John Demos considered Cotton Mather a moderating influence on the trial.

After the trial, Cotton Mather was unrepentant for his role. Of the principal actors in the trial, only Cotton Mather and William Stoughton never admitted guilt. In fact, in the years after the trial Cotton Mather became an increasingly vehement defender of the trial. At the request of then Lieutenant-Governor William Stoughton, Cotton Mather wrote Wonders of the Invisible World in 1693. The book contained a few of Cotton Mather’s sermons, the conditions of the colony and a description of witch trials in Europe. Cotton Mather also contradicted his own advice in “Return of the Several Ministers,” by defending the use of spectral evidence. Wonders of the Invisible World appeared at the same time as Increase Mather’s Case of Conscience, a book critical of the trial. Upon reading Wonders of the Invisible World, Increase Mather publicly burned the book in Harvard Yard. Also, Boston merchant, Robert Calef began what became an 8 year campaign of attacks on Cotton Mather. The last event in Cotton Mather's involvement with witchcraft was his attempt to cure Mercy Short and Margaret Rule. Cotton Mather later wrote A Brand Pluck’d Out of the Burning and Another Brand Pluckt Out of the Burning about curing the women.

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Speech Differences And Stutter Series-Disabled Legend Henry Rogers

Henry Huttleston Rogers was born on 29 January, 1840 and died on 19 May, 1909 in Mattapoisett, Massachusetts, USA. Henry Rogers was a United States capitalist, businessman, industrialist, financier, and philanthropist.

Henry Huttleston Rogers was born into a working-class family , he was the son of Rowland Rogers, a former ship captain, bookkeeper, and grocer, and Mary Eldredge Huttleston Rogers. Both parents had roots back to the pilgrims, who arrived in the 17th century aboard the Mayflower. Henry Rogers mother's family earlier had used the spelling "Huddleston" rather than "Huttleston," and Henry Rogers' name is often misspelled using this earlier version.

The family moved to nearby Fairhaven, Massachusetts, a fishing village just over the bridge from the great whaling port, New Bedford. Fairhaven is a small seaside town on the south coast of Massachusetts. It borders the Acushnet River to the west and Buzzards Bay to the south. Fairhaven was incorporated in 1812 and was already steeped in history when "Hen" Rogers was just a boy. Fort Phoenix is in Fairhaven. There, during the American Revolution, British troops once stormed the area. Also within sight of the fort, the first naval battle of the American Revolution took place on 14 May, 1775.

In the mid 1850s, whaling was already an industry in decline in New England. The emergence of petroleum and later natural gas as a replacement fuel for lighting in the second half of the 19th century caused a much further decline.

Henry Rogers' father was one of the many men of New England who changed from a life on the sea to other work to provide for their families. As a teenager, "Hen" Rogers carried newspapers and he worked in his father's grocery store, making deliveries by wagon. Henry Rogers was only an average student, and was in the 1st graduating class of the local high school in 1857. Continuing to live with his parents, he hired on with the Fairhaven Branch Railroad, an early precursor of the Old Colony Railroad, as an expressman and brakeman, working for 3-4 years while carefully saving his earnings.

In 1861, 21-year-old Henry Rogers pooled his savings of approximately US$600 with a friend, Charles P. Ellis. They set out to western Pennsylvania and its newly discovered oil fields. Borrowing another US$600, the young partners began a small refinery at McClintocksville near Oil City. They named their new enterprise Wamsutta Oil Refinery.

The old Native American name "Wamsutta" was apparently selected in honour of their hometown area of New England, where Wamsutta Company in nearby New Bedford had opened in 1846, and was a major employer. The Wamsutta Company was the 1st of many textile mills that gradually came to supplant whaling as the principal employer in New Bedford.

Henry Rogers and Charles P. Ellis and their tiny refinery made US$30,000 their 1st year. This amount was more than 3 entire whaling ship trips from back home could hope to earn during an average voyage of more than a year's duration. Of course, he was regarded as very successful when Henry Rogers returned home to Fairhaven for a short vacation the next year.

While vacationing in Fairhaven in 1862, Henry Rogers married his childhood sweetheart, Abbie Palmer Gifford, who was also of Mayflower lineage. Abbie Palmer Gifford returned with him to the oil fields where they lived in a one-room shack along Oil Creek where her young husband and Charles P. Ellis worked the Wamsutta Oil Refinery. While they lived in Pennsylvania, their 1st daughter, Anne, was born in 1865.

In Pennsylvania, Henry Rogers was introduced to Charles Pratt (1830–91). Born in Watertown, Massachusetts, Charles Pratt had been 1 of 11 children. Henry Rogers' father, Asa Pratt, was a carpenter. Of modest means, he spent 3 winters as a student at Wesleyan Academy, and is said to have lived on $1 a week at times. In nearby Boston, Massachusetts, Charles Pratt joined a company specialising in paints and whale oil products. In 1850 or 1851, he came to New York City, where he worked for a similar company handling paint and oil.

Charles Pratt was also a pioneer of the natural oil industry, and established his kerosene refinery Astral Oil Works in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn, New York. Charles Pratt's product later gave rise to the slogan, "The holy lamps of Tibet are primed with Astral Oil". Charles Pratt also later founded the Pratt Institute.

When Charles Pratt met Henry Rogers at McClintocksville on a business trip, he already knew Charles P. Ellis, having earlier bought whale oil from him back east in Fairhaven. Although Charles P. Ellis and Henry Rogers had no wells and were dependent upon purchasing crude oil to refine and sell to Charles Pratt, the 2 young men agreed to sell the entire output of their small Wamsutta refinery to Charles Pratt's company at a fixed price. This worked well at first. Then, a few months later, crude oil prices suddenly increased due to manipulation by speculators. The young entrepreneurs struggled to try to live up to their contract with Charles Pratt, but soon their surplus was wiped out. Before long, they were heavily in debt to Charles Pratt.

Charles P. Ellis gave up, but in 1866, Henry Rogers went to Charles Pratt in New York and told him he would take personal responsibility for the entire debt. This so impressed Charles Pratt that he immediately hired him for his own organisation.

Charles Pratt made Henry Rogers foreman of his Brooklyn refinery, with a promise of a partnership if sales ran over $50,000 a year. Henry, Abbie, and young Anne moved to Brooklyn. The Rogers family continued to live frugally and he worked very hard. Abbie brought his meals to the "works," and often he would sleep but 3 hours a night rolled up in a blanket by the side of a still. Henry Rogers moved steadily from foreman to manager, and then superintendent of Charles Pratt's Astral Oil Refinery.

As promised, Charles Pratt gave Henry Rogers an interest in the business. In 1867, with Henry Rogers as a partner, he established the firm of Charles Pratt and Company. In the next few years, Henry Rogers became, in the words of Elbert Hubbard, Charles Pratt's "hands and feet and eyes and ears" (Little Journeys to the Homes, 1909). As their family grew, Henry and Abbie continued to live in New York City, but vacationed frequently at Fairhaven.

While working with Charles Pratt, Henry Rogers invented an improved way of separating naphtha, a light oil similar to kerosene, from crude oil. Henry Rogers was granted U.S. Patent # 120,539 on 31 October, 1871.

In the early 1871-72, Pratt and Company and other refiners became involved in a conflict with John D. Rockefeller, Samuel Andrews, and Henry M. Flagler (of Rockefeller, Andrews & Flagler) and the infamous South Improvement Company. South Improvement was basically a scheme to obtain secret favourable net rates from Tom Scott of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) and other railroads through secret rebates. The unfairness of the scheme outraged many independent oil producers and owners of refineries far and new alike.

The opposition among the New York refiners was led by Henry Rogers. The New York interests formed an association, and about the middle of March 1872 sent a committee of 3, with Henry Rogers as head, to Oil City to consult with the Oil Producers' Union. Their arrival in the oil regions was a matter of great satisfaction to the local oil workers. Working with the Pennsylvania independents, Henry Rogers and the New York delegation managed to forge an agreement with the railroads, whose leaders eventually agreed to open their rates to all and promised to end their shady dealings with South Improvement. The independent oil men were most exultant, but their joy was to be short-lived. John D. Rockefeller and his associates were busy trying another approach, which frequently included buying-up opposing interests.

In 1874, John D. Rockefeller approached Charles Pratt with his plans of cooperation and consolidation. Charles Pratt talked it over with Henry Rogers, and they decided that the combination would benefit them. Henry Rogers formulated terms, which guaranteed financial security and jobs for Charles Pratt and himself. John D. Rockefeller quietly accepted the offer on Henry Rogers' exact terms. Charles Pratt and Company (including Astral Oil) was one of the important independent refiners to become part of the Standard Oil Trust. Charles Pratt's son, Charles Millard Pratt (1858 to 1913), became Corporate Secretary of Standard Oil.

Around 1874, the Pratt & Company oil interests, including Henry Rogers who helped negotiate the deal, had joined John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil organisation. By 1890, Henry Rogers had become one of the key men, a vice president and chairman of its operating committee. Henry Rogers' later interviews with investigative journalist Ida M. Tarbell beginning in 1902 would later help bring what was by then also known as the Standard Oil Trust under additional regulatory control.

Typical of his seemingly dualist nature, Henry Rogers both helped build and operate Standard Oil, and through his interviews with Ida M. Tarbell, he (perhaps unintentionally) helped bring it under better control in the public interest.

Standard Oil was an oil refining conglomerate whose predecessor companies were founded by marketeer John D. Rockefeller, chemist Samuel Andrews, and other partners beginning in 1863. Borrowing heavily to expand his business, he drew 5 big refineries including the business concern of Henry Morrison Flagler into 1 firm, John D. Rockefeller, Andrews & Flagler. By 1868, what was to become Standard Oil was the world's largest oil refinery.

In 1870, John D. Rockefeller formed Standard Oil Company of Ohio and started his strategy of buying up the competition and consolidating all oil refining under 1 company. It was during this period that the Charles Pratt interests and Henry Rogers were brought into the fold. By 1878 Standard Oil held about 90% of the refining capacity in the United States.

In 1881 the company was reorganised as the Standard Oil Trust. The 3 main men of Standard Oil Trust were Henry H. Rogers, William Rockefeller and, the most important, John D. Rockefeller.

Petroleum pipelines were first developed in Pennsylvania in the 1860s to replace transport in wooden barrels loaded on wagons drawn by mules and driven by teamsters. This mule-drawn transportation was expensive and fraught with difficulties: leaking barrels, muddy trails, wagon breakdowns and mule/driver problems.

