Early Years
Trist was born in Charlottesville on June 2, 1800, and was the son of Hore Browse Trist and Mary Louisa Brown Trist. The family had a long and close relationship with Thomas Jefferson, beginning when Jefferson served as a member of the Continental Congress and lodged in the Philadelphia boarding house of Trist's great-grandmother. During this period he established a lifelong friendship with Trist's grandmother, Elizabeth House Trist. After Trist's grandfather, Nicholas Trist, died in 1784, Jefferson, then serving as minister plenipotentiary in France, helped her secure an inheritance for their son, Hore Browse Trist. As president, Jefferson named him collector of taxes for the District of Mississippi and late in 1803 for New Orleans, where he died of yellow fever in August 1804.
Diplomatic Career
Trist was intelligent, well-read, spoke both Spanish and French fluently, and possessed a highly developed sense of honor and duty. He could also be high-handed, arrogant, and overly sensitive. Those traits got him in trouble while he was consul. In 1839 several American merchants and ships' captains called for his removal and waged a newspaper war against him, accusing him of neglecting his consular duties, of corruption and abuse of power, and of working in support of the slave trade. The principal issues were Trist's interference with shipboard discipline and authority structures, the legality of the ownership of some of the vessels that passed through the port of Havana, and whether such ships rightfully sailed under the American flag. Trist returned to Washington in March 1840 and turned over a trunk of consular records and correspondence for congressional review. The House of Representatives concluded that there was no cause for further action against him. Nevertheless, Trist was recalled after the election of Whig Party candidates William Henry Harrison and John Tyler in 1841.
Later Years
Trist and his wife lived near their daughter and son-in-law in Alexandria after the Civil War. President Ulysses S. Grant appointed him postmaster of the city in 1870, and the following year Senator Charles Sumner succeeded in pushing a bill through Congress to compensate Trist for the salary he never received for his services and expenses as negotiator of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The whole amount was $14,559.90. Trist died at his Alexandria home on February 11, 1874, and was buried with other members of the Trist family in Ivy Hill Cemetery in Alexandria.
Time Line
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June 2, 1800 - Nicholas Philip Trist is born in Charlottesville.
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August 1804 - Hore Browse Trist, then serving as collector of taxes for New Orleans, dies of yellow fever.
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1810 - After the death of his stepfather, Philip Livingston Jones, Nicholas Trist adds Philip to his name, becoming Nicholas Philip Trist.
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1817 - Late in the summer Nicholas Philip Trist makes his first trip to Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson. He falls in love with Jefferson's granddaughter, Virginia Jefferson Randolph.
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1818–1821 - Nicholas Philip Trist attends the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York. He does not graduate.
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September 10, 1824 - Nicholas Philip Trist and Virginia Jefferson Randolph marry at Monticello, in Albemarle County.
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1826–1829 - Nicholas Philip Trist serves as secretary to the University of Virginia's board of visitors. He also owns and co-edits the Charlottesville newspaper the Virginia Advocate.
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July 4, 1826 - Nicholas Philip Trist is present in the last hours before Thomas Jefferson's death.
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1828 - Nicholas Philip Trist secures a clerkship in the Department of State.
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1831 - Nicholas Philip Trist serves briefly as President Andrew Jackson's private secretary.
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April 1833 - Secretary of State Edward Livingston appoints Nicholas Philip Trist consul at Havana, Cuba. The U.S. Senate confirms him early the next year.
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1839 - Several American merchants and ships' captains call for Nicholas Philip Trist's removal as American consul to Cuba.
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March 1840 - After calls are made for his removal, Nicholas Philip Trist returns to Washington, D.C., from his post as consul to Cuba.
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1841 - A new administration recalls Nicholas Philip Trist from his post as consul to Cuba.
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1845 - President James K. Polk appoints Nicholas Philip Trist chief clerk of the Department of State.
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April 1847 - President James K. Polk sends Nicholas Philip Trist to Mexico with instructions to discreetly negotiate an end to the war there.
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February 2, 1848 - The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is signed, ending the Mexican War.
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1870 - President Ulysses S. Grant appoints Nicholas Philip Trist postmaster of Alexandria.
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February 11, 1874 - Nicholas Philip Trist dies at his Alexandria home and is buried in Ivy Hill Cemetery.
References
Further Reading
External Links
Cite This Entry
- APA Citation:
Francavilla, L. A., & the Dictionary of Virginia Biography. Nicholas Philip Trist (1800–1874). (2017, May 16). In Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved from http://www.EncyclopediaVirginia.org/Trist_Nicholas_Philip_1800-1874.
- MLA Citation:
Francavilla, Lisa A. and the Dictionary of Virginia Biography. "Nicholas Philip Trist (1800–1874)." Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Humanities, 16 May. 2017. Web. READ_DATE.
First published: January 6, 2017 | Last modified: May 16, 2017
Contributed by Lisa A. Francavilla and the Dictionary of Virginia Biography. Lisa A. Francavilla is managing editor of The Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Retirement Series at the International Center for Jefferson Studies.