Peter Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson's father Peter Jefferson was a surveyor, mapmaker, landowner, and slave holder in Colonial Virginia.
His Families
“ ...no society is so precious as that of one's own family.”
Martha Wayles Jefferson
“...every time I kiss they hand to bid adieu, every absence which follows it, are preludes to that eternal separation which we are shortly to make!’’-
![A dress form with a brown dress with a large lace collar draped over it.]()
Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson
Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson was Thomas Jefferson's wife and, following her death at the age of 33, he described their marriage as ten years of "unchequered happiness."
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![Fry-Jefferson map of Virginia]()
John Wayles
John Wayles was father of Jefferson's wife, Martha, and fathered a number of children with his enslaved domestic servant Elizabeth Hemings, including Sally Hemings.
Martha Jefferson Randolph
Jefferson's eldest daughter and her family were a constance presence in his life.-
![Portrait of Martha Jefferson Randolph by Thomas Sully.]()
Martha Jefferson Randolph
Jefferson's eldest daughter, Martha, was noted for her intellectual abilities, support of her father's career, and management of Monticello household in his retirement years.
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![Portrait of Thomas Mann Randolph, Jr.]()
Thomas Mann Randolph
Jefferson's son-in-law who married his eldest daughter, Martha, and who later became Governor of Virginia.
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![The South Square Room at Monticello with chairs and small desks and floor-to-ceiling bookshelves along one wall.]()
EncyclopediaSouth Square Room
A sitting room for members of the Jefferson family.
The Randolph Children
In retirement at Monticello, Jefferson was surrounding by his grandchildren from Martha and Thomas Mann Randolph.-
![Portrait of Ann Cary Randolph Bankhead.]()
Ann Cary Randolph Bankhead
Ann Cary Randolph Bankhead, Jefferson's first grandchild, suffered through an abusive marriage and died at the age of thirty-five, following childbirth.
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![A torso-length portrait of a young white man with short, dark hair in a dark coat and white neckerchief looking slightly over his left shoulder toward the viewer.]()
Thomas Jefferson Randolph
Jefferson's eldest grandson who served six terms in Virginia's House of Delegates and as rector of the University of Virginia,
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![Portrait of Ellen Wayles Randolph Coolidge]()
Ellen Wayles Randolph Coolidge
Jefferson's granddaughter Ellen Wayles Randolph Coolidge was an accomplished scholar and diarist who travelled widely with her husband, Joseph Coolidge.
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Cornelia Jefferson Randolph
A brief look at the life of Cornelia Jefferson Randolph, one of Thomas Jefferson's granddaughters through his daughter Martha and her husband, Thomas Mann Randolph.
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![silhouette of Virginia Jefferson Randolph Trist facing proper right. Click for more information.]()
Virginia Jefferson Randolph Trist
Jefferson's granddaughter Virginia Jefferson Randolph Trist, shared Jefferson's love of music and married the American diplomat Nicholas Philip Trist, who once served as Jefferson's personal secretary.
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![Bust length portrait of a woman facing to her left hair pulled back and curled along the edges in an empire-era dress and small scarf tied around her neck.]()
Mary Jefferson Randolph
Mary Jefferson Randolph was one of Thomas Jefferson's granddaughters and the seventh child of Thomas Mann Randolph and Martha Jefferson Randolph.
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![J. Hotchkiss, Staunton, VA, 1867/Library of Congress]()
James Madison Randolph
James Madison Randolph was the eighth child of Martha Jefferson Randolph and Thomas Mann Randolph and a grandson of Thomas Jefferson.
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![Peter Maverick's engraving of John Neilson's plan drawing of the academical village of the University of Virginia, including the rotunda, pavilions, student rooms, gardens, and serpentine garden walls.]()
Benjamin Franklin Randolph
Thomas Jefferson's grandson, Benjamin Franklin Randolph, became a doctor and a Virginia State Senator.