The first successful metal pipeline was completed in 1865, when Samuel Van Syckel built a 4-mile pipeline from Pithole, Pennsylvania, to the nearest railroad. This initial success led to the construction of pipelines to connect crude oil production, increasingly moving west as new fields were discovered and Pennsylvania fields declined, to refineries located near major demand centers in the Northeast.

When John D. Rockefeller observed this, he began to acquire many of the new pipelines. Soon, his Standard Oil companies owned a majority of the lines, which provided cheap, efficient transportation for oil. Cleveland, Ohio, became a center of the refining industry principally because of its transportation systems.

Henry Rogers conceived the idea of long pipelines for transporting oil and natural gas. In 1881, the National Transit Company was formed by Standard Oil to own and operate Standard's pipelines. The National Transit Company remained one of Henry Rogers' favourite projects throughout the rest of his life.

East Ohio Gas Company (EOG) was incorporated on 8 September, 1898, as a marketing company for the National Transit Company, the natural gas arm of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company of New Jersey. The company launched its business by selling to consumers in northeast Ohio gas produced by another National Transit subsidiary, Hope Natural Gas Company.

Rubber-manufacturing city Akron, Ohio, was the first to take advantage of the lower prices for natural gas. It granted the East Ohio Gas Company a franchise in September 1898, the same month that the company was founded. During the winter of 1898–99, the National Transit Company built a 10-inch wrought iron pipeline that stretched from the Pipe Creek on the Ohio River to Akron, with branches to Canton, Massillon, Dover, New Philadelphia, Uhrichsville, and Dennison. The 1st gas from the pipeline burned in Akron on 10 May, 1899.

Andrew Carnegie, long the leading steel magnate of Pittsburgh, retired at the turn of the 20th century, and refocused his interests on philanthropy. Andrew Carnegie's steel holdings were consolidated into the new United States Steel Corporation. Standard Oil's interest in steel properties led to Henry Rogers' becoming one of the directors when it was organised in 1901.

In 1890 the U.S. Congress passed Sherman Antitrust Act. This act is the source of all American anti-monopoly laws. The law forbids every contract, scheme, deal, conspiracy to restrain trade. It also forbids inspirations to secure monopoly of a given industry. Standard Oil Trust attracted attention from antitrust authorities and the Ohio Attorney General filed and won an antitrust suit in 1892.

Unwanted attention was also drawn to the Standard Oil Trust by Ida M. Tarbell, an American author and journalist, known as one of the leading muckrakers.

Ida M. Tarbell had been born in Erie County, Pennsylvania. As a child, she lived in what became Rouseville, Pennsylvania. This was only a short distance from Henry Rogers' Wamsutta Oil Refinery at McClintocksville, which was also in Cornplanter Township in Venango County. However, they were apparently not destined to meet for another 37 years.

Ida Tarbell's father had been forced out of business around 1872 by the South Improvement Company scheme, perpetrated by those who built Standard Oil. In 1894, she was hired by McClure's magazine. Ida Tarbell soon turned to investigative journalism, and was the 1st to really use investigative reporting, as we know it today, redefining this in-depth technique of writing. Ida Tarbell's method was to use various documents concerning Standard Oil, accompanied by interviews of employees, competitors, lawyers and experts on the topic. Ida Tarbell and her fellow staff members Ray Stannard Baker and Lincoln Steffens became a celebrated muckraking trio.

Ida Tarbell became acquainted with Henry Rogers, who by then was the most senior and powerful director of Standard Oil, through his friend, Mark Twain, who arranged a meeting. Meetings between Ida Tarbell and Henry Rogers began in January 1902 and continued regularly over the next 2 years. Ida Tarbell would bring up various case histories and Henry Rogers would provide for her an explanation, documents and figures concerning the case. Henry Rogers, wily and normally-guarded in matters related to business and finance, may have been under the impression her work was to be complimentary. Henry Rogers was apparently uncustomarily forthcoming. However, Ida Tarbell's interviews with Henry Rogers formed the basis her negative exposé of the nefarious business practices of the massive Standard Oil organisation. Following extensive interviews with Henry Rogers, Ida Tarbell's investigations of Standard Oil for McClure's, ran in 19 parts from November 1902 to October 1904. They were collected and published as The History of the Standard Oil Company in 1904. The book placed 5th in a 1999 list of the top 100 works of journalism in the 20th century.

Although public opposition to John D. Rockefeller and Standard Oil existed prior to Ida Tarbell's investigation, it fueled public attacks on Standard Oil and in trusts in general. Ida Tarbell's book is widely credited with hastening the 1911 breakup of Standard Oil. They had never played fair, and that ruined their greatness for me, Ida Tarbell wrote about the company.

The Standard Oil Trust was broken up after the United States Supreme Court declared the company to be an "unreasonable" monopoly under the Sherman Antitrust Act on 15 May, 1911. However, the owners remained in charge of the smaller companies which made up 4 of the 7 Sisters.

Standard Oil was often not appreciated by the public. It developed a reputation among many for dubious business practices, including subduing competitors and engaging in illegal transportation deals with the railroad companies to ensure it could undercut its competitors' prices. Standard Oil, formed well before the discovery of Spindletop in Texas and a demand for oil other than for heat and light, was well placed to control the growth of the oil business. It was perceived that it did this by ensuring it owned and controlled all aspects of the trade.

Henry Rogers joined in the organisation of holding companies aimed at controlling natural gas production and distribution. In 1884, with associates, Henry Rogers formed the Consolidated Gas Company, and thereafter for several years he was instrumental in gaining control of great city plants, fighting terrific battles with rivals for some of them, as in the case of Boston. Almost the whole story of his natural gas interests was one of business warfare.

During the 1890s, Henry Rogers became interested in Anaconda and other copper properties in the western United States. In 1899, with William Rockefeller, and Thomas W. Lawson, he formed the 1st $75,000,000 section of the gigantic trust, Amalgamated Copper Mining Company, which was the subject of much acrid criticism then and for years afterward. In the building of this great trust, some of the most ruthless strokes in modern business history were dealt: the $38,000,000 "watering" of the stock of the 1st corporation, its subsequent manipulation, the seizure of the copper property of the Butte & Boston Consolidated Mining Company, the using of the latter as a weapon against the Boston & Montana Consolidated Copper and Silver Mining Company, the guerrilla warfare against certain private interests, and the wrecking of the Globe Bank of Boston.

A holding company aimed at controlling copper production and distribution, Amalgamated Copper controlled the copper mines of Butte, Montana and later became Anaconda Copper Company.

On 1 July, 1892, Staten Island, New York's 1st trolley line opened, running between Port Richmond and Meiers Corners. Trolleys, which cost only a nickel a ride through most of their existence, help facilitate mass transit across the Island by reaching communities not serviced by trains. Henry H. Rogers was long-known as the Staten Island transit magnate, and was also involved with the Staten Island-Manhattan Ferry Service and the Richmond Power and Light Company.

Henry Rogers was also close associate of E. H. Harriman in the latter's extensive railroad operations. Henry Rogers was a director of the Sante Fe, St. Paul, Erie, Lackawanna, Union Pacific, and several other large railroads. However, he also involved himself in at least 3 West Virginia short-line railroad projects, one of which would grow much larger than he probably anticipated.

In mid-1890s, Henry Rogers became president of the Ohio River Railroad, founded by Johnson Newlon Camden, a United States Senator from West Virginia who was also secretly involved with Standard Oil. Charles M. Pratt and Henry Rogers were 2 of the largest owners and the Ohio River Railroad's General Manager was C.M. Burt. Its General Solicitor was former West Virginia governor William A. MacCorkle. The owners wished to sell the railroad, which was losing money.

Under Henry Rogers' leadership, they formed a subsidiary, West Virginia Short Line Railroad, to build a new line between New Martinsville and Clarksburg to reach new coal mining areas, into territory already planned for expansion by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O). The expansion plans had the desired effect of essentially forcing B&O to purchase the Ohio River Railroad to block the competition in the new coal areas. The Ohio River Railroad was sold to B&O in 1898.

The Kanawha and Pocahontas Railroad Company was incorporated in West Virginia in 1898 by either a son of Charles Pratt or the estate of Charles Pratt. Its line ran 15 miles from the Kanawha River up a tributary called Paint Creek. Once again, new coal mining territory was involved. Henry Rogers, acting on behalf of Charles Pratt and Company negotiated its lease to the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) in 1901 and its sale to a newly formed C&O subsidiary, Kanawha and Paint Creek Railway Company, in 1902.

Henry Rogers' final achievement, working with partner William Nelson Page, was the building of the Virginian Railway (VGN), which eventually extended 600 miles from the coal fields of southern West Virginia to port near Norfolk at Sewell's Point, Virginia in the harbour of Hampton Roads.

Initially, Henry Rogers' involvement in the project began in 1902 with Nelson Page's Deepwater Railway, planned as an 80-mile short line to reach untapped coal reserves in a very rugged portion of southern West Virginia, and interchange its traffic with the C&O and/or the N&W. The Deepwater Railway was probably intended for resale in the manner of the earlier 2 West Virginia short lines. However, if so, the ploy was foiled by collusion of the bigger railroads, who agreed with each other to neither purchase it or grant favourable interchange rates.

Nelson Page was the "front man" for the Deepwater project, and it is likely the leaders of the big railroads were unaware that their foe was backed by the wealthy Henry Rogers, who did not give up a good fight easily. Instead of abandoning the project, Nelson Page and Henry Rogers secretly developed a plan to extend their new railroad all the way across West Virginia and Virginia to port at Hampton Roads. They modified the Deepwater Railway charter to reach the Virginia-state line. A Rogers coal property attorney in Staunton, Virginia formed another intrastate railroad in Virginia, the Tidewater Railway.

The battle for the Tidewater Railway's rights-of-way displayed Henry Rogers at his most crafty and ingenious. Henry Rogers was able to persuade the leading citizens of Roanoke and Norfolk, both strongholds of the rival Norfolk and Western, that his new railroad would be a boon to both communities, secretly securing crucial rights-of-way in the process. In 1907, the name of the Tidewater Railway was changed to The Virginia Railway Company, and it acquired the Deepwater Railway to form the needed West Virginia-Virginia link.

Financed almost entirely from Henry Rogers' own resources, and completed in 1909, instead of interchanging, the new Virginian Railway competed with the much larger Chesapeake and Ohio Railway and Norfolk and Western Railway for coal traffic. Built following his policy of investing in the best route and equipment on initial selection and purchase to save operating expenses, the VGN enjoyed a more modern pathway built to the highest standards, and provided major competition to its larger neighbouring railroads, each of whom tried several times unsuccessfully to acquire it after they realised it could not be blocked from completion.

