The Fry-Jefferson Map

Accession #: 1971.10

Item: The Fry-Jefferson Map

            The Fry-Jefferson Map, a real treasure of Wilton’s collection, was presented to us in 1971 as a gift from Mrs. Cabell Mayo Tabb, in memory of Cabell Mayo Tabb, Charles Alexander Gregory and Maria Theresa Ballou Brown.  Before Wilton became the fortunate owner of this Fry-Jefferson Map, it was displayed in the Baynton-Williams Gallery in London, England, followed by Swan Tavern Antiques in Yorktown, Virginia, where it was fortuitously purchased by the Mrs. Cabell Mayo Tabb. The map itself is of “the Most inhabited Part of Virginia, All of Maryland, Part of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and North Carolina.”

            The map surveyed by Joshua Fry and Peter Jefferson circa 1755 was originally printed in London, on rag paper. The cartouche in the lower right-hand corner depicts a dockside scene with soldiers, African Americans loading hogsheads and a sailing ship in the background. On the map, Virginia is in yellow, North Carolina in Rose and the coast in green. A highlight of Wilton tours is being able to see the original location of Wilton on the map.

            Cartography in the 18^th century was an occupation that required a lot of skill. Cartographers, the men who made the maps, were central figures in colonial society because they turned public land into private landholdings when making their maps. Surveyors were in general literate men who primarily learned the art from experience. Being a surveyor was a high risk job because it entailed traveling unexplored swamps and forests and battling mosquitoes, disease, and wild animals. While working on their maps surveyors consulted current landowners, county courthouses, colonial offices and Native American tribes to better determine the lay of the land they were mapping.

The true impact of the Fry-Jefferson map was realized when future mapmakers depended on it while creating new maps of the British colonies. The map was so popular that it was widely copied and several French additions were made, the first edition is currently on display in the study. The Fry-Jefferson Map was even so renowned for its accuracy that it was consulted by British Generals during the Seven Years War and then again during the Civil War.

            Many of our guests may be surprised that the map has a definite connection to the Randolph family. Peter Jefferson, one of the surveyors, was the husband of Jane Randolph. The mother of Thomas Jefferson, Jane was more importantly a great-granddaughter of William Randolph I of Turkey Island and a third cousin to William Randolph III of Wilton. The Fry-Jefferson Map is currently on display in the upper-passage in the exhibit “Get Found:

Mapping Place

and Time” which ends August 21, 2011, so come see it!

Bibliography

The Library of Virginia. "The Library of Virginia Exhibits." From Williamsburg to Will's Creek: The Fry-Jefferson Map of Virginia, An Exhibition at the Library of Virginia. Accessed July 25, 2011.  Last modified 2011. http://www.lva.virginia.gov/exhibits/fry-jefferson/.

Albemarle Adventures. "Fry-Jefferson Map of Virginia." Albemarle Adventures. Accessed August 1,    2011. Last modified 2011.  http://www2.vcdh.virginia.edu/lewisandclark/students/projects/adventurers/fryjeff_mapofvirginia.htm

Museum Studies Students at VCU. "Get Found Mapping Place and Time, April 15 - August 21.  Wilton House Museum." In Get Found: Mapping Place and Time, edited by Wilton House Museum Staff. 2011.