First Lady of Virginia, wife of Thomas Jefferson (1748–1782)
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 by
Dorothea Henry
Succeeded by
Anne Fleming
Personal details
Born
Martha Wayles
(1748-10-30)October 30, 1748 Charles City, Virginia, British America
Died
September 6, 1782(1782-09-06) (aged 33) Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S.
Spouses
Bathurst Skelton
(m. 1766; died 1768)
Thomas Jefferson
(m. 1772)
Children
John Skelton
Martha Jefferson Randolph
Jane Randolph Jefferson
unnamed son
Mary Jefferson Eppes
Lucy Elizabeth Jefferson
Lucy Elizabeth Jefferson
Parents
John Wayles (father)
Martha Eppes (mother)
Martha Skelton Jefferson (néeWayles; 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 widely held that as a widower, Thomas had a long-standing relationship and children with Martha's half-sister, Sally Hemings, a favored enslaved woman who was three-quarters white.[5]
^Cite error: The named reference GBWH - First Ladies was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference Schwartz p. 129 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^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.
^"John Wayles". Monticello. Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Retrieved January 25, 2012.
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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...
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Hemings, who was the mother of six children by Thomas Jefferson and half-sister of MarthaJefferson. Wayles was born in the city of Lancaster on January...
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of Jefferson's wife, Martha. Therefore, Sally was half-sister to Jefferson's wife and was of approximately three quarters English descent. Martha died...
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divorcée in Butterflies Are Free (1970). In 1972, Danner portrayed MarthaJefferson in the film version of 1776. That same year, she played the unknowing...
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society of his descendants through Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson. After Jefferson's death, his daughter MarthaJefferson Randolph, apart from the small...
the White House and National First Ladies' Library: Martha Wayles Skelton, married to Thomas Jefferson; Rachel Jackson, married to Andrew Jackson; Hannah...
not recognized by the National First Ladies' Library listing include MarthaJefferson Randolph, Emily Donelson, Sarah Yorke Jackson, Angelica Van Buren,...
Washington called his wife Martha "Patsy" in private correspondence. President Thomas Jefferson's eldest daughter Martha was known by the nickname "Patsy"...
enslaved from birth; they were half-siblings to Wayles's daughter, MarthaJefferson. After Wayles died, the Hemings family and some 120 other enslaved...
jokes at his expense." Thomas Jefferson, upon hearing of the scandal, wrote a letter to his daughter, MarthaJefferson Randolph. He wrote that he considered...
Thomas Jefferson at his residence of Monticello. He was an older brother of Sally Hemings and a half-sibling of Jefferson's wife MarthaJefferson. Martha, Sally...
parentage is unclear. MarthaJefferson also had one son with her first husband Bathurst Skelton, who died before her marriage to Jefferson: 1. John Skelton...
was three-quarters white and a half-sister of Jefferson's late wife, Martha Wayles Skelton. Thomas Jefferson informally and formally freed all of Sally's...
growing cabbages. Jefferson died in 1826, after which Sally Hemings was "given her time" by Jefferson's surviving daughter MarthaJefferson Randolph. The...
to John Bolling III, and Martha, who in July had wed Dabney Carr. Both lived at their husbands' residences. Only Jefferson's younger siblings Elizabeth...
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