However, the time and enormous effort Henry Rogers expended on the project continued to undermine his already declining health, not only because of his Herculean work but also because of the uncertain economy of the period, exacerbated by the financial Panic of 1907 which began in March of that year. To obtain the needed financing, he was forced to pour many of his own assets into the railroad. Management of the funding Henry Rogers was providing was handled by Boston financier Godfrey M. Hyams, with whom he had also worked on the Anaconda Company, and many other natural resource projects.

On 22 July, 1907, he suffered a debilitating stroke. Over a period of about 5 months, he gradually recovered. In 1908, he put the remaining financing in place needed to see his railroad to completion. When completed the following year, the Virginian Railway was called by the newspapers "the biggest little railway in the world" and proved both viable and profitable.

Many historians consider the Virginian Railway to be one of Henry Rogers' greatest legacies. The 600-mile Virginian Railway (VGN) followed his philosophy regarding investing in the best equipment and paying it employees and vendors well throughout its profitable history. It operated some of the largest and most powerful steam, electric, and diesel locomotives throughout its 50-year history. Chronicled by rail historian and rail photographer H. Reid in The Virginian Railway (Kalmbach, 1961), the VGN gained a following of railway enthusiasts which continues to the present day.

The VGN was merged into the Norfolk & Western in 1959. However, almost all of the former VGN mainline trackage in West Virginia and about 50% of that in Virginia is still in use in 2006 as the preferred route for eastbound coal trains for Norfolk Southern Corporation due to the more favourable gradients while crossing the Allegheny Mountains' continental divide and the Blue Ridge Mountains east of Roanoke, while most westbound traffic of empty coal cars uses the original Norfolk and Western main line.

Henry Rogers was an energetic man, and exhibited ruthlessness, and iron determination. In the financial and business world he could be grasping and greedy, and operated under a flexible moral code that often stretched the rules of both honesty and fair play. On Wall Street in New York City, he became known as "Hell Hound Rogers" and "The Brains of the Standard Oil Trust." Henry Rogers was considered one of the last and great "robber barons" of his day, as times were changing. Nevertheless, Henry Rogers amassed a great fortune, estimated at over $100,000,000. Henry Rogers invested heavily in various industries, including copper, steel, mining, and railways.

Much of what we know about Henry Rogers and his style in business dealings were recorded by others. Henry Rogers' behaviour in public Court Proceedings provide some of the better examples and some insight. Henry Rogers' business style extended to his testimony in many court settings. Before the Hepburn Commission of 1878, investigating the railroads of New York, he fine-tuned his circumlocutory, ambiguous, and haughty responses. Henry Rogers' most intractable performance was later in a 1906 lawsuit by the state of Missouri, which claimed that 2 companies in that state registered as independents were actually subsidiaries of Standard Oil, a secret ownership Henry Rogers finally acknowledged.

In Marquis Who's Who for 1908, Henry Rogers listed more than 20 corporations of which he was either president and director or vice president and director.

Henry H. Rogers is in the top 25 wealthiest men in America of all time. According to The Wealthy 100: From Benjamin Franklin to Bill Gates - A Ranking of the Richest Americans, Past and Present published by 2 business professors in 1996, Henry Rogers is #22, ranking ahead of J.P. Morgan, #23, Bill Gates #31, William Rockefeller #35, Warren Buffett #39, J. Paul Getty #67, and Frank W. Woolworth #82.

There were 2 very distinct aspects which characterised Henry Rogers' seemingly dualist personality. Biographers have noted that, while pitiless in business deals, in his personal affairs, there was a much kinder side. In those matters, he was both warm and generous.

Some of the other most self-made robber baron types of the late 19th century became well-known for becoming philanthropists after ending their business careers. Most notable perhaps of these was Henry Rogers' friend from business interests Andrew Carnegie. However, unlike Andrew Carnegie and others, the kinder side of Henry Rogers seems to have also been there throughout his life.

A modest man, some of his other kindness and generosity became known for the most part only after his death. Examples are found in looking over the lives and writings of Helen Keller, Mark Twain, and Booker T. Washington. However, nowhere was the kinder side more apparent when he was alive than in his hometown of Fairhaven, Massachusetts. Beginning in 1885, seaside Fairhaven received a number of architectural gifts from the Rogers family.

These included a grammar school, Rogers School, built in 1885. The Millicent Library was completed in 1893 and was a gift to the Town by the Rogers children in memory of their sister Millicent, who had died in 1890 at the age of 17.

Abbie Palmer (née Gifford) Rogers presented the new Town Hall in 1894. The George H. Taber Masonic Lodge building, named for Henry's boyhood mentor and former Sunday-school teacher, was completed in 1901. The beautiful gothic Unitarian Memorial Church was dedicated in 1904 to the memory of Henry Rogers' mother, Mary Huttleston (née Eldredge) Rogers. The Tabitha Inn was built in 1905, and a new Fairhaven High School, affectionately called "Castle on the Hill," was completed in 1906.

Henry Rogers drained the mill pond to create a park, installed the town's public water and sewer systems, and served as superintendent of streets for his hometown.

Many years later, Henry H. Rogers' daughter, Cara Leland Rogers Broughton (Lady Fairhaven), purchased the site of Fort Phoenix, and donated it to the Town of Fairhaven in her father's memory.

Abbie and Henry Rogers had 5 children, 4 girls and a boy. Another little son had died at birth. Their oldest daughter, Anne Engle Rogers, was born in 1865 in Pennsylvania.

The family moved to New York in 1866. Daughter Cara Leland Rogers was born in Fairhaven in 1867, Millicent was born in 1873, followed by Mary (a.k.a. Mai) in 1875. Their son, Henry Huttleston Rogers Jr., was born in 1879, and was known as Harry.

"Mother of 6 children, Mrs. Rogers is represented as having been of a quiet and retiring disposition, completely devoid of the ostentation often associated with great wealth. Contemporary photographs attest to a shy and gentle charm of feature, and she is known to have cherished a deep affection for Fairhaven and a nostalgia for the simple ways of her childhood.

"She was, therefore, delighted to become the donor of Fairhaven's beautiful new 'Town House', and on February 22nd and 23rd, 1894, she attended dedication exercises and received graciously at the splendid Dedication Ball, in the first gala functions marking the opening of the new building.

"It was not given those attending these happy festivities to know that - but three months later - in May, 1894, this gentle woman was to die in New York City after an operation performed to save her life."

Abbie Palmer Gifford Rogers died unexpectedly on 21 May, 1894. Abbie Palmer Gifford's childhood home, a 2-story, gable-end frame house built in the Greek Revival style has been preserved. It is made available for tours of Fairhaven, where she and her husband grew up and left many other legacies to the town and its inhabitants.

In 1896, Henry Rogers was remarried Emelie Augusta Randel Hart, a divorcée, and New York socialite, but had no children with his 2nd wife.

On 19 May, 1909, he died suddenly of another stroke, barely 6 weeks before full operations were scheduled to begin on his Virginian Railway, and only 2 days short of 15 years after his beloved Abbie, and also in New York City. After a funeral at the First Unitarian Church in Manhattan, his body was transported to Fairhaven by a New Haven Railroad train. There, he was interred beside Abbie in Fairhaven's Riverside Cemetery.

After Abbie's death, Henry Rogers developed close friendships with 2 other famous Americans: Mark Twain and Dr Booker T. Washington, and was instrumental in the education and rise to fame of Helen Keller. Urged on by Mark Twain, Henry Rogers and his 2nd wife financed a college education for the remarkable Ms. Keller.

In 1899, Henry Rogers had a luxury steam yacht built by a shipyard in the Bronx. The Kanawha, at 471-tons, was about 200 feet long and manned by a crew of 39. For the final 10 year of his life, Henry Rogers entertained friends as they sailed on cruises mostly along the East Coast of the United States, north to Maine and Canada, and south the Virginia. With Mark Twain among his frequent guests, the movements of the Kanawha attracted great attention from the newspapers, the dominant public media of the era. Cruises on the Kanawha also provided a private setting for what was later revealed to be a relationship of much greater importance than mere friendship and socialisation with Dr. Booker T. Washington.

In 1893, a mutual friend introduced Henry Rogers to humorist Mark Twain. Henry Rogers reorganised Mark Twain's tangled finances, and the 2 became close friends for the rest of Henry Rogers' life.

By the 1890s, Mark Twain's fortunes began to decline; in his later life, Mark Twain was a very depressed man, but still capable. Mark Twain was able to respond "The report of my death is an exaggeration" in the New York Journal, 2 June, 1897. Mark Twain lost 2 out of 3 of his children, and his beloved wife, Olivia Langdon, before his death in 1910.

Mark Twain also had some very bad times with his businesses. Mark Twain's publishing company ended up going bankrupt, and he lost thousands of dollars on one typesetting machine that was never finished. Mark Twain also lost a great deal of revenue on royalties from his books being plagiarised before he even had a chance to publish them himself. Things looked pretty grim financially until he met Henry Rogers in 1893.

Henry Rogers and Mark Twain enjoyed a mutually beneficial friendship which was to last for more than 16 years. Henry Rogers' family became Mark Twain's surrogate family and he was a frequent guest at the Henry Rogers townhouse in New York City. Earl J. Dias described the relationship in these words: "Rogers and Twain were kindred spirits - fond of poker, billiards, the theater, practical jokes, mild profanity, the good-natured spoof. Their friendship, in short, was based on a community of interests and on the fact that each, in some way, needed the other."

While Mark Twain openly credited Henry Rogers with saving him from financial ruin; there is also substantial evidence in their published correspondence that the close friendship in their later years was mutually beneficial. Their letters back and forth are so interesting and insightful that they were published in a book, Mark Twain's Correspondence with Henry Huttleston Rogers, 1893-1909.

In the written exchanges between the 2 men, there are pleasant examples of Henry Rogers' sense of fun as well as Mark Twain's well-known sense of humor.

There was a standing joke between them that Mark Twain was inclined to pilfer items from the Henry Rogers household whenever he spent the night there as a guest. 2 of the many letters provide an illustration:

In a letter sent to Mrs. Rogers by Mark Twain, he notes that while packing his things after a visit, he found that he had put in

"some articles that was laying around .......2 books, Mr. Rogers' brown slippers, and a ham. I thought it was one of ourn. It looked like one we used to have, but it shan't occur again, and don't you worry. He will temper the wind to the shorn lamb, and I will send some of the things back if there is some that won't keep. Yores in Jesus, S.L.C."

