Jefferson and Madoc: Restore the Madoc Plaque!

Few people who read this blog will be unaware that Thomas Jefferson was of Welsh descent but some may be unaware that he was born on this day in 1743. If you want to follow some Jefferson links you could do worse than to head on over to our Calendar page which can be found here.

The particular point of this post is not to discuss Jefferson in general, however, but to draw attention to his attitude to the Madoc legend. In the following excerpt from a letter written by Jefferson on January 22nd, 1804 he makes it clear that Meriwether Lewis ( also of Welsh descent ) will receive further instructions from a 'Mr Rees' regarding the lost Welsh speaking Indian tribes. The letter suggests that Jefferson regarded finding them as a supplementary objective of the expedition:-

In that of the 13th instant I enclosed you a map of a Mr. Evans, a Welshman, employed by the Spanish government for that purpose, but whose original object I believe had been to go in search of the Welsh Indians, said to be up the Missouri. On this subject a Mr. Rees, of the same nation, established in the western part of Pennsylvania, will write to you.

All in all today is a good day to sign the Alabama Welsh Association's petition to restore the Prince Madoc Plaque in Mobile Bay if you havent already done so.

Sign the petition HERE!

Please Sign This Petition!! Restore The Madoc Plaque!

Reproduced from the website of the Alabama Welsh Association:-

"URGENT! The Prince Madoc (Madog) plaque located near Ft. Morgan on Mobile Bay has been removed and put into storage by the Alabama Parks Department. The plaque was put in place in 1953 by the Daughters of the American Revolution. According to the site manager of Fort Morgan, it is currently in storage because the site only "focuses on the United States military presence". Please help get the plaque restored for public viewing on Mobile Bay by signing our petition by clicking HERE. You can also email your desire to have the plaque restored to: Barnet Lawley, Director of the Dept. of Conservation Blanton Blankenship, Site Mgr of Fort Morgan Your help in removing this plaque from the storage shed, thus putting another piece of history back on display is greatly appreciated!"

See our earlier post on this topic HERE