Surveying was a family business for Thomas Jefferson. Both he and his father Peter Jefferson were land surveyors for the King of England.  Although Thomas Jefferson didn’t continue to survey as a profession, the skills he acquired as a surveyor were a solid foundation for his subsequent success. 

In the early 18th century, much of western Virginia poorly mapped. Surveyors provided accurate descriptions that enabled the colonial government to grant land to eager settlers. Peter Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson’s father, worked as a surveyor and cartographer for most of his adult life. In June 1773, Thomas Jefferson followed in his father’s footsteps when he received a commission as surveyor of Albemarle County. Unlike his father, however, he discharged his duties through deputies and resigned the post the following year. Surveying for Jefferson was primarily a tool for imposing order on his farms. Jefferson surveyed his fields in order to revise their boundaries in accordance with new schemes for crop rotation. Jefferson believed subsequent generations of his family ought to continue surveying.  At the age of 66, he ran chains through the woods on the slopes of Monticello in an attempt to teach some of his grandsons the rudiments of the profession.

As president, Jefferson knew he had to generate revenue from the western expansion. To do this, he created the Public Land Survey System, a method of dividing land into rectangular areas established with meridians and base lines. After the Revolutionary War, PLSS was used as a way to sell parcels of the land included in Jefferson’s Louisiana Purchase to pay off the debt incurred in war of independence.

Jefferson also had a personal vision for the new United States.  He as convinced that carful exploration of the west would reveal a direct trade route to Asia. Jefferson ordered a number of expeditions to explore the west, including notable treks by Zebulon Pike. However, Jefferson is most famous for securing funding from Congress for the Lewis & Clark expedition.

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