Founding father’s fromage: Jefferson thanked with “mammoth cheese”

We’re proud to share the delights of Hoard’s Dairyman Farm Creamery, but as the nation celebrates its 250th anniversary, an early-American “say thanks with cheese” gifting moment frankly outdoes our offerings (in scale, if not deliciousness).

Courtesy of 1Berkshire

Here at Hoard’s, we love to give the gift of cheese — if an employee goes above and beyond, if one of our longtime contributors retires, or a dairy farmer earns our gratitude. Our selection of artisan cheeses are available online for your year-round curated gifting as well. We’re proud to share the delights of Hoard’s Dairyman Farm Creamery, but as the nation celebrates its 250th anniversary, an early-American “say thanks with cheese” moment frankly outdoes our offerings (in scale, if not deliciousness). In 1801 a Cheshire, Mass., congregation set out to make a mammoth cheese to thank founding father Thomas Jefferson for his political efforts. The milk of 900 cows was collected, and the cheese was formed in a cider press fittingly engraved with “Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.”

The wheel of Cheshire cheese then made the journey from Massachusetts via the Hudson River to New York, then arrived in Washington in time for New Years Eve, 1801. It was billed at “the greatest cheese in America for the greatest man in the world.” After the gifting ceremony, Jefferson wrote to a relative and laid out the stats: The cheese he’d scored was 4 feet and 4 ½ inches in diameter, 15 inches thick, and weighed more than 1,200 pounds. He later paid $200 for the cheese wheel, in accordance with his policy to not accept gifts while in office. Its fate is unofficially recorded — it was still around in 1804, but was described as being in “far from good” shape, and was eventually disposed of, perhaps in the Potomac River. But its legacy has long outlasted its sell-by date; the town of Cheshire has a “Mammoth Cheese Monument” commemorating its creation and presentation to Jefferson.