Monday, July 10, 2017

Young Thomas Jefferson to attend The College of William & Mary


Nicknamed "Long Tom," Thomas Jefferson was slim, at six feet two and a half inches, which was tall considering that the average man at the time stood five feet six inches tall.  In later years, his slave, Isaac Granger Jefferson, who worked as a tinsmith and blacksmith at Monticello, described his master as being a tall and straight-bodied man with square shoulders, long face and a high nose.  His cheeks were lean and  his jaw square and firm. Thomas had auburn to light-red hair, fair skin that freckeled and sunburned easily, pointed features, and deep-set hazel eyes.  He expressed fluent humorous and pleasant conversation in a soft voice, higher pitch than most, but could be shy and reserved.  He was described as  being the perpetual charmer, and usually made an excellent impression upon both men and women.

Young Thomas had a great love for reading and writing, and often had a book in his hand.  He knew his Bible, and  continued to love and become proficient in the English classics, that were introduced to him at the Dover Creek School and continued by Reverend James Maury at the Maury School for Boys. Because of his unusually high intellect, Thomas was greatly influenced and encouraged by Rev. Maury, and long-time friend of  the family, Joshua Fry, to apply to The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia's capital and education center.

The Shadwell library was small in comparison to that of Tuckahoe, where he spent seven years of his childhood, as well as the Dover Creek School library. Thomas was looking forward to moving away from home, and began to give serious thought to enrolling at The College of William & Mary.

After a discussion with Peter Randolph, Thomas argues for permission to enter The College of William & Mary with Dr. Thomas Walker of Castle Hill and John Harvie of Belmont, the Jefferson estate executors and his  respected guardians.  John Harvie, the active executor of Peter Jefferson's estate, was the person responsible for providing Thomas with the estate funds necessary for college tuition and personal spending money.

In a letter written to John Harvie, one of the earliest preserved Jefferson letters, Thomas stated his reasons for wanting to go to college.  He wrote,


                                                                                                                  4 January 1760

"Sir,

I was at Colo. Peter Randolph's about a Fortnight ago, & my Schooling falling into Discourse, he said he thought it would be to my Advantage to go to College, & was desirous I should go, as indeed I am  myself for several Reasons.  In the first place as long as I stay at the Mountains, the Loss of one-fourth of my Time is inevitable, by Company's coming here & detaining me from School.  And likewise  my Absence will in a great Measure put a Stop to so much Company, & by that Means lessen the Expences of the Estate in House-Keeping.  And on the other Hand by going to the College I shall get a more  universal Acquaintance, which may hereafter be serviceable to me; &I suppose I can pursue my Studies in the Greek & Latin as well there as here, & likewise learn something of  the Mathematics.  I shall be glad of your opinion, and remain, Sir, your most humble servant,

                                                                                                        Thomas Jefferson, Jr."

Thomas Jefferson arrived at The College of William & Mary on the 25th of March 1760.  He graduated with supreme honors on the 25th of April  1762, having completed all his studies in two years.  Upon graduation, he was invited to study at the law office and home of the distinguished law professor and friend, George Wythe, where he remained a student for five years.

~

Read more about the young Jefferson's college years and time in Williamsburg, as well as Jefferson's first 31 years of life in Thomas Jefferson-From Boy to Man, by Jayne D'Alessandro-Cox

Available in Paperback, Kindle,  and mp3 audio download through Amazon:
www.amazon.com/Thomas-Jefferson-Jayne-DAlessandro-Cox/dp/1543052290/ref=dp_ob_image_bk

The 5-disc audio book set can be ordered directly from author. Visit web site Contact tab:  
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Monday, July 3, 2017

Article: The History & Restoration of Colonial Williamsburg



 Williamsburg was the thriving capital of Virginia when the dream of American freedom and independence was taking shape and the colony was a rich and powerful land stretching west to the Mississippi River and north to the Great Lakes. 
Governor's Palace ruins and restoration

 Palace Ice House

For 81 formative years, from 1699 to 1780, Williamsburg was the political, cultural, and educational center of what was then the largest, most popular, and most influential of the American colonies.
Dudley Digges House
It was here that the fundamental concepts of our republic — responsible leadership, a sense of public service, self-government, and individual liberty — were nurtured under the leadership of patriots such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, George Mason, and Peyton Randolph.
George Wythe House
   
Near the end of the Revolutionary War and through the influence of Thomas Jefferson, the seat of government of Virginia was moved up the peninsula to the safer and more centrally located city of Richmond. 
College of William & Mary 
For nearly a century and a half afterward, Williamsburg was a simple, quiet college town, home of the College of William and Mary.
Restoration Begins




In 1926, the Reverend Dr. W.A.R. Goodwin, rector of Bruton Parish Church, shared his dream of preserving the city's historic buildings with philanthropist John D. Rockefeller Jr., and the restoration began. 
John Crump House 


Dr. Goodwin feared that scores of structures that had figured in the life of the colony and the founding of the nation would soon disappear forever.

