Martha Skelton Jefferson was the wife of Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States (1801–1809). When her second husband, Jefferson, was Governor of Virginia, she served as First Lady of Virginia from 1779 to 1781. She would have been the third First Lady of the United States, but she died in 1782 well before her husband Thomas Jefferson's presidential term from 1801 to 1809.
Background
Martha Wayles was born on October 30, 1748, in Charles City, Colony of Virginia, British America, Virginia, to John Wayles and his first wife, Martha Eppes. She was their only child. John Wayles was an attorney, slave trader, business agent for Bristol-based merchants Farrell & Jones, and prosperous planter. He was born in Lancaster, England, and had emigrated alone at the age of 19 to Virginia in 1734, leaving family in England. He became a lawyer. Her mother, Martha Eppes, was a daughter of Francis Eppes and his wife of Bermuda Hundred. Martha Eppes Wayles died on November 5, 1748, when her daughter Martha was six days old. She was named "Martha" after her own mother. A member of a wealthy family, she grew up at "The Forest," a plantation in Virginia's Charles City County.
Career
Known for her beauty and grace, Martha Wayles married her first husband Bathurst Skelton in 1766. The couple welcomed a son they named John the following year. But her first union proved to be short lived, however. Her husband died in 1768, leaving her a wealthy young widow. She and her son went to live with her family back at the Forest plantation.
In 1770, Martha attracted the attentions of a successful lawyer named Thomas Jefferson. The couple shared an interest in music and literature. Unfortunately, their romance was rocked by tragedy early on. Martha's son John died in June of 1771.
Martha Wayles Skelton married Thomas Jefferson on January 1, 1772 at the bride's plantation home "The Forest," near Williamsburg. The couple went to live at his estate known as Monticello, located near Charlottesville, Virginia. To please his new bride, Thomas Jefferson bought a pianoforte for their home. The pair liked to perform duets, with Thomas Jefferson joining in on the violin. They soon started a family; Martha gave birth to their first daughter, Martha, also known as "Patsy," in September 1772. During the early years of their marriage, Jefferson's husband served as a member of the House of Burgesses in Richmond. It is likely that she accompanied him there, handling the social responsibilities of a politician's wife.
Martha Jefferson was First Lady of Virginia from 1779 to 1781, during the American Revolution. In that capacity, and in response to a request from Martha Washington, Mrs. Jefferson led a drive among the women of Virginia to raise funds and supplies for her state's militia in the Continental Army to the extent that her health permitted. She published an appeal in the Virginia Gazette, announcing that collections would be taken in the churches. Nationally, the Ladies Association raised $300,000 to buy linen shirts for Washington's army. Mrs. Jefferson also contacted other prominent Virginians to raise funds for the troops, including Nelly Madison, mother of James Madison.
During their decade-long marriage, Jefferson had five more children. She delivered another daughter, Mary, also known as "Maria" or "Polly," in 1778; and then gave birth to a son—both of whom died in infancy. Around this time, her husband became the governor of Virginia during the American Revolution. The strain of frequent pregnancies weakened Martha so gravely that Thomas curtailed his political activities to stay near her. He refused an appointment as a commissioner to France. Just after New Year's Day, 1781, a British invasion forced Martha to flee the capital in Richmond with an infant girl - who died in April. In June, the family barely escaped an enemy raid on Monticello. She bore another daughter the following May, and never regained strength. Jefferson wrote on May 20 that her condition was dangerous. After months of tending her devotedly, he noted in his account book for September 6, 1782 "My dear wife died this day at 11-45 A.M."
For three weeks he shut himself in his room, pacing back and forth until exhausted. Slowly that first anguish spent itself. In November he agreed to serve as commissioner to France, eventually taking "Patsy" with him in 1784 and sending for "Polly" later.
When Jefferson became president in 1801, he had been a widower for 19 years. He had become as capable of handling social affairs as political matters. Occasionally he called on Dolley Madison for assistance. His daughter Patsy served as the lady of the President's House in the winter of 1802-1803. She was there again in 1805-1806 and gave birth to a son named for James Madison, the first child born in the White House. It was Patsy Randolph with her family who shared Jefferson's retirement at Monticello until he died there in 1826.
Achievements
Membership
The Ladies Association
Personality
Family tradition says that she was accomplished and beautiful - with slender figure, hazel eyes, and auburn hair- and wooed by many. She loved music.
Connections
Martha Wayles married Bathurst Skelton in 1766, but he died two years later. The young widow returned to her parents’ plantation home in colonial Virginia with her young son, John, who later died at age 3. She married Thomas Jefferson on January 1, 1772, and moved to his home, Monticello.
The Jeffersons had six children, but only Martha (called Patsy) and Maria (baptized Mary but called Polly) survived past early childhood. Two daughters and a son died in infancy, and Lucy, their last child, died of whooping cough at age 2.