Martha Jefferson

This article is about Thomas Jefferson's wife. For his daughter, see Martha Jefferson Randolph.

Martha Jefferson
First Lady of Virginia
In office
June 1, 1779 – June 3, 1781
Preceded byDorothea Henry
Succeeded byAnne Fleming
Personal details
Born
Martha Wayles

(1748-10-30)October 30, 1748
Charles City, Virginia, British America
DiedSeptember 6, 1782(1782-09-06) (aged 33)
Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S.
Spouses
Bathurst Skelton
​
​
(m. 1766; died 1768)​
​
(m. 1772)​
Children
Parents

Martha Skelton Jefferson (née Wayles; October 30, 1748 – September 6, 1782) was the wife of Thomas Jefferson from 1772 until her death. She served as First Lady of Virginia during Jefferson's term as governor from 1779 to 1781. She died in 1782, 19 years before he became president.[1][2]

Of the six children born to Thomas and Martha, only two survived to adulthood, Martha and Mary. Martha died four months after the birth of her last child.[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.[3] (Similarly, Jefferson did not speak much of his mother, Jane Randolph Jefferson.)[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.[5]

  1. ^ a b Wilson, Gaye (October 10, 1998). "Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson". www.monticello.org. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference GBWH - First Ladies was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Schwartz p. 129 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ William G. Hyland Jr. (February 26, 2015). Martha Jefferson: An Intimate Life with Thomas Jefferson. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. pp. 134–135. ISBN 978-1-4422-3984-5.
  5. ^ "John Wayles". Monticello. Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Retrieved January 25, 2012.


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