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![Oval-shaped bust-length portrait of Meriwether Lewis Randolph facing the viewer with body angled towards the proper left, encased in a silver frame. He wears a blue suit and waistcoat with a white collared shirt. He has long sideburns and ear-length curled hair.]()
Meriwether Lewis Randolph
Meriwether Lewis Randolph was the tenth child of Martha Jefferson Randolph and Thomas Mann Randolph and was named for the explorer Meriwether Lewis.
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![Oval portrait of Septimia Anne Randolph wearing a red dress; gift of Frances Louise Meikleham, 1978]()
Septimia Anne Randolph Meikleham
Granddaughter of Thomas Jefferson and the seventh and last daughter of Thomas Mann Randolph and Martha Jefferson Randolph.
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![George Wythe Randolph, circa 1862 as Secretary of War of the Confederate states of America: image courtesy Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division]()
George Wythe Randolph
George Wythe Randolph was Thomas Jefferson's grandson and served as a general in the Confederate army and as the Confederacy's third Secretary of War.
Maria Jefferson Eppes
"god bless you my ever dear daughter and preserve you safe to the blessing of us all” -Thomas Jefferson, 1804-
![Painting of Monticello and its West Lawn with two girls in white dresses, a boy playing with a hoop, and a man sitting to side sketching or painting.]()
Maria Jefferson Eppes
Mary (Maria) Jefferson Eppes was the fourth child of Thomas Jefferson and his wife, Martha, and the younger of the two daughters who survived to adulthood.
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![Profile of John Wayles Eppes looking left wearing a high-collared coat and neckerchief]()
John Wayles Eppes
John Wayles Eppes, a prominent Virginia lawyer and politician, married Thomas Jefferson's daughter Maria (Mary).
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![Profile of Francis Wayles Eppes as a young boy facing to his right with blond-brown hair, pink cheeks, and a slight overbite wearing a pink and purple garment with a wide white, frilled collar.]()
Francis Wayles Eppes
Francis Wayles Eppes was Thomas Jefferson's grandson and the only surviving child of Maria Jefferson Eppes and her husband, John Wayles Eppes.
Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson
"Such is the story that comes down to me."
-Madison Hemings, 1873
The issue of Jefferson’s paternity of the children of Sally Hemings has been the subject of controversy for at least two centuries, ranging from contemporary newspaper articles in 1802 (when Jefferson was President) to scholarly debate well into the 1990s. It is now the Thomas Jefferson Foundation’s view that the Jefferson fathered the children of Sally Hemings and the issue is a settled historical matter. Questions remain about the nature of the relationship that existed between Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings; whether she had a child at Monticello shortly after they returned from France in 1789; and whether there is anything to connect Jefferson, Hemings, and Thomas Woodson.
The Children of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings
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![A woman's dress form stands in front of projected shadows depicting Sally Hemings with birds flying off the dress and onto the screen.]()
Sally Hemings
Sally Hemings: Daughter, mother, sister, aunt. Inherited as property. Seamstress. World traveler. Enslaved woman. Concubine. Negotiator. Liberator. Mystery.
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![A silhouette of two boys playing the violin.]()
Beverly Hemings
A brief look at the life Beverly Hemings, the oldest surviving son of Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson.
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![Silhouettes depicting Sally Hemings combing her daughter's hair.]()
Harriet Hemings
The only surviving daughter of Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson.
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![A silhouette of two boys playing the violin.]()
Madison Hemings
Enslaved son of Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson.
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![Detail from the newspaper where Madison Hemings's recollections were first printed, titled "Life Among the Lowly / Number 1 / Madison Hemings".]()
EncyclopediaRecollections of Madison Hemings (1873)
A transcript of Madison Hemings's recollections about life at Monticello and his connection to Thomas Jefferson as published in the Pike County Republican, March 13, 1873.
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![Sheet music in Jefferson's hand including 17 bars of Money Musk]()
Eston Hemings Jefferson
The youngest surviving son of Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson.
The Shop at Monticello
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