Meet the "Voice of THOMAS JEFFERSON"

Introducing James Brinkley

Thomas Jefferson-From Boy to Man is a biographical/autobiographical and historically accurate account of Thomas Jefferson's first 31 years of life... his journey to manhood.

It still amazes me how fortunate I was to find James Brinkley to read as Thomas Jefferson in my newly released audio book, Thomas Jefferson-From Boy to Man!

James Brinkley is a gifted and multi-talented actor and producer. When I began my search for voice actors, I googled! Up came a sight. I listened to over 50 voice actors with British accents and read about their various voice abilities. I selected two men and emailed them both. James answered my email within 24 hours. This was truly a God thing!  We spoke on the phone, to find out that he lives and works in Los Angeles. We got along very well from the first conversation. He sent me links to 8 of his most recent television commercials. All the commercials were of James acting as Thomas Jefferson, in the presence of two other founding fathers...an advertisement for a Bank in LA. If this was not a sign! We agreed to work together immediately... February 2015.

Every week, I would send him a chapter. He would send me the file, I'd listen to it, and send it back with corrections, requests, etc.  It took approx 1 week to nail down 1-2 chapters. What a professional! He took instruction so well, never a complaint, and believe me, I am a perfectionist!

We were about 1/2 way through when James suggested that his son could read as the college-age Jefferson. I was shocked! Sixteen year old Alexander has a British accent, and his voice is a younger version of his father! Then, as amazing as that was, James offered the talents of his wife, Eun-Mee, who is a concert violinist, and works on Hollywood film scores for some of the most popular name movies. I was "over the top" excited! Eun-Mee plays all the violin music in the audio, as well as accompanies James as he sings a Psalm at the end of Chapter 34.

As we neared the end of production, James called me with incredible news, that he originally kept from me. It seems that he is the descendant of the 12th century Berkeley family of Berkeley Castle, Gloucestershire, England, the oldest castle continuously owned and occupied by the Berkeley family. His descendant, Richard Berkeley, was one of the 38 settlers who sailed to Virginia from Bristol, England, landing on December 4, 1619, at what was then called Berkeley Hundred. These early settlers celebrated our country's first official Thanksgiving, 2 years and 17 days before the Mayflower Pilgrims celebrated their Thanksgiving at Plymouth, Massachusetts.  Sir William Berkeley, descendant of Richard Berkeley, was twice appointed by the King of England to be Lte. Governor for the capitol city of Virginia...Williamsburg (1641-1652 and 1660-1677)

I will meet James and his family this Fourth of July weekend, as they are visiting Charlottesville, VA. We will tour Monticello, and get to finally meet each other.  You cannot imagine how thrilling this is for us all! We will celebrate with a radio interview on July 4 and a "Meet and Greet" on July 5 in Charlottesville!

There is no book or audio book on the market today about this specific time period of Jefferson's life! You will truly enjoy hearing Thomas Jefferson reminisce about life growing up at Tuckahoe and Shadwell plantations, boarding school days, cherished seasons with his father Peter, life at the College of William and Mary, his first love, law apprenticeship and practice, family, friends, fire, earthquakes, floods, deaths, and much more...

Follow me on:

Twitter  www.twitter.com/@jaynesbooks
Facebook  www.facebook.com/ThomasJeffersonFromBoyToMan?ref=hl
Linkedin  www.linkedin.com/in/jayne-dalessandro-cox-bb616216/

6-disc Audio Book, Thomas Jefferson-From Boy to Man, now available: to purchase:

https://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/search.php?search=Thomas+Jefferson-From+Boy+to+Man      $29.99

Read about Thomas Jefferson's youth and journey to manhood in my soft-cover book, Thomas Jefferson-From Boy to Man.    $23.99   To purchase, visit:

                                       www.jaynedalessandrocox.com

.

Two Year Old Lucy Jefferson Dies At Eppington

Recently, I had the privilege of receiving an amazing private tour of the 1768 Eppington Plantation home.  It is located on the Appomattox River in Chesterfield County, VA. The house is not furnished inside, which I so appreciated. The floors, walls, doors, staircase, fireplaces, etc. are all original. You can just imagine Thomas and Martha Jefferson and their daughters visiting the Eppes family as they walk about the house.  This is the back view of the home. It was a mirror image of the front, which faced the Appomattox River, now blocked by a thick forest. Thomas Jefferson was visiting Eppington when he received a letter from George Washington offering him the position of Secretary of State..."I consider the Office of Secretary for Department of State as important on many accounts and know no other person could better execute duties than yourself."  