Palmer House  


Rockefeller and Goodwin began a modest project to preserve a few of the more important buildings. Eventually, the work progressed and expanded to include a major portion of the colonial town, encompassing approximately 85 percent of the 18th-century capital's original area.

Nelson Galt House 
                


Mr. Rockefeller gave the project his personal leadership until his death in 1960, and it was his quiet generosity of spirit and uncompromising ethic of excellence that guided and still dominates its development. He funded the preservation of more than 80 of the original structures, the reconstruction of many buildings, and also the construction of extensive facilities to accommodate the visiting public.

James Geddy House  
            

In the preservation of the setting of Virginia’s 18th-century capital, Mr. Rockefeller and Dr. Goodwin saw an opportunity to ensure that the courageous ideals of the patriots who helped create the American democratic system, live on for all future generations.                                http://www.history.org/Foundation/cwhistory.cfm

~

The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and Colonial Williamsburg

www.colonialwilliamsburg.com

                    For reservations and information, call 1-757-229-1000.

The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation is the not-for-profit educational and cultural organization dedicated to the preservation, interpretation, and presentation of the restored 18th-century Revolutionary capital of Virginia. The foundation’s purpose, in the words of the Board of Trustees, is “to re-create accurately the environment of the men and women of eighteenth century Williamsburg, and to bring about such an

understanding of their lives and times, that present and future generations may more vividly appreciate the contribution of these early Americans to the ideals and culture of our country.”

Today, the Historic Area of Colonial Williamsburg embraces the heart of the old city, and includes eighteenth and early nineteenth-century structures within and near the historic area.

Also, acres of colorful gardens and greens have been recreated, using chiefly plants known to the eighteenth-century colonists.

  ~
Read about Thomas Jefferson's Williamsburg years as a student, lawyer, and politician, in Thomas Jefferson-From Boy to Man:

Available in Paperback, Kindle,  and mp3 audio download through Amazon:
www.amazon.com/Thomas-Jefferson-Jayne-DAlessandro-Cox/dp/1543052290/ref=dp_ob_image_bk

The 5-disc audio book set can be ordered directly from author. Visit web site Contact tab:  
www.jaynedalessandrocox.com/contact

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Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Who was Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson..."Patty"?


In December 1770, over two years after the death of Martha's first husband, lawyer/planter Bathhurst Skelton, Thomas Jefferson began courting "Patty", a nickname given to her by her father. Jefferson originally met Martha in Williamsburg when she was married to Bathurst, who, years earlier, had been a classmate of Thomas' at William & Mary. After Bathurst’s unexpected death in 1768, Martha and their 3-year old son, John, moved back to The Forest, her father John Wayles' plantation, The Forrest, in Charles City County, where Martha was born and raised.

Patty was a woman of extraordinary beauty,both in form and face. A little above middle height, she was delicate, well poised, gentle, with a queen-like carriage, and was graced with a warm-affectionate disposition. Her abundant hair was the most admired shade of auburn. Her complexion was fair, and her hazel eyes were large and expressive. Patty was charming, well educated, had a delicate singing voice, and played the pianoforte with uncommon skill. 
She possessed habits of good society, and had the uncanny ability to welcome family and friends to perfection. Patty was a gracious hostess, honorable in all her ways, and an industrious housewife, knowing much about raising and educating children, as well as caring for the sick. Besides being the supervisor over the household servants and all their responsibilities, she had a knack for preserving food, recipes, and cooking. She sewed, spun, weaved, knit, enjoyed making soap and candles, and also accompanied Jefferson when working in the garden.


Jefferson and Patty delighted in stimulating conversation, and enjoyed discussing popular classics in front of a crackling fire. They pursued the pleasures of reading Ovid’s epic mythological poem, Metamorphoses, as well as Lawrence Stern’s humorous novel, Tristram Shandy.



