Sheep at the White House: The Story of Thomas Jefferson’s Killer Ram

Sheep at the White House                        

The Story of Thomas Jefferson’s Killer Ram

By Jeanne Gostling

 

This year, as America commemorates its 250th anniversary, many learned men and women will expound on topics about the Revolutionary War era, increasing our knowledge and expanding our understanding of American 18th century  history. We’ll be updated with information about circumstances that led to our break with Great Britain, information we likely haven’t focused on since middle school. Hopefully we’ll all emerge with a renewed appreciation for our founding fathers. But do we really know them? It’s hard to fully imagine what life was like or to grasp who   Jefferson, Washington, Madison, Adams, Hancock and others were truly like as flesh and blood human beings. To that end, and since the professionals have the meaningful matters covered, let’s take this  opportunity to dig deeper into the story of Thomas Jefferson and his killer ram. Maybe that will provide some    insight.

   Considered to be the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson, like most men involved in the continental congress, was a farmer. If not directly involved in day to day farming, he lived in an agrarian society. His wealth was derived from landownership and the products produced on his land. By the time Jefferson and his cohorts chose to challenge England’s imperialistic control over the colonies, they were keenly aware of the importance of domestic sources for raw materials and the means to process and produce goods locally. Homespun was a rallying cry and source of great patriotism, especially as it related to wool.

...That’s reflected in the poem by David Humphreys:

“See wool, the boast of Britain’s proudest hour

Is still the basis of her wealth and pow’r!

…shall we who dar’d assert the rights of man,

Become the vassals of her wiser plan?

Then, rous’d from lethargies – up! men! increase!

In every vale, on every hill, the fleece!

And see the fold, with thousands teeming, fills

With flocks the bleating vales and echoing hills.”

 

It leaves little wonder that Jefferson embarked upon the pursuit of raising profitable sheep after the war. But raising the right sheep was an issue.  Early in his endeavor, churros were the common breed found in the colonies. They came to the continent in the 16th century, brought on the ships of Spanish explorers. Their wool was of poorer quality and not likely to fetch the premium paid for fleece from the merino sheep of Spain. Merinos were the gold standard for fine wool at the time but were closely guarded and kept mostly in Spain, France, Germany and Denmark.

   Instead, Jefferson accepted a gift of a Bengal ewe in 1805 and received a Barbary Broadtail from a naval captain in 1806. Both breeds crossbred in his Monticello fields with the churros. Unimpressed, he was left to yearn for a flock of merinos. Oddly enough, Jefferson’s own trade embargo of 1807 prevented trading ships from conducting business with foreign ports, making smuggling the only means of obtaining a merino at the time of his intense interest.

   In the summer of 1807, Jefferson began grazing his sheep on the White House lawn. Now widely known for his interest in sheep, he was gifted a four horned Shetland ram from James D. Barry.   Barry’s letters and diary reveal, “…a four horned Shetland ram who for five years provoked his owner to both eulogy and malediction.”

   It’s unknown if Jefferson had access to these notions prior to his decision to graze the animal in the nation’s capital. However, evidence does exist in the form of a letter from his stable master, Joseph Dougherty, that Jefferson knew of the animal’s aggressive tendencies five months prior to the fatal attack on nine-year-old Alexander Kerr in February of 1808. Dougherty warned Jefferson in August of 1807, “The ram here is become very unruly. He has beat the shepherd until he would not follow them any more until I made him take a large dog on a rope by which he protected. He will make   battle without offense and turn on anyone that will go near him…”

   A serious attack on William Kehough, a Revolutionary War veteran who had taken a short cut through the White House lawn, led the President to order blinders placed upon the ram. The killer ram was still grazing the grounds of the White House despite the recent tragedies and Dougherty’s warnings. Finally, the ram was returned to Monticello. After the four horned menace killed three ewes Jefferson had him destroyed. In hindsight, it was determined that Shetland’s wool was not worth the pursuit of continued breeding making the death and injuries caused by the ram a particularly problematic issue in Jefferson’s legacy.

   Over in Europe, as Napoleon invaded Spain, the merino flocks were spread to the four winds during conflict. In 1810 Jefferson finally received his long-sought after ruminant treasure only to be disappointed, “They were the smallest things I have ever seen in the version of a sheep.”

   The merino’s also infected Jefferson’s Monticello flock with a disease called scab. The whole merino-craze bubble burst when 20,000 merino sheep flooded the American market between 1811 and 1813 causing a glut in fleece and wool production that dropped prices and forced many woolen mills to fail. Now common and less regarded, the once highly priced merino began to appear as  mutton in meat markets. Jefferson ultimately found that the cross produced when his churros and Tunisians bred, led to a Churro-Shenandoah Valley crossbreed. Those animals went on to fetch a price fifty cents higher than other local sheep.

   Turns out Thomas Jefferson, along with his incredible contributions to our nation’s founding, might have been as capable as brilliance as he was of myopic ambition. Perhaps he was somewhat more human than we might have imagined.

This article first appeared in the Spring 2026 Newsletter.