Eppington was the residence of Thomas Jefferson's wife, Martha's, step-sister Elizabeth and her husband Francis Eppes IV. Two years after Martha Jefferson died in 1782, Thomas Jefferson accepted the position to succeed Benjamin Franklin as the Minister to France (1785-9). He brought his oldest daughter, Martha (Patsy), and left 2 year old Lucy and 6 year old Maria (Polly) at Eppington w/ Aunt Elizabeth, Uncle Frances and their family. 

Sadly, as the Eppes were entertaining guests that they did not know were infected with whopping cough, their toddler Lucy, Thomas Jefferson's 2 yr old Lucy, and 6 year old Maria contracted whopping cough. Maria got through it, but the two Lucy's were not strong enough to be saved, and died. They were buried in the family cemetery. Once Thomas Jefferson was informed of his youngest daughter's death, he insisted that his family send Maria to him in Paris. Maria did not want to leave her Aunt Elizabeth. The persistent father won, but an escort was very difficult to find. The only person available to escort Maria to Paris was a 13 year old enslaved girl from Monticello...Sally Hemings. What a surprise it was for Thomas Jefferson to see that his very young daughter was escorted on the large an arduous trip by yet another "child". 

Eppington Plantation can be toured by appointment only in groups of 5 or more. Call 804.748.1623. Eppington is open free of charge one day a year... the first Saturday of October, from 11am - 4pm. For more information  on tours and the October Festival, visit  http://eppington.org/ 

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

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

6-disc Audio Book, Thomas Jefferson-From Boy to Man, now available: to purchase:

https://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/search.php?search=Thomas+Jefferson-From+Boy+to+Man      $29.99

Read about Thomas Jefferson's youth and journey to manhood in my soft-cover book, Thomas Jefferson-From Boy to Man.    $23.99   To purchase, visit:

                                           www.jaynedalessandrocox.com

A Washington DC Memorial: Signers of the Declaration of Independence

The 13 Colony Representatives who signed the Declaration of Independence

Public Law 95 was passed by Congress in 1978 that allowed for the creation of a memorial to the signers of the Declaration of Independence. A gift from the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration, the memorial consists of 56 stone blocks, each with a facsimile of the signer's actual signature, their occupation, and their home town. It was dedicated on July 2, 1984, exactly 208 years after the Congress voted to approve the Declaration of Independence.  The memorial is accessible to the public by crossing a wooden bridge onto a small island set in the lake between Constitution Avenue and the Reflecting Pool, not far from the Vietnam Memorial.

1. Virginia: Thomas Jefferson, George Wythe, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Benjamin Harris, Richard Henry Lee, Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
2. Pennsylvania: Benjamin Franklin, Benjamin Rush, George Clymer, Robert Morris, John Morton, George Ross, James Smith, James Wilson, George Taylor
3. Massachusetts: John Adams, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Robert Treat Paine
4. Maryland: Charles Carroll, Samuel Chase, Thomas Stone, William Paca
5. New York: Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, William Floyd, Lewis Morris
6. Delaware: George Read, Caesar Rodney, Thomas McKean
7. New Jersey: Abraham Clark, John Hart, Francis Hopkinson, Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon
8. Connecticut: Samuel Huntington, Roger Sherman, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
9. North Carolina: William Hooper, John Penn
10. South Carolina: Edward Rutledge, Arthur Middleton, Thomas Lynch, Jr., Thomas Heyward, Jr.
11. Georgia: Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton
12. Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
13. New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Tag: DC Memorials

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

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

6-disc Audio Book, Thomas Jefferson-From Boy to Man, now available: to purchase:

https://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/search.php?search=Thomas+Jefferson-From+Boy+to+Man      $29.99

Read about Thomas Jefferson's youth and journey to manhood in my soft-cover book, Thomas Jefferson-From Boy to Man.    $23.99   To purchase, visit:

www.jaynedalessandrocox.com 

Thomas Jefferson Loved Coffee !