The reply to Mark Twain was a letter written by Henry Rogers on 31 October, 1906. It reads:

"Before I forget it, let me remind you that I shall want the trunk and the things you took away from my house as soon as possible. I learn that instead of taking old things, you took my best. Mrs. Rogers is at the White Mountains. I am going to Fairhaven this afternoon. I hope you will not be there. By the way, I have been using a pair of your gloves in the Mountains, and they don't seem to be much of an attraction."

In April 1907, they travelled together in Henry Rogers' steam yacht Kanawha to the Jamestown Exposition held at Sewell's Point near Norfolk, Virginia in celebration of the 300th anniversary of the founding of the Jamestown Colony.

Although by this late date, both men were in marginal health, Mark Twain returned to Norfolk with Henry Rogers in April 1909, and was the guest speaker at the dedication dinner held for the newly completed Virginian Railway, a "Mountains to Sea" engineering marvel of the day. The construction of the new railroad had been solely financed by industrialist Henry Rogers.

When Henry Rogers died suddenly in New York City on 20 May, 1909 of an apoplectic stroke, the humorist had been on his way by train from Connecticut to visit Mark Twain. When Mark Twain was met with the news at Grand Central Station the same morning by his daughter, his grief-stricken reaction was widely reported. Although he served as one of the honoured pallbearers at the Henry Rogers funeral in New York later that week, he declined to ride the funeral train from New York on to Fairhaven for the internment. Albert Bigelow Paine, in his book Mark Twain: A Biography wrote that Mark Twain "could not undertake to travel that distance among those whom he knew so well, and with whom he must of necessity join in conversation."

Mark Twain himself died less than 1 year later. Mark Twain wrote in 1909, "I came in with Halley's Comet in 1835. It is coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it." And so he did.

Helen Keller was a remarkable woman who, although deaf, and blind, made a name for herself as writer and humanitarian. Helen Keller became another of Henry Rogers' closest friends. In May 1896, at the home in New York City of editor-essayist Laurence Hutton, Henry Rogers and Mark Twain 1st saw Ms. Keller, who was then 16 years old. Helen Keller had profited under the tutelage of her gifted teacher-companion, Anne Sullivan, and when she was 20, passed with distinction the entrance examination to Radcliffe College.

In a letter to Mrs. Emile Rogers, Mark Twain praised "this marvelous child" and hoped that Helen would not be forced to retire from her studies because of poverty. Mark Twain urged Mrs. Emile Rogers to speak to Henry Rogers himself, to remind him of their 1st sight of Ms. Keller at Hutton's home and to speak also "to the other Standard Oil chiefs" to see what could be done for the meritorious Miss Keller.

Henry Rogers was generously responsive. Henry Rogers and his wife helped make possible a college education for Helen Keller at Radcliffe. They even provided her, for many years after, with a monthly stipend.

That she was grateful is obvious in the dedication of her book, The World I Live In, which reads, "To Henry H. Rogers, my Dear Friend of Many Years." On the fly leaf of Henry Rogers' own copy of the book, she wrote, To Mrs Rogers The best of the world I live in is the kindness of friends like you and Mr Rogers.

Another friend was Booker T. Washington. Around 1894, Henry Rogers attended one of the famous educator's speeches at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The next day, Henry Rogers contacted Washington, and invited him to come to 26 Broadway in his Standard Oil office to meet with him. Booker T. Washington later wrote that Henry Rogers said that he had been surprised that nobody had "passed the hat" after the speech the previous night. With the common ground of their relatively humble beginnings and early life, the seeds of a friendship between the 2 famous men had been sown.

Booker T. Washington became a frequent visitor to Henry Rogers' office, to Henry Rogers' 85-room mansion in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, and was an honoured guest aboard Henry Rogers' yacht, the Kanawha. Their friendship extended over a period of 15 years.

Although Henry Rogers had died suddenly a few weeks earlier, in June 1909, Dr. Booker T. Washington went on a previously arranged speaking tour along the newly completed Virginian Railway. Dr Booker T. Washington rode in Henry Rogers' personal rail car, "Dixie", making speeches at many locations over a 7-day period.

Dr. Booker T. Washington told his audiences that his recently departed friend had urged him to make the trip and see what could be done to improve relations between the races and economic conditions for African Americans along the route of the new railway, which touched many previously isolated communities in the southern portions of Virginia and West Virginia, including passing close by the community where Washington had been born over 50 years earlier.

Some of the places where Dr. Booker T. Washington spoke on the tour were (in order of the tour stops), Newport News, Norfolk, Suffolk, Lawrenceville, Kenbridge, Victoria, Charlotte Courthouse, Roanoke, Salem, and Christiansburg in Virginia, and Princeton, Mullens, Page and Deepwater in West Virginia. One of his trip companions recorded that they had received a strong and favorable welcome from both white and African American citizens all along the tour route of the new railroad.

It was only after Henry Rogers' death that Dr. Booker T. Washington felt compelled to revealing publicly some of the extent of Henry Rogers' contributions. These, he said, were at that very time "funding the operation of at least 65 small country schools for the education and betterment of African Americans in Virginia and other portions of the South, all unknown to the recipients." Also, known only to a few trustees at Dr. Booker T. Washington's insistence, Henry Rogers had also generously provided support to institutions of higher education, including Tuskegee Institute and Hampton Institute.

Dr. Booker T. Washington later wrote that Henry Rogers had encouraged projects with at least partial matching funds, as that way, 2 ends were accomplished:

The gifts would help fund even greater work.

Recipients would have a stake in knowing that they were helping themselves through their own hard work and sacrifice.

Henry Rogers' example of both concern for Negro education and the concept of matching funds may well have influenced Julius Rosenwald, another self-made man from a modest background who also befriended Dr Booker T. Washington, and beginning in 1911, contributed many millions to build thousands of Rosenwald Schools in many states, in a sense, continuing the work Henry Rogers and Dr Booker T. Washington began long after both were dead.

In Fairhaven, the Rogers family gifts are located throughout the town. These include Rogers School, Town Hall, Millicent Library, Unitarian Memorial Church and Fairhaven High School. A granite shaft on the High School lawn is dedicated to Henry Rogers. In Riverside Cemetery, the Henry Huttleston Rogers Mausoleum is patterned after the Temple of Minerva in Athens, Greece. Henry, his 1st wife Abbie, and several family members are interred there.

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Speech Differences And Stutter Series-Disabled Legend Chris Trapper

Chris Trapper is a musician based in Boston, Massachusetts who is most known as the lead singer of the band, The Push Stars. With The Push Stars, Chris Trapper wrote material for 4 studio albums and 3 self-produced discs. Several of his songs have been picked up for major motion picture soundtracks including There's Something About Mary and Say It Isn't So and for television shows such as Pepper Dennis, ER, and Malcolm in the Middle.

Chris Trapper's 2002 solo project "Songs from the Drive-In" showcased "his formidable storytelling talents," according to the Boston Phoenix. In 2003 Chris Trapper received a prestigious SOCAN award (Canadian songwriters and music publishers) for his songwriting contribution to Great Big Sea/Sea of No Cares album/Warner Music/Canada. Chris Trapper's album Gone Again spawned a series of live music videos by director Christopher Seufert. Chris Trapper also toured the Push Stars with Matchbox 20.

Chris Trapper's songs have been winning awards as well as the hearts of devoted listeners ever since his arrival on the Boston music scene in 1995. Chris Trapper is most widely known as the front man for the nationally acclaimed pop/rock band The Push Stars, whose "honest, heartfelt songs with timeless melodies" were described as "the kind of music that songwriters love" by Rob Thomas of Matchbox 20.

With The Push Stars, Chris Trapper has written material for 4 studio albums and 3self-produced discs. Several of his songs have been picked up for major motion picture soundtracks including There's Something About Mary and Say It Isn't So and for television shows such as Pepper Dennis, ER, and Malcolm in the Middle. Chris Trapper's 2002 solo project "Songs from the Drive-In" showcased "his formidable storytelling talents," according to the Boston Phoenix.

Chris Trapper's 2nd solo release, "Gone Again," serves up 11 new songs with a Dixieland flavour provided by Boston's renowned Wolverine Jazz Band. The newest release "Hey, You" is his 1st rock/pop solo record, featuring guest appearances by The Push Stars, Great Big Sea, Sonando, Martin Sexton, Matt Beck (Matchbox 20) and Duke Levine (Mary Chapin Carpenter).

In addition to numerous Boston Music Awards, Chris Trapper received 2 Gold Records, a Platimun record, and the prestigious SOCAN Award twice for his songwriting work with Newfoundland's Great Big Sea. Antigone Rising covered his song "Waiting, Watching, Wishing" on their latest album release. In 2006, he filmed cameo appearances for an episode of "Pepper Dennis," the WB romantic comedy, and for "August Rush," an upcoming film with Robin Williams.

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Speech Differences And Stutter Series-Disabled Legend Demosthenes

Demosthenes was born in 384 and died in 322 BC, Greek: Δημοσθένης, Dēmosthénēs) was a prominent Greek statesman and orator of ancient Athens. Demosthenes orations constitute a significant expression of ancient Athenian intellectual prowess and provide an insight into the politics and culture of ancient Greece during the 4th century BC. Demosthenes learned rhetoric by studying the speeches of previous great orators. Demosthenes delivered his 1st judicial speeches at the age of 20, in which he argued effectively to gain from his guardians what was left of his inheritance. For a time, Demosthenes made his living as a professional speech-writer (logographer) and a lawyer, writing speeches for use in private legal suits.

Demosthenes grew interested in politics during his time as a logographer, and in 354 BC he gave his 1st public political speeches. Demosthenes went on to devote his most productive years to opposing Macedon's expansion. Demosthenes idealised his city and strove throughout his life to restore Athens' supremacy and motivate his compatriots against Philip II of Macedon. Demosthenes sought to preserve his city's freedom and to establish an alliance against Macedon, in an unsuccessful attempt to impede Philip's plans to expand his influence southwards by conquering all the Greek states. After Philip's death, Demosthenes played a leading part in his city's uprising against the new King of Macedon, Alexander the Great. However, his efforts failed and the revolt was met with a harsh Macedonian reaction. To prevent a similar revolt against his own rule, Alexander's successor in this region, Antipater, sent his men to track Demosthenes down. Demosthenes took his own life, in order to avoid being arrested by Archias, Antipater's confidant.

