JEFFERSON.
THOMAS JEFFERSON was born at Shadwell, in the County of Albemarle, on
the 2d day of April, 1743.[603:A] According to family tradition his
paternal ancestors, among the early settlers of Virginia, came from near
Mount Snowden, in Wales, and one of them was a member of the first house
of burgesses that met in 1619. The grandfather of Thomas lived at
Osborne's, in Chesterfield. Peter, (father of Thomas,) a land surveyor,
settled at Shadwell, where he had taken up a tract of land, including
Monticello. Shadwell was called after the parish in London in which his
wife was born. He was born in February, 1708, and married, in 1738,
Jane, daughter of Isham Randolph, of Dungeness, in Goochland. "The
Randolphs," says Mr. Jefferson, "trace their pedigree far back in
England and Scotland, to which let every one ascribe the faith and merit
he chooses." Peter Jefferson's early education had been neglected, but
being a man of strong parts he read much, and so improved himself that
he was chosen,[604:A] with Joshua Fry, professor of mathematics in
William and Mary College, to continue the boundary line between Virginia
and North Carolina, and was afterwards employed, with Mr. Fry, to make a
map of the colony. This was the first regular map of Virginia ever made,
that of Captain Smith, although remarkably well delineated, considering
the circumstances under which it was made, being, of necessity, in large
part conjectural.
Peter Jefferson was one of the first persons who settled in Goochland,
since known as Albemarle, about the year 1737. That county was formed in
1744 out of a part of Goochland, which had been carved out of Henrico in
1727.
Thomas Jefferson's earliest recollection was of his being handed up and
carried on a pillow on horseback by a servant when his father was
removing, in 1745, from Shadwell to Tuckahoe. Peter Jefferson was a man
of extraordinary physical strength; he could "head up," that is raise up
from their sides to an upright position, at once, two hogsheads of
tobacco weighing near a thousand pounds each. He was a favorite with the
Indians, and they often made his house a stopping-place, and in this way
Thomas imbibed an uncommon interest in that people.
Peter Jefferson dying in 1757, left a widow (who survived till 1776)
with six daughters and two sons, of whom Thomas, then fourteen years of
age, was the elder. He inherited the lands on which he was born, and
where he lived. When five years of age, he was placed at school at
Tuckahoe, and when nine, upon the return of the family to Shadwell, at a
Latin school, where he continued until his father's death. His teacher,
the Rev. William Douglas, a native of Scotland, taught him the rudiments
of Latin, Greek, and French. At his father's death he was put under the
care of the Rev. James Maury, of Huguenot descent, a good classical
scholar and thorough teacher, with whom he continued for two years at
the parsonage, fourteen miles from Shadwell.[605:A] The student found
recreation without in hunting on Peter's Mountain, within doors in
playing on the violin. In the spring of 1760 he went to William and Mary
College, and remained there for two years. Dr. William Small, a
Scotchman, was then professor of mathematics there: a man of engaging
manners, large views, and profound science. He shortly afterwards
filled, for a time, the chair of ethics, rhetoric, and belles lettres.
He formed a strong attachment to young Jefferson, and made him the daily
companion of his leisure hours, and it was his conversation that first
gave him a bent toward scientific pursuits. Small returned, in 1762, to
Europe. Before his departure he had procured for Jefferson, from George
Wythe, a reception as a student of law under his direction, and had also
introduced him to the acquaintance of Governor Fauquier. At his table
Jefferson met Dr. Small and Mr. Wythe, and from their conversation
derived no little instruction. It was in 1765 that, while a law-student,
he heard the "bloody debate" on Henry's resolutions. In May of the
following year he made a northern trip, in a one-horse chair, by way of
Annapolis, where he found the people rejoicing at the repeal of the
stamp act. At Philadelphia he was inoculated for the small-pox by Dr.
Shippen. At New York Mr. Jefferson became acquainted with Elbridge
Gerry.
Jefferson, now twenty-four years old, entered upon the practice of the
law in the general court, and continued in it until the Revolution
closed the courts of justice. He was not fitted for the office of
advocate, owing to a defective voice, and he never spoke more than a
few sentences at a time.[606:A] In 1769 he became a member of the
assembly, and so continued, patriotic, active, and ardent, until the
meetings were suspended by the war. He made an unsuccessful effort in
that body for the emancipation of the slaves in Virginia. January the
1st, 1772, he married Martha, widow of Bathurst Skelton, and youngest
daughter of John Wayles, born in Lancaster, England, a lawyer, who lived
at "The Forest," in Charles City County. She was then twenty-three years
old.[606:B] In 1773 Mr. Jefferson contributed to the formation of
committees of correspondence between the colonial legislatures. In the
year following he was elected member of the convention which met in
August. Unable to attend, owing to sickness, he communicated his views
in the form of written instructions, for the Virginia delegates in
Congress.
FOOTNOTES:
[603:A] Randall's Life of Jefferson gives the following extract from
Colonel Peter Jefferson's Book of Common Prayer:--
BIRTHS.
Jane Jefferson 1740, June 27.
Mary 1741, October 1.
Thomas 1743, April 2.
Elizabeth 1744, November 4.
Martha 1746, May 29.
Peterfield 1748, October 16.
Ason 1750, March 9.
Lucy 1752, October 10.
Anna Scott Randolph 1755, October 1.
MARRIAGES.
Jane Jefferson
Mary 1760, June 24.
Thomas 1772, January 1.
Elizabeth
Martha 1765, June 20.
Peterfield
Ason
Lucy 1769, September 12.
Anna Scott Randolph 1788, October.
DEATHS.
Jane Jefferson 1765, October 1.
Mary
Thomas
Elizabeth 1773, January 1.
Martha
Peterfield 1748, November 29.
Ason 1750, March 9.
Lucy
Anna Scott Randolph
[604:A] 1749.
[605:A] Where now stands the mansion of the late William F. Gordon.
[606:A] Randall's Jefferson, i. 50.
[606:B] Her father, who had married three times, dying in May, 1773,
left issue three daughters, one of whom married Francis Eppes, (father
of John W. Eppes, who married Maria, daughter of Thomas Jefferson,) and
the other, Fulwar Skipwith, afterwards American consul in France. The
portion that fell to Martha was encumbered with a debt, which
ultimately, by the depreciation of paper money, resulted in a heavy
loss.--_Randall's Jefferson, and Memoirs and Corr. of Jefferson_, i. 1,
3.