Martha’s father, John Wayles, was born in Lancaster, England, on January 31, 1715. He left his family in 1734 at the age of nineteen, and sailed unaccompanied to Virginia. By the age of thirty, he was an established lawyer, slave trader, business agent for a tobacco exporting firm, and a wealthy plantation owner.

John Wayles married twenty-five-year-old Martha Eppes on May 3, 1746, a widow from the town of Bermuda Hundred, the eastern portion of Chesterfield County. They resided at The Forest, his 411-acre thriving tobacco and wheat plantation located in the Tidewater region along the James River, not far from Williamsburg.



Seven and a half months later, on December 23, 1746, Martha Eppes gave birth to twins. The girl was
stillborn and the boy lived only a few hours. Almost two years later, on October 30, 1748, Martha Eppes gave birth to her only surviving child, a daughter they named Martha. Less than a week later, on November 5, 1748, Martha Eppes Wayles died at the age of twenty-seven, due to complications from that birth.

A bright-skinned, 13 year-old mulatto enslaved girl, named Betty Hemings, was put in charge of helping care for the infant at the time of Martha Eppes’s untimely death. For the rest of Martha’s life, Betty Hemings would be the most constant and closest mother figure that Martha ever knew.

John Wayles would remarry twice more, and bury two more wives during young Martha’s upbringing. Together, John Wayles and his second wife, Tabitha Cocke, had four daughters, the first dying at infancy. Young Martha’s surviving stepsisters were Elizabeth, Tabitha, and Anne. Tabitha Cocke Wayles died sometime between August 1756 and January 1760.

John Wayles married his third wife, Elizabeth Lomax Skelton in January 1760, having no children with her. Elizabeth Lomax Skelton Wayles died on February 10, 1761, just over a year after their marriage.

At The Forest, young Martha received a basic education, which focused on the domestic arts, but received further education through private tutors in the areas of literature, music, dancing, Bible, and French. She enjoyed poetry and fiction, was very literate and well read.

Through her father’s third wife, Martha met Bathurst Skelton, the brother of Elizabeth Lomax Skelton’s deceased first husband, Reuben Skelton, and they began to court. Martha married Bathurst
at The Forest on November 20, 1766, one month after celebrating her eighteenth birthday. She gave birth to their only son on November 7, 1767, and named him John.

Tragically, on September 30, 1768, Bathurst died of an unexpected illness, leaving Martha a widow at the age of nineteen, only one year and ten months after they married. Martha and 3-year old John, moved back to The Forest to remain in the care of her wealthy father.

Food for thought by the author:  The common denominator "person" who knew Bathurst Skelton, Martha Eppes Wayles, Tabitha Cocke, Tabitha Cocke Wayles, Elizabeth Lomax Skelton, Rueben Skelton, child John Skelton... was John Wayles.  I often wondered about him, his frame of mind.... Was there a connection with these deathes?  Was he the kind of person that needed to "control his world"? He was not,from what I deduce from his occupation, "...welcome in all societies", as stated in Thomas Jefferson's eulogy of his father-in-law. (John Wayles died May 28, 1773). I don't think Martha "Patty" made Thomas promise that he would never marry again,when on her death bed, because she was selfish.  Couild she have been privy to the family turmoil/relationships between her father and step mothers? This is a nagging question for me... ~ Jayne D'Alessandro-Cox


Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson’s Extended Family Members
 b = birth date    m = married date    d = death date

Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson: was the only child between John Wayles and Martha Eppes Wayles.(b. 30-Oct-1748, d. 11:45 a.m. on 6-Sep-1782) Upon her death, Martha may have suffered from diabetes. which was complicated by the ham/sugar/butter/flour diet at Monticello. Or, it is said that she could have had TB. The people with Martha at her time of death were: Thomas Jefferson, Betty Hemings, 1/2 sister Sally, 1/2 sister Critta, Betty Brown, 1/2 brother Nance, and Ursula.