Thomas Jefferson Loved Coffee !

Many of us love to read, and if you are a Jefferson enthusiast like myself, you enjoy reading about Thomas Jefferson and the time period in which he lived, 1743-1826. Jefferson accumulated thousands of books in his lifetime, and read each one of them. Where did he find the time? Today, that would virtually be impossible to do. For Thomas Jefferson, it is likely he drank "strong" homemade coffee! It was served at breakfast, and most likely also after dinner in a silver coffee urn that was made from his own design. A cup of strong coffee like that would certainly add more hours to his day or night! 

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 while in office, at his retreat home Poplar Forest, and at 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 60 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 Maitre 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."

At Monticello, coffee was served in the silver coffee urn made to Jefferson's design (above).

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

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

6-disc Audio Book, Thomas Jefferson-From Boy to Man, now available: to purchase:

https://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/search.php?search=Thomas+Jefferson-From+Boy+to+Man      $29.99

Read about Thomas Jefferson's youth and journey to manhood in my soft-cover book, Thomas Jefferson-From Boy to Man.    $23.99   To purchase, visit:

www.jaynedalessandrocox.com

Thomas Jefferson: His Obscure "Early Years"

Thomas Jefferson-From Boy to Man

by Jayne D'Alessandro-Cox

NOW IN AUDIO BOOK

If we could only travel back to mid-18^th century colonial Virginia and live in Thomas Jefferson’s world, we might better understand this man of the Enlightenment who dared to question the traditional customs and beliefs of his day.  

Thomas Jefferson-From Boy to Man is a biographical and autobiographical account of Jefferson's first 31 years of life (1743-1774), an era that was virtually "in the shadows" until now. Written in journal form and supplemented with historical background text, the reader will be transported to the 18th century and get a "fly-on-the-wall" perspective of Jefferson's childhood, friends, boarding school days, college and law years, romance, fire, earthquakes, flood, deaths and much more.  It includes over 60 photos, many rare, to enhance the reader's imagination. It ends as Jefferson is retiring from his Charlottesville law practice to get more involved in politics with the Second Continental Congress, just two years prior to his drafting of the Declaration of Independence.

Jayne D'Alessandro-Cox is  a top-rated and critically acclaimed analytical historian that "hits a home run" with her "exclusive" book about Jefferson's first 31 years ... and it's getting 5-star reviews!  The background text and journal entries, which include authentic quotes, will engage you as you reminisce along with Jefferson, as he passionately documents an intimate portrait of the joys and trials he faced on his journey to manhood.

Just released in audio book, you will hear British-born actor James Brinkley read as the 31- year old Thomas Jefferson, be transported in time, and experience life growing up in the Piedmont wilderness. Alexander Brinkley reads as the young college-age Tom, Eun Mee Ahn plays the violin solos ... and the result is magical! 

As you acquaint yourself with Thomas’ journey to manhood, you will ultimately understand how this man, in that day, could later become the accomplished & brilliant scholar, linguist, musician, lawyer, bibliophile, surveyor, planter, naturalist, architect, statesman, founding father, philosopher, ambassador to France, governor of Virginia, secretary of state under George Washington, vice-president under John Adams, 3^rd President of the United States, inventor, family man, and sage, that was … Thomas Jefferson!

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

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

6-disc Audio Book, Thomas Jefferson-From Boy to Man, now available: to purchase:

https://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/search.php?search=Thomas+Jefferson-From+Boy+to+Man      $29.99

Read about Thomas Jefferson's youth and journey to manhood in my soft-cover book, Thomas Jefferson-From Boy to Man.    $23.99   To purchase, visit: 

                                   www.jaynedalessandrocox.com

Thomas Jefferson: Vestryman

President, scholar, architect, historian, farmer, author, statesman, governor, founding father...the list seems almost endless. To call Thomas Jefferson a "Renaissance Man" seems a bit understated. He certainly has the longest resume in the august group of men known as the “Founding Fathers”.   

But, when talking about Jefferson's many occupations and offices, there is one that seems to be passed over quickly and without a lot of fanfare: Vestryman. It sounds pretty regal and definitely of a church or religious nature. Yet, it's not that regal at all but it certainly deserves more ink than it's given in many biographies.   

