Enslaved at Monticello
Isaac Granger Jefferson (1775-1846). Image courtesy Special Collections, University of Virginia Library
Lucy Cottrell (?-1855+). Image courtesy the Library of Congress
Ann-Elizabeth Fossett Isaacs (1812-1902). Image courtesy Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture
Peter Farley Fosset (1815-1901). Image courtesy Cincinnati's Colored Citizens, 1926
Rev. Robert Hughes (1824-1895). Image courtesy Union Run Baptist Church, Keswick, VA
Henry Martin (1826-1915). Image courtesy Special Collections, University of Virginia Library
Sally Cottrell (c. 1800-1875). Image courtesy Special Collections, University of Virginia Library
ISAAC GRANGER JEFFERSON
Isaac Granger Jefferson (1775-1846) was the son of George Granger, Sr., an enslaved foreman of labor and overseer at Monticello, and Ursula, an enslaved pastry cook and laundress. Isaac Jefferson worked at Monticello as a nailmaker, tinsmith, and blacksmith. He became free in the 1820s and was still practicing his blacksmithing trade in his seventies, when his recollections of life at Monticello were preserved.
LUCY COTTRELL
Lucy Cottrell was the daughter of Dorothea (Dolly) Cottrell, a house servant at Monticello (and the property of Jefferson's son-in-law Thomas Mann Randolph). In 1827 Dorothea and Lucy became the property of George Blaettermann, a professor at the University of Virginia, in an exchange for members of the Hughes family he had purchased at the 1827 slave auction at Monticello. About 1850 Dolly and Lucy Cottrell were taken to Maysville, Kentucky, by the professor's widow, who freed them five years later. In this daguerreotype Lucy Cottrell is holding Charlotte, daughter of Blaettermann's foster son.
ANN-ELIZABETH FOSSETT ISAACS
Ann-Elizabeth Fossett (1812-1902) was the fourth child of Joseph Fossett, head blacksmith at Monticello, and his wife, Edith Hern Fossett, the Monticello cook. Ann-Elizabeth, her mother, and seven of her siblings were sold in the January auction following Jefferson's death. Through her family's efforts, she became free in 1837 and moved with her husband, Tucker Isaacs, and their children to southern Ohio in 1850.
REV. PETER FOSSETT
Peter Fossett (1815-1901) was the fifth child of Joseph and Edith Fossett. At age eleven, he, too, was sold at the Monticello auction and remained in slavery until 1850, when his freedom was purchased by family members. He joined his parents in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he became a prominent caterer, community leader, and minister.
REV. ROBERT HUGHES
Robert Hughes (1824-1895) was the tenth child of Wormley and Ursula Hughes, and thus the great-grandson of Elizabeth (Betty) Hemings and the great-nephew of Isaac Jefferson. After Thomas Jefferson's death, Robert Hughes, a blacksmith, remained in slavery on the plantation of Jefferson's grandson until the end of the Civil War. He owned his own farm and was the founding minister of Union Run Baptist Church in Shadwell, VA.
HENRY MARTIN
According to oral history, Henry Martin (1826-1915) was born at Monticello on the day of Jefferson's death. He worked in slavery and freedom at the University of Virginia, where he rang the bell in the Rotunda every day for decades. A man of remarkable character and a devout Baptist, he was the subject of many articles in University publications.
SALLY COTTRELL COLE
Sally Cottrell Cole (c1800-1875) lived at Monticello more than fifteen years as personal servant to Jefferson's granddaughter Ellen Randolph. In 1827 Thomas Key, a professor at the University of Virginia, purchased her and took measures to free her. She worked as a seamstress and domestic servant. In 1848 she married a free man of color, Reuben Cole.