Forest in Bedford County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)

"A Culture Productive of Infinite Wretchedness”

Photographed By Bernard Fisher, May 17, 2022

1. "A Culture Productive of Infinite Wretchedness” Marker

Inscription. Long before Jefferson built his retreat house here, he had enslaved men, women and older children working the tobacco and wheat fields—going "into the ground," as he called it. They planted up to 300,000 hillocks of tobacco each year. It took 18 months of backbreaking labor from sunup to sundown to bring to market. Jefferson disliked tobacco and wanted to stop growing it but was financially dependent on it. When Jefferson died in 1826, his grandson Francis Eppes inherited Poplar Forest and lived here with his wife, Elizabeth. She called tobacco a "vile weed" and said she and Francis were "much wearied and sickened with a planters life. " They sold Poplar Forest and moved to Florida in 1828, selling some enslaved people and taking others along to a new plantation.

Tobacco is "a culture productive of infinite wretchedness. Those employed in it are in a continued state of exertion beyond the powers of nature to support. Little food of any kind is raised by them; so that the men and animals on these farms are badly fed, and the earth is rapidly impoverished."
—Thomas Jefferson, 1781

Erected by Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest, Daughters of the American Revolution.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans

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• Agriculture. In addition, it is included in the Daughters of the American Revolution series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1781.

Location. 37° 20.9′ N, 79° 15.843′ W. Marker is in Forest, Virginia, in Bedford County. Marker can be reached from the intersection of Poplar Forest Drive and Foxhall Drive, on the left when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1542 Bateman Bridge Road, Forest VA 24551, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 4 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Plantation Worker Housing (within shouting distance of this marker); Poplar Forest Planting Memorandum 1812 (within shouting distance of this marker); Transforming a Plantation into a Private Retreat, 1806—1826 (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Mounds Made of Ideas and Sweat (about 400 feet away); “I have this summer built a wing of offices...” (about 400 feet away); Crafting a Masterpiece, Longing for Home (about 400 feet away); St. Stephen's Church (approx. 2.4 miles away); Samuel Miller (approx. 3.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Forest.

Related marker. Click here for another marker that is related to this marker. Old Marker At This Location titled "How was the landscape partitioned?".

Photographed By Bernard Fisher, May 17, 2022

2. "A Culture Productive of Infinite Wretchedness” Marker

Also see . . . Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest. (Submitted on May 18, 2022.)

Poplar Forest image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Bernard Fisher, May 17, 2022

3. Poplar Forest

Credits. This page was last revised on May 19, 2022. It was originally submitted on May 18, 2022, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia. This page has been viewed 287 times since then and 12 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on May 18, 2022, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia.