Dear :

It appears that my previous email to you was in error.  I was not able to
find anything in Jefferson's *writings* about rheumatoid arthritis.  But on
further research, I found the following passage in Dumas Malone's
"Jefferson and His Time," vol. 6, pg. 16:

"When sixty-eight he [i.e., Jefferson] had an attack of rheumatism which
reduced his walking but did not long affect his riding."

Therefore, it appears that for the last 15 years of his life, Jefferson did
suffer from rheumatism.

Best wishes,

Eyler Coates

At 08:36 AM 3/22/98 -0400, you wrote:
>Dear Sir:
>
>I write a newsletter for people with rheumatoid arthritis. I saw it
>mentioned in an article I came across during my research that Thomas
>Jefferson had arthritis. I always like to cite famous people with
>arthritis as a morale builder. Would you know if Jefferson actually did
>have arthritis? Would there be any information about at what point in
>his prolific career that it developed? Any help you could give would be
>appreciated. I have searched the net and have not been able to find
>anything about this--albeit innocuous--fact.
>
>Thank you.