• About Us
• News
• Events
• Shop

Press Releases

Extraordinary Gift Returns Thomas Jefferson’s Dining Table to Poplar Forest -

Forest, VA – Thomas Jefferson’s dining table has returned to Poplar Forest. The original table, a three-part mahogany table in the shape of an octagon, is believed to have been owned by Thomas Jefferson and used at his Poplar Forest retreat.

For generations, the three-part table descended in the family that bought Poplar Forest from Jefferson’s grandson. It consists of a central, square section and two end sections that, placed all together, form an elongated octagon.  In 2004, one of the original end sections was purchased from a Hutter descendent by the nonprofit Corporation for Jefferson’s Poplar Forest, thanks to a gift from a supporter. This spring the other two parts of the table— which had descended together in another branch of the Hutter family—were presented as a gift this spring to Poplar Forest by John, Fairfax and Peter Hutter, in memory of their parents, Edwin C. and Elizabeth Hutter.

Edwin Christian Hutter was the great grandson of Edward Sixtus and Emma Hutter and the grandson of the last Hutter owner of Poplar Forest, C. S. Hutter. His wife, Elizabeth Hutter, was a dedicated historian on the Princeton University team responsible for publishing Thomas Jefferson’s papers and had worked with Poplar Forest’s historians to help research the property’s history in the Hutter family’s archives.  

“We are thrilled that Jefferson’s dining table has come back to Poplar Forest,” said Lynn Beebe, president of the nonprofit Corporation, “and we are honored by the Hutter family’s exceedingly generous gift of a table that is now so much a part of their family’s own history.”

Poplar Forest was an important part of Thomas Jefferson’s life: a private retreat, situated far from public scrutiny and the demands on his time. Designed during his second term as President of the United States, Jefferson sojourned to Poplar Forest, his most personal architectural creation and landscape, between the ages of 66-80 to find rest and leisure, rekindle his creativity and spend time with his grandchildren.

The elongated-octagon shape of the table is similar to the proportions of the elongated octagonal rooms in the retreat house. While the form is not unique to this table, since other tables of this same configuration survive from the early 19th century, its shape is certainly particularly well suited to the geometry of Jefferson’s retreat.

In Thomas Jefferson’s papers there is a record of his being taxed 25 cents for a 3-part mahogany dining table by Bedford County. Upon Jefferson’s death, his grandson Francis Eppes inherited the Poplar Forest property. When Eppes left Poplar Forest in 1828, he took some of the furnishings with him but left some behind with Poplar Forest’s new owner, William Cobbs. The property then passed to Cobbs’ daughter Emma and son-in-law, Edward Sixtus Hutter.  Poplar Forest remained in the Cobbs-Hutter family until 1946.

A reproduction of the octagonal table is currently displayed in the central room of the house at Poplar Forest. The reproduction was made 20 years ago by Charles Caliga, a Hutter relative, specifically for the nonprofit corporation— copied from the two parts that the Hutter family has just donated to Poplar Forest.  Because Poplar Forest staff does not yet have a way to safely put the original table on permanent display, they will instead arrange to display it on select days in coming months.  Visit www.poplarforest.org for updates on display dates.

About Poplar Forest
Poplar Forest is Thomas Jefferson's secluded plantation and retreat home. Poplar Forest is a National Historic Landmark that recently was added to the U.S. nomination list to become a World Heritage Site. Exhibiting award-winning restoration and archaeology, Poplar Forest offers tours, special events and school outreach programs. Open April through November, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, except Tuesday and Thanksgiving Day (closed). For more information about Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest and the 200th Anniversary, call (434) 525-1806 or visit www.poplarforest.org.

Poplar Forest is open to the public seven days a week, March 15 through December 15 (closed Thanksgiving Day). Group tours are available year-round by appointment.