I do write about Thomas Jefferson, as well as his father Peter, as vestrymen, in my book, Thomas Jefferson-From Boy to Man. On pages 174-175, I quote from an 1802 letter by Jefferson where he regrets having to resign the office at the Middle Church so he can be more involved with his family businesses, the local politics and to design and build Monticello. The Middle Church no longer stands, but on that same historical property was build Grace Church in 1855, which is located in Cismont, Virginia. The congregation is one of the longest existing in Virginia. I write extensively about the history of both churches in my book...and it is fascinating!

So, what exactly is a "vestryman"? First, a "vestry" is a room directly attached to the church worship area. Typically, in colonial times, church committees would meet there to discuss business, property and other church business. Vestries also were used for clergy and choir members to hang their robes and to store sacred items used in the worship service such as collection plates. Many vestries were also storage places for official marriage records. 

Second, "vestry" could also mean a body of lay members who are elected by the congregation, or parish, to negotiate, arrange and maintain the secular activities and business of the church. Some vestries met annually, while others met on a monthly basis.

Jefferson service as a dedicated vestryman should come as no surprise. Henry Stevens Randall in his book, The Life of Thomas Jefferson, stated that Jefferson regularly "attended church ... sometimes going alone on horseback, when his family remained at home. He carried his prayer-book, and joined in the responses and prayers of the congregation. He was baptized into the Episcopal Church in his infancy; he was married by one of its clergymen; his wife lived and died a member of it; his children were baptized into it, and when married were married according to it rites; its burial services were read over those of them who preceded him to the grave, over his wife, and finally himself."

His service to the church, while not considered as romantic as his many other accomplishments, certainly deserves more scholarship and credit. Perhaps, one day it will.

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

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

6-disc Audio Book, Thomas Jefferson-From Boy to Man, now available: to purchase:

https://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/search.php?search=Thomas+Jefferson-From+Boy+to+Man      $29.99

Read about Thomas Jefferson's youth and journey to manhood in my soft-cover book, Thomas Jefferson-From Boy to Man.    $23.99   To purchase, visit:

www.jaynedalessandrocox.com

Thomas Jefferson's Favorite...Ginger Cakes!

Christmas just isn't Christmas without Gingerbread cookies! It comes to no surprise that Thomas Jefferson felt the same way. One of Jefferson’s favorite desserts was known as “ginger cakes”. They are as close as you can get to today’s ginger bread cookies! If you ever visit Duke of Gloucester Street in Colonial Williamsburg, you will easily find them at the Confectionery! 

Here is a special colonial holiday recipe to enjoy making with family at Christmas time. Enjoy!

 Ingredients

1 cup sugar, 2 tsps. ginger, 1 tsp. nutmeg, 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1 and 1/2 tsps. baking soda, 1 cup margarine (melted), 1/2 cup evaporated milk, 1 cup unsulfurred molasses, 3/4 tsps. vanilla extract (optional), 3/4 tsps. lemon extract (optional), 4 cups stone-ground or unbleached flour (unsifted) 

Combine the sugar, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda. Mix well. Add the melted margarine, evaporated milk, and molasses. Add the extracts if desired. Mix well. Add the flour 1 cup at a time, stirring constantly.  The dough should be stiff enough to handle without sticking to fingers. Knead the dough for a smoother texture. Add up to 1/2 cup additional four if necessary to prevent sticking.  When the dough is smooth, roll it out 1/4 inch thick on a floured surface and cut it into cookies.  Bake on floured or greased cookie sheet in a preheated 375 degree F. oven for 10-12 minutes. The cookies are done if they spring back when touched.  

As did Jefferson, accompany your ginger cakes with a glass of his favorite Madeira wine...if you must!

Tags: ginger cakes recipe, ginger cakes, Raleigh Tavern Cookbook Colonial Williamsburg

See more of Thomas Jefferson’s favorite recipes in book, Thomas Jefferson-From Boy to Man.

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

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

For more of the Jefferson's favorite colonial recipes, read my book Thomas Jefferson-From Boy to Man.  To read about book, book reviews, author bio and purchase book/audio book, visit:

 www.jaynedalessandrocox.com