The Alexandrian Canon compiled by Aristophanes of Byzantium and Aristarchus of Samothrace recognised Demosthenes as 1 of the 10 greatest Attic orators and logographers. According to Longinus, Demosthenes "perfected to the utmost the tone of lofty speech, living passions, copiousness, readiness, speed". Cicero acclaimed him as "the perfect orator" who lacked nothing, and Quintilian extolled him as "lex orandi" ("the standard of oratory") and that "inter omnes unus excellat" ("he stands alone among all the orators").

During the last year of the 98th Olympiad or the 1st year of the 99th Olympiad. Demosthenes's father—also named Demosthenes—who belonged to the local tribe, Pandionis, and lived in the deme of Paeania in the Athenian countryside, was a wealthy sword-maker. Aeschines, Demosthenes' greatest political rival, maintained that his mother Kleoboule was a Scythian by blood—an allegation disputed by some modern scholars. Demosthenes was orphaned at the age of 7. Although his father provided well for him, his legal guardians, Aphobus, Demophon and Therippides, mishandled his inheritance.

As soon as Demosthenes came of age in 366 BC, he demanded they render an account of their management. According to Demosthenes, the account revealed the misappropriation of his property. Although his father left an estate of nearly 14talents,(very roughly 3,000 pounds in gold or 400,000 current United States dollars)Demosthenes asserted his guardians had left nothing "except the house, and 14 slaves and 30 silver minae" (30 minae = ½ talent). At the age of 20, Demosthenes sued his trustees in order to recover his patrimony and delivered 5 orations — 3 Against Aphobus during 363 BC and 362 BC and 2 Against Ontenor during 362 and 361 BC. The courts fixed Demosthenes' damages at 10 talents. When all the trials came to an end, he only succeeded in retrieving a portion of his inheritance.

Between his coming of age in 366 BC and the trials that took place in 364 BC, Demosthenes and his guardians negotiated acrimoniously but were unable to reach an agreement, for neither side was willing to make concessions. At the same time, Demosthenes prepared himself for the trials and improved his oratory skill. As an adolescent, his curiosity had been noticed by the orator Callistratus, who was then at the height of his reputation, having just won a case of considerable importance. According to Friedrich Nietzsche, a German philologist and philosopher, and Constantine Paparregopoulus, a major Greek historian, Demosthenes was a student of Isocrates; according to Cicero, Quintillian and the Roman biographer Hermippus, he was a student of Plato. Lucian, a Roman-Syrian rhetorician and satirist, lists the philosophers Aristotle, Theophrastus and Xenocrates among his teachers. These claims are nowadays disputed. According to Plutarch, Demosthenes employed Isaeus as his master in Rhetoric, even though Isocrates was then teaching this subject, either because he could not pay Isocrates the prescribed fee or because Demosthenes believed Isaeus' style better suited a vigorous and astute orator such as himself . Curtius, a German archaeologist and historian, likened the relation between Isaeus and Demosthenes to "an intellectual armed alliance".

It has also been said that Demosthenes paid Isaeus 10,000 drachmae (somewhat over 1.5talents) on the condition that Isaeus should withdraw from a school of Rhetoric which he had opened, and should devote himself wholly to Demosthenes, his new pupil. Another version credits Isaeus with having taught Demosthenes without charge. According to Sir Richard C. Jebb, a British classical scholar, "the intercourse between Isaeus and Demosthenes as teacher and learner can scarcely have been either very intimate or of very long duration". Konstantinos Tsatsos, a Greek professor and academician, believes that Isaeus helped Demosthenes edit his initial judicial orations against his guardians. Demosthenes is also said to have admired the historian Thucydides. In the Illiterate Book-Fancier, Lucian mentions 8 beautiful copies of Thucydides made by Demosthenes, all in Demosthenes' own handwriting. These references hint at his respect for a historian he must have assiduously studied.

According to Pseudo-Plutarch, Demosthenes was married once. The only information about his wife, whose name is unknown, is that she was the daughter of Heliodorus, a prominent citizen. Demosthenes also had a daughter, "the first and only one who ever called him father", according to Aeschines' in a trenchant remark. Demosthenes's daughter died young and unmarried a few days before Philip's death.

In his speeches, Aeschines often uses the pederastic relations of Demosthenes to attack him. The essence of these attacks was not that Demosthenes had relations with boys, but that he had been an inadequate pederast, one whose attentions did not benefit the boys, as would have been expected, but harmed them instead. In the case of Aristion, a youth from Plataea who lived for a long time in Demosthenes' house, Aeschines mocked him for lack of sexual restraint and possibly effeminate behavior: "Allegations about what [Aristion] was undergoing there, or doing what, vary, and it would be most unseemly for me to talk about it." Another relationship which Aeschines brings up is that with Cnosion. Aeschines's allegation, in this case, was also of a sexual nature. This time, however, he blamed Demosthenes for involving his wife by putting her in bed with the youth so as to get children by him. Athenaeus, however, presents matters in a different light, claiming that his wife bedded the boy in a fit of jealousy.

Aeschines often asserted that Demosthenes made money out of young rich men. Demosthenes claimed that he deluded Aristarchus, the son of Moschus, with the pretence that he could make him a great orator. Apparently, while still under Demosthenes' tutelage, Aristarchus killed and mutilated a certain Nicodemus of Aphidna, gouging out his eyes and tongue. Aeschines accused Demosthenes of complicity in the murder, pointing out that Nicodemus had once pressed a lawsuit accusing Demosthenes of desertion. Aeschines also accused Demosthenes of having been such a bad erastes to Aristarchus so as not even to deserve the name. Aristarchus's crime, according to Aeschines, was to have betrayed his eromenos by pillaging his estate, allegedly pretending to be in love with the youth so as to get his hands on the boy's inheritance. This he is said to have squandered, having taken 3 talents upon Aristarchus' fleeing into exile so as to avoid a trial. Thus, in payment for the trust that Aristarchus and his family put in him, "You entered a happy home [...] you ruined it." Nevertheless, the story of Demosthenes' relations with Aristarchus is still regarded as more than doubtful, and no other pupil of Demosthenes is known by name.

"If you feel bound to act in the spirit of that dignity, whenever you come into court to give judgement on public causes, you must bethink yourselves that with his staff and his badge every one of you receives in trust the ancient pride of Athens."
Demosthenes (On the Crown, 210) - The orator's defense of the honour of the courts was in contrast to the improper actions of which Aeschines accused him.

To make his living, Demosthenes became a professional litigant and logographer, writing speeches for use in private legal suits. Demosthenes was so successful that he soon acquired wealthy and powerful clients. The Athenian logographer could remain anonymous, allowing him to serve personal interests, even if it prejudiced the client. Aeschines accused Demosthenes of unethically disclosing his clients' arguments to their opponents. Aeschines queried of Demosthenes: "And the born traitor—how shall we recognise him? Will he not imitate you, Demosthenes, in his treatment of those whom chance throws in his way and who have trusted him? Will he not take pay for writing speeches for them to deliver in the courts, and then reveal the contents of these speeches to their opponents?"

As an example, Aeschines accused Demosthenes of writing a speech for Phormion, a wealthy banker, and then communicating it to Apollodorus, who was bringing a capital charge against Phormion. Plutarch supported this accusation, stating that Demosthenes "was thought to have acted dishonorably".

Demosthenes used to study in an underground room he constructed himself. Demosthenes also used to talk with pebbles in his mouth and recited verses while running. To strengthen his voice, he spoke on the seashore over the roar of the waves. Even before he turned 21 in 363 BC, Demosthenes had already demonstrated an interest in politics. In 363, 359, and 357 BC, he assumed the office of the trierarch, being responsible for the outfitting and maintenance of a trireme. In 348 BC, he became a choregos, paying the expenses of a theatrical production.

Although Demosthenes said he never pleaded a single private case, it remains unclear when and if Demosthenes abandoned the profitable but not so prestigious profession of logography. According to Plutarch, when Demosthenes 1st addressed himself to the people, he was derided for his strange and uncouth style, "which was cumbered with long sentences and tortured with formal arguments to a most harsh and disagreeable excess".

Some citizens however discerned his talent. When he first left the ecclesia (the Athenian Assembly) disheartened, an old man named Eunomus encouraged him, saying his diction was very much like that of Pericles. Another time, after the ecclesia had refused to hear him and he was going home dejected, an actor named Satyrus followed him and entered into a friendly conversation with him.

As a boy Demosthenes had a speech impediment — an inarticulate and stammering pronunciation. Aeschines taunted him and referred to him in his speeches by the nickname "Batalus", apparently invented by Demosthenes' pedagogues or by the little boys with whom he was playing. According to Plutarch, he had a weakness in his voice of "a perplexed and indistinct utterance and a shortness of breath, which, by breaking and disjointing his sentences much obscured the sense and meaning of what he spoke." Demosthenes soon undertook a disciplined programme to overcome these shortcomings and improve his locution. Demosthenes worked on his diction, his voice and his gestures. Demosthenes's zeal and perseverance have passed into proverb. It is however unknown whether these vignettes are factual accounts of events in Demosthenes' life or merely anecdotes used to illustrate his perseverance and determination.

Demosthenes continued practicing law privately while he was becoming increasingly interested in public affairs. Demosthenes mostly remained a judicial orator, but started participating in the politics of the Athenian democracy. In 355 BC he wrote Against Androtion and, in 354 BC, Against Leptines — 2 fierce attacks on individuals who attempted to repeal certain tax exemptions. In Against Timocrates and Against Aristocrates he advocated eliminating corruption. Demosthenes denounced measures regarded as dishonest or unworthy of Athenian traditions. All these speeches offer early glimpses of his general principles on foreign policy, such as the importance of the navy, of alliances and of national honour.

"While the vessel is safe, whether it be a large or a small one, then is the time for sailor and helmsman and everyone in his turn to show his zeal and to take care that it is not capsized by anyone's malice or inadvertence; but when the sea has overwhelmed it, zeal is useless."

Demosthenes (Third Philippic, 69) - The orator warned his countrymen of the disasters Athens would suffer, if they continued to remain idle and indifferent to the challenges of their times.

In 354 BC, Demosthenes delivered his 1st political oration, On the Navy, in which he espoused moderation and proposed the reform of "symmories"(boards) as a source of funding for the Athenian fleet. In 352 BC, he delivered For the Megalopolitans and, in 351 BC, On the Liberty of the Rhodians. In both speeches he opposed Eubulus, the most powerful Athenian statesman of the period 355 to 342 BC, who was against any intervention in the internal affairs of the other Greek cities.

