When Jefferson returned from France, word of his impending arrival at Monticello reached his slaves, who gathered at the foot of the mountain, unhitched the horses from the master's carriage, and pulled the carriage up the mountain themselves. This account is from "The Domestic Life of Thomas Jefferson" by his great-granddaughter, Sarah Randolph (pp.152-53). At first Randolph doubted that the slaves had actually pulled the carriage but she wrote, "I have had it from the lips of old family servants who were present as children on the occasion, that the horses were actually 'unhitched,' and the vehicle drawn by the strong black arms. . . ." Displays of joy at the return of a master have been documented elsewhere, but this business of actually pulling a carriage by hand struck me as excessive and unlikely, as it did Sarah Randolph. However, I came across an account that describes much the same thing, but occurring in late-19th-century England. It's in Nigel Nicolson's "Portrait of a Marriage," (pp. 25, 69): "Dada, Mother, and I had a triumphant return to Knole [their castle], pulled up in the carriage by the fire brigade with ropes, under welcoming arches." And: "The day was declared a public holiday . . . . The horses were taken from their traces at the approaches to the town, and the local fire brigade pulled the carriage through the streets and park to the very door . . . " I had thought that, if the Monticello slaves indeed pulled Jefferson's carriage up the mountain, it was a spontaneous act, thought up on the spot. But knowing now that this was also done in England, I'm wondering if it was an English tradition transplanted to Virginia. If so, how would the slaves have known about it? Does anyone know of other accounts of carriages pulled by slaves in Virginia? Henry Wiencek To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html