Peter Lenox

From Thomas Jefferson Wiki

Peter Lenox (1771-1832),^[1] a cabinetmaker, originally from Williamsburg, supplied Thomas Jefferson with most of the venetian blinds at Monticello.^[2] Little is known about Lenox’s business in Washington, D.C. other than the fact that he was the foreman of the President’s House, during its construction, and he also served in the same capacity for the Capitol from 1817 onward. Latrobe was somewhat critical of this, not of Lenox himself, but of the decision to put Lenox in charge of the Capitol, when he knew little about arched construction. The resulting failure of some arches is not therefore to be blamed on Lenox, Latrobe, or Bulfinch, but the committee members who put Lenox in charge of the Capitol.^[3]

As mentioned, Lenox’s main dealing with Jefferson concerned the venetian blinds, although he additionally provided carpenter’s work for the Ice House and a frame for the Mammoth Cheese, flooring for some stables, and some packing boxes in the years 1802-1804.^[4] All totaled Jefferson paid Lenox $393.99 and a half over a period of seven years stretching from March 29, 1802 to March 10, 1809.

Lenox also did some work for James Madison, as a letter to Madison from James Dinsmore, dated April 20, 1809, asks Madison to send Dinsmore a new grindstone to Montpelier as the one there was worn out and those in Fredericksburg were inferior in quality. It further states that Madison could probably get Mr. Lenox to choose the stone for him.^[5]

Footnotes

1. ↑ This article is based on Richard Hawkings, Monticello Research Report, 1990.
2. ↑ See Lenox to Jefferson, 26 May 1804, MHi, MB, 2:1069, 2:1139, 2:1153, and 2:1158.
3. ↑ See BHL to Madison, 14 March 1809, Madison Papers, and BHL to Gallard, 8 December 1818, Latrobe Papers.
4. ↑ MB, 2:1069, 1242.
5. ↑ Robert Rutland, ed. et al. Papers of James Madison: Presidential Series, (Charlottesville VA: University Press of Virginia, 194), 1:126.