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:  

www.jaynedalessandrocox.com/contact

Follow me on:
Twitter  www.twitter.com/@jaynesbooks
Facebook  www.facebook.com/ThomasJeffersonFromBoyToMan?ref=hl

Linkedin  www.linkedin.com/in/jayne-dalessandro-cox-bb616216/

www.JayneDalessandroCox.com or  www.ThomasJeffersonFromBoyToMan.com