Claudius Crozet papers

Access and use

Location of collection:
Virginia Military Institute Archives
Preston Library
Virginia Military Institute
345 Letcher Ave.
Lexington, VA 24450-0304
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Jeffrey S. Kozak
Phone: (540) 464-7516
Phone: (540) 464-7566
Fax: (540) 464-7089
Restrictions:

There are no restrictions.

Terms of access:

Researchers must use copies of the Thomas Jefferson letters. The originals are not released for handling.

Manuscript collections in the VMI Archives are made available for educational and research use. The VMI Archives should be cited as the source. The user assumes all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any copyright holders. Materials from our collections may not be redistributed, published or reproduced without permission from the VMI Archives.Contact the VMI Archives for additional information.

Preferred citation:

Claudius Crozet papers, 1792-1832. MS 0059. VMI Archives, Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Virginia.

Summary

Extent:
30 items
Creator:
Crozet, Claudius, 1790-1864 and Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826
Language:
English French
Preferred citation:

Claudius Crozet papers, 1792-1832. MS 0059. VMI Archives, Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Virginia.

Background

Scope and content:

The bulk of the Claudius Crozet papers are in French and chronicle Crozet's early years in France prior to his move to the United States in 1816. Included are letters, military orders, discourses on linguistics and grammar, papers pertaining to his marriage and family, and mementos relating to his daughter, Adele, who died in 1830.

Also included are two letters (dated 1821) from Thomas Jefferson to Crozet. The letter of March 31 is Jefferson's reply to Crozet's inquiry about a teaching position at the University of Virginia. The letter of November 23 acknowledges the receipt of Crozet's book and includes comments on scientific advancements.

Biographical / historical:

Claudius Crozet, engineer and educator, was born in Villefranche, France on December 31, 1789. Following his graduation from the Ecole Polytechnique, he entered the French Army as an artilleryman and served until 1816. He was a prisoner of war in Russia from 1814 to 1816. In 1816 he married Agathe DeCamp, and the couple immigrated to the United States.

Crozet accepted an appointment as a Professor of Engineering at the United States Military Academy at West Point (New York), where he taught until 1823. During this time he published "A Treatise of Descriptive Geometry for the Use of the Cadets of the United States Military Academy."

Subsequent to his career at West Point, Crozet served as:

  • State Engineer of Virginia (1823-1832)
  • State Engineer of Louisiana (1832-1834)
  • President of Jefferson College, Louisiana (1834-1836)
  • President of VMI Board of Visitors (1837-1845)
  • President of the VMI Board of Visitors (1837-1845)
  • Principal Engineer of Virginia (1837-1843)
  • Principal of the Richmond Academy (Virginia) (1845-1849)
In 1849, Crozet was appointed Chief Engineer on a project to build a tunnel through the Blue Ridge. From 1857 to 1859 he worked on constructing an aqueduct for Washington, D.C. Crozet died in Richmond, Virginia on January 29, 1864.

Physical location:
Manuscripts stacks