Martha Jefferson
[1] The couple's letters to one another were burned, though by whom is unknown, and Thomas rarely spoke of her, so she remains a somewhat enigmatic figure.
)[4][a] It is held by some that as a widower, Thomas had a long-standing relationship and children with Martha's half-sister, Sally Hemings, an enslaved woman who was three-quarters white by descent.
[8] Martha's father John was a Lancaster-born emigrant to the Thirteen Colonies who worked as an attorney and prosperous planter and slave trader.
In addition, he was an agent for the Farrell and Jones company based in Bristol, undertaking activities such as debt collection on their behalf.
[12] While little is known of Martha Eppes Wayles' life, she had an appreciation for fine literature, such as her favorite novel, Tristram Shandy[3] and Les Aventures de Télémaque.
(Her rebound version of the book, The Adventures of Telemachus, contains her signature on the title page and resides at the Library of Congress).
[17][d] Martha likely received her education—including literature, dance, music, French language and Bible study— from private tutors or women in the family.
She became the "Lady of the House" after her second stepmother died when she was 13 years of age and was often a hostess to John Wayles' social events and helped manage his business and household affairs.
[1] Only the eldest, Martha "Patsy" Jefferson, survived past the age of 26:[22] Martha and Thomas Jefferson acquired a number of slaves as part of her dowry for her marriage, and later from the estate of John Wayles, which made Thomas the second largest slave owner in Albemarle County.
All the Hemings family members gained privileged positions among the slaves at Monticello, where they were trained and worked as domestic servants, chefs, and highly skilled artisans.
[31] Martha and her husband Thomas Jefferson inherited the Willis Creek and Elk Hill plantations and a total of 135 people, including members of the Hemings family.
"[1] As Thomas was having Monticello built, he obtained a piano forte from England for Martha as a wedding present.
Martha reportedly played the harpsichord "very skillfully and who, is in all respects, a very agreeable sensible and accomplished lady," according to a Hessian officer, Jacob Rubsamen, who visited Monticello in 1780.
[1] According to her daughter, Martha Jefferson was highly educated and musical, a constant reader, with a good nature and a vivacious temper that sometimes bordered on tartness.
[20][14] Martha maintained a collection of notes regarding her household duties and recipes, such as butchering and curing meat and the creation of large batches of soft and hard soap, candles, and beer.
[36] In that capacity, and in response to a request from Martha Washington, Mrs. Jefferson led a drive among the women of Virginia to raise funds and supplies for her state's militia in the Continental Army to the extent that her health permitted.
[2] Jefferson was in Philadelphia for the Second Continental Congress in 1776, where he drafted the Declaration of Independence over a period of two weeks in June 1776.
[36][g] Edmund Randolph wrote in the month of her death that Thomas was "inconsolable" about Martha's declining health and pain.
[20][h] She was buried at Monticello and her tombstone was inscribed with words written by Thomas, the closing of which read: "Torn from him by death.