Although none of his early orations were successful, Demosthenes established himself as an important political personality and broke with Eubulus' faction, a prominent member of which was Aeschines. Demosthenes laid the foundations for his future political successes and for becoming the leader of his own party. Demosthenes's arguments revealed his desire to articulate Athens' needs and interests.

In 351 BC, Demosthenes felt strong enough to express his view concerning the most important foreign policy issue facing Athens at that time: the stance his city should take towards Philip II of Macedon. According to Jacqueline de Romilly, a French philologist and member of the Académie française, the threat of Philip would give Demosthenes' stances a focus and a raison d'être. Henceforth, Demosthenes' career is virtually the history of Athenian foreign policy.

In 336–335 BC, the King of Macedon crippled any attempt of the Greek cities at resistance and shattered Demosthenes' hopes for Athenian independence. After Chaeronea, Philip inflicted a harsh punishment upon Thebes, but made peace with Athens on very lenient terms. Demosthenes encouraged the fortification of Athens and was chosen by the ecclesia to deliver the Funeral Oration. In 337 BC, Philip created the League of Corinth, a confederation of Greek states under his leadership, and returned to Pella. In 336 BC, Philip was assassinated at the wedding of his daughter, Cleopatra of Macedonia, to King Alexander of Epirus. After Philip's death, the army proclaimed Alexander, then aged 20, as the new King of Macedon. Greek cities like Athens and Thebes saw in this change of leadership an opportunity to regain their full independence. Demosthenes celebrated Philip's assassination and played a leading part in his city's uprising. According to Aeschines, "it was but the 7th day after the death of his daughter, and though the ceremonies of mourning were not yet completed, he put a garland on his head and white raiment on his body, and there he stood making thank-offerings, violating all decency." Demosthenes also sent envoys to Attalus, whom he considered to be an internal opponent of Alexander. Nonetheless, Alexander moved swiftly to Thebes, which submitted shortly after his appearance at its gates. When the Athenians learned that Alexander had moved quickly to Boeotia, they panicked and begged the new King of Macedon for mercy. Alexander admonished them but imposed no punishment.

"You stand revealed in your life and conduct, in your public performances and also in your public abstinences. A project approved by the people is going forward. Aeschines is speechless. A regrettable incident is reported. Aeschines is in evidence. Aeschines reminds one of an old sprain or fracture: the moment you are out of health it begins to be active."

Demosthenes (On the Crown, 198) - In On the Crown Demosthenes fiercely assaulted and finally neutralized Aeschines, his formidable political opponent.

In 335 BC Alexander felt free to engage the Thracians and the Illyrians. While he was campaigning in the north, the Thebans and the Athenians rebelled once again, believing in the rumors that Alexander was dead. Darius III of Persia financed the Greek cities that rose up against Macedon, and Demosthenes is said to have received about 300 talents on behalf of Athens and to have faced accusations of embezzlement. Alexander reacted immediately and razed Thebes to the ground. Demosthenes did not attack Athens, but demanded the exile of all anti-Macedonian politicians, Alexander first of all. According to Plutarch, a special Athenian embassy led by Phocion, an opponent of the anti-Macedonian faction, was able to persuade Alexander to relent.

Despite the unsuccessful ventures against Philip and Alexander, the Athenians still respected Demosthenes. In 336 BC, the orator Ctesiphon proposed that Athens honour Demosthenes for his services to the city by presenting him, according to custom, with a golden crown. This proposal became a political issue and, in 330 BC, Aeschines prosecuted Ctesiphon on charges of legal irregularities. In his most brilliant speech, On the Crown, Demosthenes effectively defended Ctesiphon and vehemently attacked those who would have preferred peace with Macedon. Demosthenes was unrepentant about his past actions and policies and insisted that, when in power, the constant aim of his policies was the honour and the ascendancy of his country; and on every occasion and in all business he preserved his loyalty to Athens. Demosthenes finally defeated Aeschines, although his enemy's legal objections to the crowning were probably valid.

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Speech Differences And Stutter Series-Disabled Legend Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was born on 13 April, 1743 and died on 4 July, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson died a few hours before the death of John Adams, his compatriot in their quest for independence, then great political rival, and later friend and correspondent. John Adams is often rumoured to have referenced Thomas Jefferson in his last words, unaware of his passing.

Thomas Jefferson was the 3rd President of the United States (1801–1809), the principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776), and one of the most influential Founding Fathers for his promotion of the ideals of republicanism in the United States. Major events during his presidency include the Louisiana Purchase (1803) and the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–1806).

As a political philosopher, Thomas Jefferson was a man of the Enlightenment and knew many intellectual leaders in Britain and France. Thomas Jefferson idealised the independent yeoman farmer as exemplar of republican virtues, distrusted cities and financiers, and favoured states' rights and a strictly limited federal government. Thomas Jefferson supported the separation of church and state and was the author of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (1779, 1786). Thomas Jefferson was the eponym of Jeffersonian democracy and the co-founder and leader of the Democratic-Republican Party, which dominated American politics for a 1/4 century. Thomas Jefferson served as the wartime Governor of Virginia (1779–1781), 1st United States Secretary of State (1789–1793) and 2nd Vice President (1797–1801).

A polymath, Thomas Jefferson achieved distinction as, among other things, a horticulturist, statesman, architect, archaeologist, paleontologist, author, inventor, and founder of the University of Virginia. When President John F. Kennedy welcomed 49 Nobel Prize winners to the White House in 1962 he said, "I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent and of human knowledge that has ever been gathered together at the White House – with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone." Thomas Jefferson has been consistently ranked by scholars as one of the greatest U.S. Presidents.

Thomas Jefferson was born into a family closely related to some of the most prominent individuals in Virginia, the 3rd of 8 children. Thomas Jefferson's mother was Jane Randolph, daughter of Isham Randolph, a ship's captain and sometime planter, and first cousin to Peyton Randolph. Thomas Jefferson's father was Peter Jefferson, a planter and surveyor in Albemarle County (Shadwell, then Edge Hill, Virginia.) Thomas Jefferson was of Welsh descent. When Colonel William Randolph, an old friend of Peter Jefferson, died in 1745, Peter Jefferson assumed executorship and personal charge of William Randolph's estate in Tuckahoe as well as his infant son, Thomas Mann Randolph. That same year the Jeffersons relocated to Tuckahoe where they would remain for the next 7 years before returning to their home in Albemarle whereupon Peter Jefferson was appointed to the Colonelcy of the county, a very important position at the time.

In 1752, Thomas Jefferson began attending a local school run by William Douglas, a Scottish minister. At the age of 9, Thomas Jefferson began studying Latin, Greek, and French. In 1757, when he was 14 years old, his father died. Thomas Jefferson inherited about 5,000 acres (20 km²) of land and dozens of slaves. Thomas Jefferson built his home there, which eventually became known as Monticello.

After his father's death, he was taught at the school of the learned minister James Maury from 1758 to 1760. The school was in Fredericksville Parish near Gordonsville, Virginia, 12 miles (19 km) from Shadwell, and Thomas Jefferson boarded with James Maury's family. There he received a classical education and studied history and science.

In 1760 Thomas Jefferson entered The College of William & Amp; Mary in Williamsburg at the age of 16; he studied there for 2 years, graduating with highest honours in 1762. At The College of William & Amp; Mary, he enrolled in the philosophy school and studied mathematics, metaphysics, and philosophy under Professor William Small, who introduced the enthusiastic Thomas Jefferson to the writings of the British Empiricists, including John Locke, Francis Bacon, and Isaac Newton (Thomas Jefferson called them the "3 greatest men the world had ever produced"). Thomas Jefferson also perfected his French, carried his Greek grammar book wherever he went, practiced the violin, and read Tacitus and Homer. A keen and diligent student, Thomas Jefferson displayed an avid curiosity in all fields and, according to the family tradition, frequently studied 15 hours a day. Thomas Jefferson's closest college friend, John Page of Rosewell, reported that Thomas Jefferson "could tear himself away from his dearest friends to fly to his studies."

While in college, Thomas Jefferson was a member of a secret organisation called the Flat Hat Club, now the namesake of the William & Amp; Mary student newspaper. Thomas Jefferson lodged and boarded at the College in the building known today as the Sir Christopher Wren Building, attending communal meals in the Great Hall, and morning and evening prayers in the Wren Chapel. Thomas Jefferson often attended the lavish parties of royal governor Francis Fauquier, where he played his violin and developed an early love for wines. After graduating in 1762 with highest honours, he studied law with George Wythe and was admitted to the Virginia bar in 1767.

In addition to practicing law, Thomas Jefferson also represented Albemarle County in the Virginia House of Burgesses beginning in 1769. Following the passage of the Coercive Acts by the British Parliament in 1774, he wrote a set of resolutions against the acts, which were expanded into A Summary View of the Rights of British America, his 1st published work. Previous criticism of the Coercive Acts had focused on legal and constitutional issues, but Thomas Jefferson offered the radical notion that the colonists had the natural right to govern themselves. Thomas Jefferson also argued that Parliament was the legislature of Great Britain only, and had no legislative authority in the colonies. The paper was intended to serve as instructions for the Virginia delegation of the 1st Continental Congress, but Thomas Jefferson's ideas proved to be too radical for that body. Nevertheless, the pamphlet helped provide the theoretical framework for American independence, and marked Thomas Jefferson as one of the most thoughtful patriot spokesmen.

Thomas Jefferson served as governor of Virginia from 1779–1781. As governor, he oversaw the transfer of the state capital from Williamsburg to the more central location of Richmond in 1780. Thomas Jefferson continued to advocate educational reforms at the College of William and Mary, including the nation's 1st student-policed honour code. In 1779, at Thomas Jefferson's behest, William and Mary appointed George Wythe to be the 1st professor of law in an American university. Dissatisfied with the rate of changes he wanted to push through, he later became the founder of the University of Virginia, which was the 1st university in the United States at which higher education was completely separate from religious doctrine.

Virginia was invaded twice by the British during Thomas Jefferson's term as governor. Thomas Jefferson, along with Patrick Henry and other leaders of Virginia, were but 10 minutes away from being captured by Banastre Tarleton, a British colonel leading a cavalry column that was raiding the area in June 1781. Public disapproval of his performance delayed his future political prospects, and he was never again elected to office in Virginia.

