Thomas Jefferson Original Gravestone

Surprisingly, Thomas Jefferson’s original gravestone is not in Virginia, but 877 miles west on the campus of the University of Missouri in Columbia.

When Jefferson’s new monument was built, Jefferson’s grandchildren received many requests for the old one. One such request came from the University of Missouri. Missouri was important to Jefferson because it was within the vast region of the Louisiana Purchase, which Jefferson orchestrated in 1803 while President, which doubled the size of the United States. This request was strengthened because of Jefferson’s lifelong labors in behalf of state-supported education—the university was the first public university west of the Mississippi, and in 1862, the university became a public land-grant institution as part of the Morrill Act. The University of Missouri also had projected a curriculum and concept of higher education similar to those Jefferson had put into practice some years earlier at the University of Virginia. In addition, many first- and second-generation residents of Columbia and Boone County, Missouri were originally from Virginia and could claim “cousinship” of one kind or another with Jefferson. The fact that the state capital of Missouri, Jefferson City, was named after Jefferson probably further strengthened the appeal of the University of Missouri’s request.

The old monument initially was placed to the right of the entrance to the main building on the University of Missouri campus where it was unveiled on July 4, 1885, the final day of commencement exercises.

But thereafter the obelisk and plaque were moved frequently on campus. Although the obelisk sat outside Academic Hall, the tombstone plaque was put inside the building for safekeeping. It stayed there until January 9, 1892 when a fire consumed the entire building, eventually leaving only its iconic columns. Students ran inside to save the plaque, but not soon enough to save it from extensive smoke and heat damage. It was burned, cracked, and broken into 3 pieces, with portions crumbling at the edges. Its left side was slightly higher than its right, and its marble face was sugaring and blistering.

The University initially restored it and mounted in a plaster compound. No official report documented how it was reassembled or what materials were used. The plaque was then placed inside 2 wooden boxes, and again put away in an attic. It was stored until completion of a new building in 1895, which in 1922 was named Jesse Hall. For decades the slab was displayed in the cashier’s office’s vault. At some point later it was moved to a corner in the unheated attic and made public appearances on Jefferson’s birthday and the University’s Tap Days.

For the next 100 years the marble plaque remained stored in a wooden box in a dark corner of the unfinished attic, too fragile to be put on display. In 2005, a group of university administrators decided to do something about it, and finally in 2009, the university decided to restore the marble slab. The University estimated that it probably would take a year to restore it at a cost of more than $250,000. So they approached the Smithsonian Museum, who agreed to take on the restoration project free of charge. (It is rather rare that they take on anything from the outside). The university paid for the initial stabilization treatment and for shipping, and the Smithsonian paid for the entire cost of restoration.

The plaque itself is now on display indoors in the first-floor lobby of the University’s Jesse Hall.   © John Hamilton Works Jr