Thomas Jefferson and John Adams stole a piece of Shakespeare’s chair.

Shakespeare’s wooden armchair

In April 1786, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, who were close friends despite their political differences, took a horse and carriage on a weeklong tour of England. Both were great admirers of William Shakespeare, and one of their first stops was the Bard’s hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon. According to Abigail Adams, Jefferson was so moved that he kissed the ground of the house where Shakespeare was born — although he also complained about the entrance fees, and Adams called the house “small and mean.”

Among the many relics at the house was Shakespeare’s own chair, where the poet and playwright supposedly sat and wrote his great works. When the founding fathers left, they sliced off a piece of the chair to take home as a souvenir. (A chip of Shakespeare’s chair — which may or may not be the one that Jefferson and Adams shaved — is currently on display at Monticello.)

In their defense, this was a fairly normal thing to do at the time. As Adams wrote in his diary, “We cutt [sic] off a Chip according to the Custom.” Before the ubiquity of gift shops and commemorative snow globes, tourists would scavenge for whatever souvenirs they could find, often pilfering little bits of significant objects or buildings. In fact, Jefferson’s own gravestone had to be removed and replaced because too many visitors wanted to take a piece home.

By the Numbers

Did you know?

Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were bitter rivals and close friends.

Despite their well-known political differences, Jefferson and Adams had quite a genuine affection for each other, which became even more apparent after politics brought their friendship to a temporary end. The pair stopped corresponding after Adams made some unwelcome political appointments right before Jefferson’s presidency began — Jefferson told Abigail Adams that he spent some time “brooding over it.”

When Jefferson’s presidency ended in 1809, founding father Benjamin Rush made it his mission to restore the friendship. It took two years, but eventually one of Jefferson’s neighbors overheard Adams saying, “I always loved Jefferson, and still love him.” Jefferson echoed the sentiment, telling Rush, “I only needed this [knowledge] to revive towards him all the affections of the most cordial moments of our lives.” Rush convinced Adams to reopen communication, and the former friends spent the last 15 years of their lives in doting correspondence, before dying on the same day.