After returning from France, Thomas Jefferson served as the 1st Secretary of State under George Washington (1789–1793). Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton began sparring over national fiscal policy, especially the funding of the debts of the war, with Alexander Hamilton believing that the debts should be equally shared, and Thomas Jefferson believing that each state should be responsible for its own debt (Virginia had not accumulated much debt during the Revolution). In further sparring with the Federalists, Thomas Jefferson came to equate Alexander Hamilton and the rest of the Federalists with Tories and monarchists who threatened to undermine republicanism. Thomas Jefferson equated Federalism with "Royalism," and made a point to state that "Hamiltonians were panting after...and itching for crowns, coronets and mitres." Thomas Jefferson and James Madison founded and led the Democratic-Republican Party. Thomas Jefferson worked with James Madison and his campaign manager John J. Beckley to build a nationwide network of Republican allies to combat Federalists across the country.

Thomas Jefferson strongly supported France against Britain when war broke out between those nations in 1793. Historian Lawrence S. Kaplan notes Thomas Jefferson's "visceral support for the French cause," while agreeing with George Washington that the nation should not get involved in the fighting. The arrival in 1793 of an aggressive new French minister, Edmond-Charles Genêt, caused a crisis for the Secretary of State, as he watched Genêt try to violate American neutrality, manipulate public opinion, and even go over George Washington's head in appealing to the people; projects that Thomas Jefferson helped to thwart. According to Schachner, Thomas Jefferson believed that political success at home depended on the success of the French army in Europe:

Thomas Jefferson, aquatint by Tadeusz Kościuszko Jefferson still clung to his sympathies with France and hoped for the success of her arms abroad and a cordial compact with her at home. Thomas Jefferson was afraid that any French reverses on the European battlefields would give "wonderful vigor to our monocrats, and unquestionably affect the tone of administering our government. Indeed, I fear that if this summer should prove disastrous to the French, it will damp that energy of republicanism in our new Congress, from which I had hoped so much reformation."

Thomas Jefferson at the end of 1793 retired to Monticello where he continued to orchestrate opposition to Alexander Hamilton and George Washington. However, the Jay Treaty of 1794, orchestrated by Alexander Hamilton, brought peace and trade with Britain – while James Madison, with strong support from Thomas Jefferson, wanted, Miller says, "to strangle the former mother country" without actually going to war. "It became an article of faith among Republicans that 'commercial weapons' would suffice to bring Great Britain to any terms the United States chose to dictate." Thomas Jefferson, in retirement, strongly encouraged James Madison.

As the Democratic-Republican candidate in 1796 he lost to John Adams, but had enough electoral votes to become Vice President (1797–1801). Thomas Jefferson's arliamentary procedure, but otherwise avoided the Senate.

Working closely with Aaron Burr of New York, Thomas Jefferson rallied his party, attacking the new taxes especially, and ran for the Presidency in 1800. Consistent with the traditions of the times, he did not formally campaign for the position. Prior to the passage of the 12th Amendment, a problem with the new union's electoral system arose. Thomas Jefferson tied with Aaron Burr for 1st place in the Electoral College, leaving the House of Representatives (where the Federalists still had some power) to decide the election.

After lengthy debate within the Federalist-controlled House, Alexander Hamilton convinced his party that Thomas Jefferson would be a lesser political evil than Aaron Burr and that such scandal within the electoral process would undermine the still-young regime. The issue was resolved by the House, on 17 February, 1801 after 36 ballots, when Thomas Jefferson was elected President and Aaron Burr Vice President. Aaron Burr's refusal to remove himself from consideration created ill will with Thomas Jefferson, who dropped Aaron Burr from the ticket in 1804 after Aaron Burr killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel.

After leaving the Presidency, Thomas Jefferson continued to be active in public affairs. Thomas Jefferson also became increasingly concerned with founding a new institution of higher learning, specifically one free of church influences where students could specialise in many new areas not offered at other universities. Thomas Jefferson believed educating people was a good way to establish an organised society, and also felt schools should be paid for by the general public, so less wealthy people could obtain student membership as well. A letter to Joseph Priestley, in January, 1800, indicated that he had been planning the University for decades before its establishment.

Thomas Jefferson's dream was realised in 1819 with the founding of the University of Virginia. Upon its opening in 1825, it was then the 1st university to offer a full slate of elective courses to its students. One of the largest construction projects to that time in North America, it was notable for being centered about a library rather than a church. In fact, no campus chapel was included in his original plans. Until his death, Thomas Jefferson invited students and faculty of the school to his home; Edgar Allan Poe was among those students.

Thomas Jefferson is widely recognised for his architectural planning of the University of Virginia grounds, an innovative design that is a powerful representation of his aspirations for both state sponsored education and an agrarian democracy in the new Republic. Thomas Jefferson's educational idea of creating specialised units of learning is physically expressed in the configuration of his campus plan, which he called the "Academical Village." Individual academic units are expressed visually as distinct structures, represented by Pavilions, facing a grassy quadrangle, with each Pavilion housing classroom, faculty office, and residences. Though unique, each is visually equal in importance, and they are linked together with a series of open air arcades that are the front facades of student accommodations. Gardens and vegetable plots are placed behind surrounded by serpentine walls, affirming the importance of the agrarian lifestyle.

Thomas Jefferson's highly ordered site plan establishes an ensemble of buildings surrounding a central rectangular quadrangle, named The Lawn, which is lined on either side with the academic teaching units and their linking arcades. The quad is enclosed at one end with the library, the repository of knowledge, at the head of the table. The remaining side opposite the library remained open-ended for future growth. The lawn rises gradually as a series of stepped terraces, each a few feet higher than the last, rising up to the library set in the most prominent position at the top, while also suggesting that the Academical Village facilitates easier movement to the future.

Stylistically, Thomas Jefferson was a proponent of the Greek and Roman styles, which he believed to be most representative of American democracy by historical association. Each academic unit is designed with a 2 story temple front facing the quadrangle, while the library is modeled on the Roman Pantheon. The ensemble of buildings surrounding the quad is an unmistakable architectural statement of the importance of secular public education, while the exclusion of religious structures reinforces the principal of separation of church and state. The campus planning and architectural treatment remains today as a paradigm of the ordering of manmade structures to express intellectual ideas and aspirations. A survey of members of the American Institute of Architects identified Thomas Jefferson's campus as the most significant work of architecture in America.

The University was designed as the capstone of the educational system of Virginia. In his vision, any citizen of the commonwealth could attend school with the sole criterion being ability.

Although he was born into one of the wealthiest families in the United States, Thomas Jefferson was deeply in debt when he died.

Thomas Jefferson's trouble began when his father-in-law died, and he and his brothers-in-law quickly divided the estate before its debts were settled. It made each of them liable for the whole amount due – which turned out to be more than they expected.

Thomas Jefferson sold land before the American Revolution to pay off the debts, but by the time he received payment, the paper money was worthless amid the skyrocketing inflation of the war years. Cornwallis ravaged Thomas Jefferson's plantation during the war, and British creditors resumed their collection efforts when the conflict ended. Thomas Jefferson was burned again when he co-signed notes for a relative who reneged on debts in the financial panic of 1819. Only Thomas Jefferson's public stature prevented creditors from seizing Monticello and selling it out from under him during his lifetime.

After his death, his possessions were sold at auction. In 1831, Thomas Jefferson's 552 acres (223 hectares) were sold for $7,000 to James T. Barclay. Thomas Jefferson is buried on his Monticello estate, in Charlottesville, Virginia. In his will, he left Monticello to the United States to be used as a school for orphans of navy officers. Thomas Jefferson's epitaph, written by him with an insistence that only his words and "not a word more" be inscribed, reads:

HERE WAS BURIED THOMAS JEFFERSON
AUTHOR OF THE DECLARATION OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE
OF THE STATUTE OF VIRGINIA FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
AND FATHER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA

Thomas Jefferson has been described by many people as a thin, tall man, who stood at approximately 6 feet and remarkably straight.

"The Sage of Monticello" cultivated an image that earned him the other nickname, "Man of the People." Thomas Jefferson affected a popular air by greeting White House guests in homespun attire like a robe and slippers. Dolley Madison, wife of James Madison (Thomas Jefferson's secretary of state), and Thomas Jefferson's daughters relaxed White House protocol and turned formal state dinners into more casual and entertaining social events. Although a foremost defender of a free press, Thomas Jefferson at times sparred with partisan newspapers and appealed to the people.

Thomas Jefferson's writings were utilitarian and evidenced great intellect, and he had an affinity for languages. Thomas Jefferson learned Gaelic in order to translate Ossian, and sent to James Macpherson for the originals.

As President, he discontinued the practice of delivering the State of the Union Address in person, instead sending the address to Congress in writing (the practice was eventually revived by Woodrow Wilson); he gave only 2 public speeches during his Presidency. Thomas Jefferson had a lisp and preferred writing to public speaking partly because of this. Thomas Jefferson burned all of his letters between himself and his wife at her death, creating the portrait of a man who at times could be very private. Indeed, he preferred working in the privacy of his office than the public eye.

Thomas Jefferson was an accomplished architect who was extremely influential in bringing the Neo-Palladian style—popular among the Whig aristocracy of Britain—to the United States. The style was associated with Enlightenment ideas of republican civic virtue and political liberty. Thomas Jefferson designed his famous home, Monticello, near Charlottesville, Virginia; it included automatic doors, the 1st swivel chair, and other convenient devices invented by Thomas Jefferson. Nearby is the only university ever to have been founded by a U.S. president, the University of Virginia, of which the original curriculum and architecture Thomas Jefferson designed. Today, Monticello and the University of Virginia are together 1 of only 4 man-made World Heritage Sites in the United States of America. Thomas Jefferson also designed Poplar Forest, near Lynchburg, in Bedford County, Virginia, as a private retreat from a very public life. Thomas Jefferson is also credited with the architectural design of the Virginia State Capitol building, which was modeled after the Maison Carrée at Nîmes in southern France, an ancient Roman temple. Thomas Jefferson's buildings helped initiate the ensuing American fashion for Federal architecture.

Thomas Jefferson's interests included archeology, a discipline then in its infancy. Thomas Jefferson has sometimes been called the "father of archeology" in recognition of his role in developing excavation techniques. When exploring an Indian burial mound on his Virginia estate in 1784, Thomas Jefferson avoided the common practice of simply digging downwards until something turned up. Instead, he cut a wedge out of the mound so that he could walk into it, look at the layers of occupation, and draw conclusions from them.

Thomas Jefferson enjoyed his fish pond at Monticello. It was around 3 feet (1 m) deep and mortar lined. Thomas Jefferson used the pond to keep fish that were recently caught as well as to keep eels fresh. This pond has been restored and can be seen from the west side of Monticello.

