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Martha Skelton Jefferson (née Wayles; October 30, 1748 – September 6, 1782) was the wife of Thomas Jefferson from 1772 until her death. She served as First Lady of Virginia during Jefferson's term as governor from 1779 to 1781.
Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson (October 19, 1748 O.S. – September 6, 1782) was Thomas Jefferson's wife. She was born at The Forest, the plantation home of her father John Wayles. Her mother, Martha Eppes Wayles (1721-1748), died just a week after her daughter was born.
- Thomas Jefferson’s Early Years
- Marriage and Monticello
- Thomas Jefferson and The American Revolution
- Jefferson's Path to The Presidency
- Jefferson Becomes Third U.S. President
- Thomas Jefferson’s Later Years and Death
Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743, at Shadwell, a plantation on a large tract of land near present-day Charlottesville, Virginia. His father, Peter Jefferson (1707/08-57), was a successful planter and surveyor and his mother, Jane Randolph Jefferson (1720-76), came from a prominent Virginia family. Thomas was their third child and eldest ...
After his father died when Jefferson was a teen, the future president inherited the Shadwell property. In 1768, Jefferson began clearing a mountaintop on the land in preparation for the elegant brick mansion he would construct there called Monticello(“little mountain” in Italian). Jefferson, who had a keen interest in architecture and gardening, de...
In 1775, with the American Revolutionary War recently underway, Jefferson was selected as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress. Although not known as a great public speaker, he was a gifted writer and at age 33, was asked to draft the Declaration of Independence (before he began writing, Jefferson discussed the document’s contents with a f...
After returning to America in the fall of 1789, Jefferson accepted an appointment from President George Washington (1732-99) to become the new nation’s first secretary of state. In this post, Jefferson clashed with U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton (1755/57-1804) over foreign policy and their differing interpretations of the U.S. Co...
Jefferson was sworn into office on March 4, 1801; he was the first presidential inauguration held in Washington, D.C. (George Washington was inaugurated in New Yorkin 1789; in 1793, he was sworn into office in Philadelphia, as was his successor, John Adams, in 1797.) Instead of riding in a horse-drawn carriage, Jefferson broke with tradition and wa...
Jefferson spent his post-presidential years at Monticello, where he continued to pursue his many interests, including architecture, music, reading and gardening. He also helped found the University of Virginia, which held its first classes in 1825. Jefferson was involved with designing the school’s buildings and curriculum and ensured that unlike o...
On July 20, 1765, Jefferson's sister Martha married his close friend and college companion Dabney Carr, which was greatly pleasing to Jefferson. In October of that year, however, Jefferson mourned his sister Jane's unexpected death at age 25; he wrote a farewell epitaph for her in Latin.
Martha Jefferson was the wife of Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States (1801–09). She was never a first lady because she died 19 years before her husband became president. Martha Wayles married Bathurst Skelton in 1766, but he died two years later. The young widow returned to her.
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Thomas Jefferson’s Family. First Generation. Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) married. in 1772. Martha Wayles Skelton (1748–1782) children: Martha (1772–1836) Jane Randolph (1774–1775)