|
1-015 The Coincidental Deaths of Jefferson and Ada
Vol. 1- No. 15
2003
Lead: On the morning of July 4, the citizens of Quincy, Massachusetts and Charlottesville, Virginia awoke to begin their celebration of the nation's birth. Intro: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts. Content: In 1826 the United States was enjoying an exuberant adolescence. Its borders stretched ever westward, its goods were finding worldwide markets, its ambitions were ravenous, and its future appeared seamless - without limit to prosperity and peace. High on his small mountain in the foothills of the Blue Ridge, the Master of Monticello lay asleep. Throughout the spring, Thomas Jefferson had become increasingly feeble. By mid-June the daily horseback rides were over and on the second of July, he began the sleep that would be his last. Sometime in the day, Jefferson stirred up to inquire, "Is this the fourth?" Hearing a yes, he lay back. This gentle and yet false reply surely brought the nation's third chief executive some measure of comfort. Occasionally his hand could be seen moving as if he were writing, thus mimicking unconsciously the motions of a lifetime. In Massachusetts, John Adams' health had also declined during the late winter and spring. On sunny days he was able to take short carriage rides, but even they had to stop by June. On the morning of the fourth, his attendant asked him, "Do you know, sir, what day it is?" His reply, "Oh yes, it is the glorious 4th of July. God bless it, God bless you all." Sometime that afternoon he roused again and someone heard the second president of the republic say his last intelligible words, "Thomas Jefferson survives." The moment he said this happened to be one of Jefferson's last and by sunset the two men, so honored by their fellow citizens, so important in the birth of freedom, and in the end so close as friends, were dead. It was July 4, 1826, fifty years to the day since together they signed the Declaration of Independence. The Producer of A Moment in Time is Steve Clark. At the University of Richmond, this is Dan Roberts. Resources Adams, John. The Adams Papers, Series I: Diary and Autobiography. Edited by L.H. Butterfield. Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1961. Allison. John M. Adams and Jefferson: The Story of a Friendship. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1966. Brodie, Fawn M. Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1974. Jefferson, Thomas. The Papers of Thomas Jefferson. Edited by Julian P. Boyd. Princeton: Princeton University Press,1950. Copyright 2003 by Broadcast Partners, LLC -
|
