Short, William

William Short (1759-1849) was born in Surry County, Virginia, attended the College of William and Mary, and was mentored by Thomas Jefferson, who tapped Short to be his secretary when he began his post in Paris in 1784. Upon Jefferson's return to the United States in 1789, Short remained as chargé d’affaires for three years. He successfully renegotiated the terms of the loan for America's Revolutionary War debt with Dutch bankers and initiated talks with the Spanish government resulting in the 1795 Pinckney Treaty. He witnessed first hand many of the events during the French Revolution until Napoleon came to power. He carried on a romantic relationship with the Duchesse Rosalie of La Rochefoucauld, a member of one of the most prominent French noble families. After returning permanently to America in 1810, Short resided in Philadelphia and became very wealthy due to his investments and land speculations. He had earlier owned property in Virginia, near Jefferson's Monticello and James Monroe's Highland, where he had hoped to experiment in free black tenant farming as an alternative to slavery. Short became an opponent of the practice, joining both the Société des amis des noirs while in France and the American Colonization Society, where he served as president for ten years.