Thomas Jefferson and Robert Hemings in Philadelphia, Summer 1776

Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence in rented rooms in Philadelphia in the summer of 1776. With him was Robert Hemings, the enslaved valet who looked after him. What were those months like for each of them?

Arriving

Jefferson and Hemings reached Philadelphia on May 14, 1776, the day before the Second Continental Congress met again. They first lodged with the cabinetmaker Benjamin Randolph on Chestnut Street, but Jefferson was not happy there. Wanting to be away from the bustle of the city, he soon found better rooms at 7th and High (now Market) Streets, in the house of Jacob and Maria Graff. The two stayed at the Graff House for about 100 days in all, from May 23 until September 3, 1776, when they left for Virginia.

In an 1825 letter to Dr. James Mease, Jefferson remembered: "I lodged in the house of a Mr. Graaf, a new brick house 3 stories high of which I rented the 2d floor consisting of a parlour and bed room already furnished...in that parlour I wrote habitually and in it wrote this paper [Declaration of Independence] particularly."

Robert Hemings was 14 and enslaved. He saw to Jefferson's personal needs: he would have helped him dress, brought tea or a light meal, and arranged the barber's visits. He probably slept in the garret, the habitable attic or storage space at the top of the house. It was his job to keep Jefferson's clothes in order, deal with household needs and make sure Jefferson was left undisturbed when he wanted to be alone.

In Congress

Jefferson was in Philadelphia above all to represent Virginia in Congress, which sat six days a week. Morning sessions began around 10 a.m. and business went on until 4 p.m., when the delegates broke for dinner. The talk carried on over dinner in the city's taverns, sometimes late into the night. As in Congress today, delegates did not attend every session, and committees and private meetings may have met while Congress was sitting.

Jefferson also sat on committees. On June 11 Congress named him to the committee that was to prepare a draft declaration of independence. He served as well on committees to digest intelligence on the situation in Canada, to report on the Cedars cartel, to report on gold and silver coins, and to design the Great Seal of the United States, among others. Where these committees met is not recorded. It may have been the Pennsylvania State House (Independence Hall) or City Tavern, or the members' own rented rooms.

Out in the city

The delegates took the chance to see the local sights. On May 19 Jefferson and his colleagues rode out to Fort Mifflin.

A long stay in a big city was also a chance to buy things hard to find in the rural South, and Jefferson came with orders from family and friends. He shopped diligently, buying more than 138 items: a doll for his four-year-old daughter Martha, known as Patsy; fabric for his wife; hardware for Monticello, his house that was forever being built. He bought a mourning ring, perhaps in memory of his mother, who had died in March 1776. On at least 12 occasions he bought books, pamphlets or maps from Philadelphia's many printers and booksellers, and he commissioned Benjamin Randolph to build bookcases designed both to store books and to carry them.

In the rooms

The parlour was where Jefferson wrote. Here he drafted the Declaration of Independence. He also wrote three drafts of a constitution for Virginia, committee reports and a position paper, and kept up his letters to family and friends. He may have read the books he bought, sketched ideas for the Great Seal, or played the violin. He owned a kit, a small violin used by dancing masters and easy to travel with, and made a special case for it so he could take it on journeys and practise without disturbing anyone.

The bedchamber was probably where he slept, washed, dressed, rested and perhaps ate. A barber shaved him every day, possibly there. Before dressing he may have sat on the edge of the bed with his feet in a pan of cold water: late in life, Jefferson put his lasting good health down to the "habit of bathing my feet in cold water every morning for sixty years past."

Where this comes from

The account rests on an NPS report, The Furnishings Plan for the Graff House, Philadelphia, PA, by Doris Devine Fanelli (1988), which has been scanned and can be read online. The report calls Robert Hemings "Bob"; others called him Bob or Robert, but he called himself Robert. The Thomas Jefferson Papers at the Library of Congress, a rich collection of primary sources, are also online.

Corrected: the NPS article spells Robert's surname both "Hemmings" and "Hemings"; this page uses Hemings, the spelling in the article's own link to his biography.

Sources

• National Park Service, Independence National Historical Park, "Thomas Jefferson and Robert Hemmings in Philadelphia." https://www.nps.gov/articles/independence-jeffersonphiladelphia.htm
• Doris Devine Fanelli, The Furnishings Plan for the Graff House, Philadelphia, PA, National Park Service, 1988. https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/DownloadFile/603989
• Thomas Jefferson Papers, Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/collections/thomas-jefferson-papers/about-this-collection/