Father: John Wayles (slave trader-attorney, b. 31-Jan-1715, d. May-1773)
Mother: Martha Eppes Wayles (b. 10-Apr-1712, m. 3-May-1746, d. 5-Nov-1748 childbirth)

Step-Mother #1: Mary Cocke Wayles (stepmother, m. John Wayles, d. 1759)
      Sister: Elizabeth Wayles Eppes (stepsister)
      Sister: Tabitha Wayles (stepsister)
      Sister: Anne Wayles (stepsister)
  
Step-Mother #2: Elizabeth Lomax Skelton Wayles (stepmother, m. John Wayles 3-Jan-1760, d. 28-May-1763)

Betty Hemings(b. 1735, d.  1807). Mixed race slave of John Wayles. At age 13, Betty was put in charge of raising infant Martha after her mother, Martha Eppes Wayles, died due to childbirth. After John Wayles' second wife, Elizabeth Lomax Skelton, died, Betty became the John Wayles' concubine.  They had six children together. 
     
     Step-Brother: Nance Hemings (slave, half-brother, b. 1761 to John Wayles and slave, Elizabeth "Betty"  Hemings, d. 1827)
     Step-Sister: Thenia Hemings (slave, half-sister, b. 1767 to J Wayles and B Hemings, d. 1795)
     Step-Sister: Critta Hemings (slave, half-sister, b. 1769 to J Wayles and B Hemings, d. 1827)
     Step-Brother: Peter Hemings (slave, half-brother, b. 1770 to J Wayles and B Hemings, d. 1834)
     Step-Sister:  Sally Hemings  
(slave, half-sister, b. 1773 to J Wayles and B Hemings, d. 1835)

Husband #1: Bathurst Skelton (lawyer, b. 1744, m. 20-Nov-1766, d. 30-Sep-1768, one son, John
Skelton, died 5 months before Martha married Thomas Jefferson (b. 7-Nov-1767, d. 10-Jun-1771) )

Husband #2: Thomas Jefferson (b. 1743,  m. 1-Jan-1772, d. 4-Jul-1826. They had six children, but only two daughters reached adulthood.  Only the eldest, Martha "Patsy" Jefferson, survived past the age of 26.)

Children of Thomas and Martha Jefferson:

     Martha "Patsy" Jefferson (1772–1836) was 6 years old when her mother, Martha, dies
     Jane Randolph Jefferson (1774–1775)
     unnamed son (1777), lived for 17 days
     Mary "Polly" Jefferson (1778-1804) was 4 years old when her mother, Martha, dies
     Lucy Elizabeth Jefferson (1780–1781)
     Lucy Elizabeth Jefferson (1782–1784)

~
Read more about the marriage of Thomas Jefferson and Martha, as well as Jefferson's first 31 years of life in Thomas Jefferson-From Boy to Man, by Jayne D'Alessandro-Cox

Available in Paperback, Kindle,  and mp3 audio download through Amazon:
www.amazon.com/Thomas-Jefferson-Jayne-DAlessandro-Cox/dp/1543052290/ref=dp_ob_image_bk

The 5-disc audio book set can be ordered directly from author. Visit web site Contact tab:  
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Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Thomas Jefferson Enjoyed Coffee


In 1824 Thomas Jefferson deemed coffee "the favorite drink of the civilised world."

 Jefferson enjoyed the coffee houses of Williamsburg and Paris, and served coffee at the President's House, Poplar Forest and Monticello. 


He preferred beans imported from the East and West Indies, and abhorred the "green" or unripe beans that were popular in America at the time.


 Jefferson estimated that a pound of coffee a day was consumed at Monticello during his retirement. His cellar was stocked with unroasted beans in barrels weighing as much as sixty pounds. 


Small quantities of beans were roasted and ground in the Monticello kitchen, and then prepared according to the recipe of Adrien Petit, Jefferson's French maƮtre d'hotel:

"On one measure of the coffee ground into meal pour three measures of boiling water. Boil it on hot ashes mixed with coal till the meal disappears from the top, when it will be precipitated. Pour it three times through a flannel strainer. It will yield 2 1/3 measures of clear coffee."


 Coffee was served at breakfast, and likely after dinner, in a silver coffee urn made to Jefferson's design.  
                            
                          (An article compliments of Thomas Jefferson Encyclopedia) 
                                                                                                  ~
Read more about Thomas Jefferson in Thomas Jefferson-From Boy to Man:

Available in Paperback, Kindle,  and mp3 audio download through Amazon:
www.amazon.com/Thomas-Jefferson-Jayne-DAlessandro-Cox/dp/1543052290/ref=dp_ob_image_bk

The 5-disc audio book set can be ordered directly from author. Visit web site Contact tab:  
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