Peter Fossett Biography
Learn more about Peter Fossett, who was born into slavery at Monticello but attained freedom before relocating to Ohio and becoming a caterer and minister.
"That our civil rights have no dependance on our religious opinions, any more than on our opinions in physicks or geometry."
Jefferson and Religion
Monticello Historian John Ragosta explores Jefferson's views on religion and government.
Rev. Robert Hughes Biography
Robert Hughes was born into slavery at Monticello but went on to become the founding minister of the still-flourishing Union Run Baptist Church after the Civil War.
Jefferson's Bible and Other Religious Texts
Read about how Jefferson developed his own version of the Bible.
Priscilla and John Hemmings Biography
Devoted to their Christian faith and to one another, Priscilla Hemmings, an enslaved nursemaid, and her husband John Hemmings, an enslaved master wood joiner, held prayer meetings for Monticello's enslaved community in their dwelling on Mulberry Row.
"... wall of separation between church and state"
Read Thomas Jefferson's original letter to the Baptist Association of Danbury, Connecticut of January 1, 1802 which illuminates Jefferson's view of creating a "wall" between church and state in American government.