Voting Station

Jack Jouett

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Patriot

The Resume

    (December 7, 1754-March 1, 1822)
    Born in Albemarle County, Virginia
    Rode 40 miles from Louisa to Charlottesville, Virginia, to warn Governor Thomas Jefferson and the state legislature that British forces under Colonel Banestre Tarleton were coming to seize them (June 3-4, 1781)
    Later served as a state legislator in Virginia and Kentucky

Why he might be annoying:

    He frequently dressed in a military uniform despite not actually being in the army.
    He is not as well remembered as Paul Revere.
    Despite the head's up, Jefferson took so long packing that he almost got captured anyway.
    As a show of gratitude, the Virginia legislature passed a resolution to give him a pair of pistols and a sword, but it took 20 years before he got the sword.
    When his son became a successful artist, he complained 'I sent Matthew to college to make a gentleman of him, and he has turned out to be nothing but a damned sign painter.'

Why he might not be annoying:

    Since Tarleton's cavalry were on the main road to Charlottesville, he had to take a rough backwoods logging trail and still beat the British.
    After he warned Jefferson, Jefferson gave him some fine madeira wine as a reward.
    He helped American General Edward Stevens, who was in Charlottesville recovering from battle wounds, escape.
    Thanks to his fondness for showy uniforms, when the British caught up with him and Stevens, they ignored the shabbily dressed Stevens and chased after Jouett, who managed to elude them.
    After he settled in Kentucky, he became a friend of Andrew Jackson and Henry Clay, 'indeed of all the great men of early Kentucky.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 5 Votes: 20.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 6 Votes: 16.67% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 9 Votes: 44.44% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 4 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 4 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 9 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 20 Votes: 35.00% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 16 Votes: 37.50% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 11 Votes: 63.64% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 159 Votes: 62.26% Annoying