In 1780, he joined Benjamin Franklin's American Philosophical Society. Thomas Jefferson served as president of the society from 1797 to 1815.

Thomas Jefferson was an avid wine lover and noted gourmet. During his years in France (1784–1789) he took extensive trips through French and other European wine regions and sent the best back home. Thomas Jefferson is noted for the bold pronouncement: "We could in the United States make as great a variety of wines as are made in Europe, not exactly of the same kinds, but doubtless as good." While there were extensive vineyards planted at Monticello, a significant portion were of the European wine grape Vitis vinifera and did not survive the many vine diseases native to the Americas.

In 1801, he published A Manual of Parliamentary Practice that is still in use. In 1812 Thomas Jefferson published a 2nd edition.

After the British burned Washington, D.C. and the Library of Congress in August 1814, Thomas Jefferson offered his own collection to the nation. In January 1815, Congress accepted his offer, appropriating $23,950 for his 6,487 books, and the foundation was laid for a great national library. Today, the Library of Congress' website for federal legislative information is named THOMAS, in honour of Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson's 2-volume 1764 edition of the Qur'an was used by Rep. Keith Ellison in 2007 for his swearing in to the House of Representatives.

In a letter to Francis Hopkinson of 13 March, 1789, Thomas Jefferson wrote:

“ I never had an opinion in politics or religion which I was afraid to own. A costive reserve on these subjects might have procured me more esteem from some people, but less from myself. ”

Though his religious views diverged widely from the orthodox Christianity of his day, throughout his life Thomas Jefferson was intensely interested in theology, spirituality, and biblical study. Thomas Jefferson's religious commitment is probably best summarised in his own words as he proclaimed that he belonged to a sect with just 1 member.

Thomas Jefferson was raised in the Church of England at a time when it was the established church in Virginia and only denomination funded by Virginia tax money. theologian Avery Dulles reports, "In his college years at William and Mary [Jefferson] came to admire Francis Bacon, Isaac Newton, and John Locke as 3 great paragons of wisdom. Under the influence of several professors he converted to the deist philosophy." Avery Dulles concludes:

“ In summary, then, Thomas Jefferson was a deist because he believed in one God, in divine providence, in the divine moral law, and in rewards and punishments after death; but did not believe in supernatural revelation. Thomas Jefferson was a Christian deist because he saw Christianity as the highest expression of natural religion and Jesus as an incomparably great moral teacher. Thomas Jefferson was not an orthodox Christian because he rejected, among other things, the doctrines that Jesus was the promised Messiah and the incarnate Son of God. Thomas Jefferson's religion is fairly typical of the American form of deism in his day. ”

Before the Revolution, Thomas Jefferson was a vestryman in his local church, a lay position that was informally tied to political office at the time. Thomas Jefferson also had friends who were clergy, and he supported some churches financially.

At the start of the Revolution appears that Thomas Jefferson employed theist terminology in the United States Declaration of Independence where he wrote the words "Creator" and "Nature's God." Thomas Jefferson believed, furthermore, it was this Creator that endowed humanity with a number of inalienable rights, such as "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

In 1776 Thomas Jefferson also proposed a motto for the United States Seal. Thomas Jefferson's proposal was, "Rebellion to tyrants is Obedience to God." Thomas Jefferson suggested that the seal should feature an image of the Biblical Hebrews being rescued by God via the Red Sea.

For Thomas Jefferson, separation of church and state was a necessary reform of the religious "tyranny" whereby a religion received state endorsement, and those not of that religion were denied rights, and even punished.

Following the Revolution, Thomas Jefferson played a leading role in establishing freedom of religion in Virginia. Previously the Anglican Church had tax support. As he wrote in his Notes on Virginia, a law was in effect in Virginia that "if a person brought up a Christian denies the being of a God, or the Trinity ...he is punishable on the 1st offense by incapacity to hold any office ...; on the 2nd by a disability to sue, to take any gift or legacy ..., and by 3 year' imprisonment." Prospective officer-holders were required to swear that they did not believe in the central Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation.

From 1784 to 1786, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison worked together to oppose Patrick Henry's attempts to again assess taxes in Virginia to support churches. Instead, in 1786, the Virginia General Assembly passed Thomas Jefferson's Bill for Religious Freedom, which he had 1st submitted in 1779 and was 1 of only 3 accomplishments he put in his own epitaph. The law read:

“ No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burdened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer, on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.”

In his 1787 Notes on the State of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson stated: "Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burned, tortured, fined and imprisoned. What has been the effect of this coercion? To make half the world fools and half hypocrites; to support roguery and error all over the world..."

Thomas Jefferson sought what he called a "wall of separation between Church and State," which he believed was a principle expressed by the First Amendment. This phrase has been cited several times by the Supreme Court in its interpretation of the Establishment Clause. In an 1802 letter to the Danbury Baptist Association, he wrote:

“Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between church and State.”

Regarding the choice of some governments to regulate religion and thought, Thomas Jefferson stated:

“The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are 20 gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.”

Deriving from this statement, Thomas Jefferson believed that the Government's relationship with the Church should be indifferent, religion being neither persecuted nor give any special status.

“If anything pass in a religious meeting seditiously and contrary to the public peace, let it be punished in the same manner and no otherwise as it had happened in a fair or market”

Thomas Jefferson refused to issue proclamations calling for days of prayer and thanksgiving during his Presidency, yet as Governor in Virginia he did issue proclamations calling for days of prayer and thanksgiving. Thomas Jefferson's private letters indicate he was skeptical of too much interference by clergy in matters of civil government. Thomas Jefferson's letters contain the following observations: "History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government," and, "In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. Thomas Jefferson is always in alliance with the despot, abetting his abuses in return for protection to his own." "May it be to the world, what I believe it will be, (to some parts sooner, to others later, but finally to all), the signal of arousing men to burst the chains under which monkish ignorance and superstition had persuaded them to bind themselves, and to assume the blessings and security of self-government." While opposed to the institutions of organised religion, Thomas Jefferson invoked the notion of divine justice in his opposition to slavery: "Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice can not sleep forever: that considering numbers, nature and natural means only, a revolution of the wheel of fortune, an exchange of situation is among possible events: that it may become probable by supernatural interference!"

While the debate over Thomas Jefferson's understanding over the separation of Church and state is far from being settled, as are his particular religious tenets, his dependence on divine Providence is not nearly as ambiguous. As he stated, in his 2nd inaugural address:

“I shall need, too, the favour of that Being in whose hands we are, who led our fathers, as Israel of old, from their native land and planted them in a country flowing with all the necessaries and comforts of life; who has covered our infancy with His providence and our riper years with His wisdom and power, and to whose goodness I ask you to join in supplications with me that He will so enlighten the minds of your servants, guide their councils, and prosper their measures that whatsoever they do shall result in your good, and shall secure to you the peace, friendship, and approbation of all nations.”

During the presidential campaign of 1800, the Federalists attacked Thomas Jefferson as an infidel and a Deist, claiming that Thomas Jefferson's intoxication with the religious and political extremism of the French Revolution disqualified him from public office. However, historian Edward Larson writes that, "Although Thomas Jefferson may have been a Deist at one time, by 1800 he probably was a Unitarian. Thomas Jefferson's private writings from the period reveal a profound regard for Christ's moral teachings and a deep interest in the gospels and comparative religion."

During his presidency, Thomas Jefferson attended the weekly church services held in the House of Representatives. Thomas Jefferson also permitted church services in executive branch buildings throughout his administration, one author writes that this was because Thomas Jefferson "believed that religion was a prop for republican government".

From his careful study of the Bible, Thomas Jefferson concluded that Jesus never claimed to be God. Thomas Jefferson therefore regarded much of the New Testament as "so much untruth, charlatanism and imposture". Thomas Jefferson described the "roguery of others of His disciples", and called them a "band of dupes and impostors", describing Paul as the "first corrupter of the doctrines of Jesus", and wrote of "palpable interpolations and falsifications". Thomas Jefferson also described the Book of Revelation to be "merely the ravings of a maniac, no more worthy nor capable of explanation than the incoherences of our own nightly dreams". While living in the White House, Thomas Jefferson began to piece together his own condensed version of the Gospels, omitting the virgin birth of Jesus, miracles attributed to Jesus, divinity and the resurrection of Jesus. Thus, primarily leaving only Jesus' moral philosophy, of which he approved. This compilation titled The LIFE AND MORALS OF JESUS OF NAZARETH Extracted Textually from the Gospels Greek, Latin, French, and English was published after his death and became known as the Jefferson Bible.

In 1803 Thomas Jefferson did not believe in the divinity of Jesus, but he had high esteem for Jesus's moral teachings, which he viewed as the "principles of a pure deism, and juster notions of the attributes of God, to reform [prior Jewish] moral doctrines to the standard of reason, justice & philanthropy, and to inculcate the belief of a future state." Thomas Jefferson did not believe in miracles. Biographer Merrill D. Peterson summarises Thomas Jefferson's theology:

“First, that the Christianity of the churches was unreasonable, therefore unbelievable, but that stripped of priestly mystery, ritual, and dogma, reinterpreted in the light of historical evidence and human experience, and substituting the Newtonian cosmology for the discredited Biblical 1, Christianity could be conformed to reason. 2nd, morality required no divine sanction or inspiration, no appeal beyond reason and nature, perhaps not even the hope of heaven or the fear of hell; and so the whole edifice of Christian revelation came tumbling to the ground.”

Thomas Jefferson's experience in France just before the French Revolution made him deeply suspicious of Catholic priests and bishops as a force for reaction and ignorance. Similarly, his experience in America with inter-denominational intolerance served to reinforce this skeptical view of religion. In an 1820 letter to William Short, Thomas Jefferson wrote: "the serious enemies are the priests of the different religious sects, to whose spells on the human mind its improvement is ominous."

Thomas Jefferson also expressed general agreement with his friend Joseph Priestley's Unitarian form of Christianity. In an 1822 letter to Benjamin Waterhouse he wrote, "I rejoice that in this blessed country of free inquiry and belief, which has surrendered its conscience to neither kings or priests, the genuine doctrine of only one God is reviving, and I trust that there is not a young man now living in the United States who will not die a Unitarian."

In a 1825 letter to Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse, Thomas Jefferson wrote:

“I am anxious to see the doctrine of one god commenced in our state. But the population of my neighborhood is too slender, and is too much divided into other sects to maintain any one preacher well. I must therefore be contented to be an Unitarian by myself, although I know there are many around me who would become so, if once they could hear the questions fairly stated.”

Thomas Jefferson's last words were, "I resign myself to my God, and my child to my country."

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