From the Living Museum
Taliaferro
- Origin
- Near Williamsburg, Virginia; a seedling found by Major Taliaferro and praised by Thomas Jefferson (1816, 1826) for exceptionally fine cider
- Era
- Early 19th c. (Jefferson era)
- Type / use
- Cider
Portrait to be revealed
History & Stories
The Thomas Jefferson Foundation says the Taliaferro has disappeared from cultivation 3, so any tree sold under the name today is unconfirmed; its identity remains a subject of historical and DNA research — one of the priority varieties for authentication projects such as MyFruitTree. Unique for the direct Jefferson connection and the ongoing scholarly detective work surrounding its true identity.
Folklore & Name
Associated with the Taliaferro (Toliver) family of Virginia and praised by Thomas Jefferson for producing exceptionally fine cider. Monticello calls it its "mystery apple," lost from cultivation, so the identity of any surviving tree is unproven 3 — one of the priority authentication projects. Significant early American cider history.
Digging into the History
Below my own notes, here is what the old fruit books and today’s collections record about this apple, kept apart from the stories people tell.
What we know
The Taliaferro was Thomas Jefferson's favourite cider apple. On 5 March 1816 he sent James Barbour "cuttings of the Taliafferro apple, the best cyder apple existing, discovered by old Majr Taliaferro near Williamsburg" 1. Ten years later, on 19 March 1826, he wrote to his granddaughter Ellen Coolidge that the apple came "from a seedling tree, discovered by a gentleman of that name near Williamsburg," and yielded "unquestionably the finest cyder we have ever known, and more like wine than any liquor I have ever tasted which was not wine" 2.
What we think: stories & traditions
Monticello's mystery apple. Despite Jefferson's praise, the Thomas Jefferson Foundation says the Taliaferro "has disappeared from cultivation and remains Monticello's mystery apple" 3. Trees sold under the name today may be guesses or stand-ins. We can't confirm that any surviving tree descends from Jefferson's grafts.
It's a tantalising thought: the apple that a former president compared to wine, mailed to friends as cuttings tucked into letters, and then lost.
Sources
- Thomas Jefferson to James Barbour, 5 March 1816, Founders Online, National Archives. founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-09-02-0368
- Thomas Jefferson to Ellen Wayles Randolph Coolidge, 19 March 1826, Founders Online, National Archives (Early Access). founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/98-01-02-5969
- Thomas Jefferson Foundation (Monticello), "Apples at Monticello." www.monticello.org/encyclopedia/apples-at-monticello
Curious about Taliaferro?
Email us at drgoss@honeytreeorchard.com.