He had be-gun to build a ve-ry large new house at Mon-ti-cel-lo, and
so in the lit-tle end of this he now went to live. Two years lat-er, to
this home, which was to be-come known all o-ver the world, he brought
his bride, Mrs. Mar-tha Skel-ton, a young and ve-ry rich wid-ow. They
were mar-ried on New Year's Day, 1772, and came to their home in such
a hard snow-storm that the hors-es could not drag the coach through the
big drifts, so these two young folks left the warm coach, and rode the
tired hors-es up to the door of their new home. Jef-fer-son and his
wife gave great care to Mon-ti-cel-lo, and it was known far and near
for its great beau-ty and for its choice and rare fruits and flow-ers.
But Jef-fer-son was much from home. In 1762 he was sent to Con-gress,
and here he at once stood at the head of the band of wise and great men
who were then there. His mind was so clear and bright that in all the
grave things that came up he knew at once just what to do, he had the
trust of all men.
He was a great help in writ-ing the Dec-la-ra-tion of In-de-pend-ence;
in fact, it may well be said that he wrote it. Soon af-ter this great
act he left Con-gress and turned his mind to the laws of his own State;
he made them safe and just for all men, both rich and poor. In 1779 he
was made gov-ern-or of Vir-gin-ia; and now his work was hard; not on-ly
must he find a way to keep the In-di-ans from the hous-es of the white
men but the Brit-ish came down to the south and laid his fair home in
ruins. Not for long years did Mon-ti-cel-lo grow in beau-ty once more.
But through all the dark years of war Jef-fer-son did his work well; he
forced back the In-di-an foes, and gave help and aid to his State while
the War for In-de-pend-ence went on. When the war was at an end, this
strong, just man, with his clear, wise brain, was just the one to stand
up for our rights in the lands a-cross the sea, so he was sent to France
at the time Ad-ams was in Eng-land. While here he had a bill passed by
which Eng-land said she would look on our land as free; and this was a
big point for us to gain.
When Jef-fer-son came home he was made Sec-re-ta-ry of State, and in
this high of-fice did much good work; it was he who first gave us our
own coins to use in place of the Eng-lish coins, which, up to that time
had been in use here. Now, Al-ex-an-der Ham-il-ton was in charge of
the work of mak-ing the coin, and a great feud came up be-tween him
and Jef-fer-son as to how this should be done. Men, of course, took
sides in this strife, and so two bands sprang up which were known as
Re-pub-li-cans and Fed-er-al-ists; to-day these two bands are known as
Re-pub-li-cans and Dem-o-crats. Al-ex-an-der Ham-il-ton was killed in
a du-el by Aa-ron Burr in Ju-ly, 1804.
In 1801, Jef-fer-son was made Pres-i-dent; and while he was in the chair
this land grew strong and great.
Our first steam-boat was built by Rob-ert Ful-ton while Jef-fer-son was
Pres-i-dent; and it did not look at all like the great boats of to-day;
it was a heav-y, clum-sy boat, which went by sails as well as steam.
[Illustration: THE CLERMONT.