Martha jefferson randolph biography for kids

Early Years

Martha Jefferson was born at Monticello in Albemarle County on September 27, 1772, the first of five children (and one of only two who survived to adulthood) of Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson and Thomas Jefferson. She received her earliest education from her parents at Monticello, where the Jeffersons lived genteelly despite the deepening imperial crisis and the resulting American war for independence.

Martha Jefferson Randolph | Monticello

In June 1779 Jefferson became governor of Virginia and moved his family with him to the capital, Williamsburg, where Patsy, as she was known in childhood, took dancing lessons, and then to Richmond when the government moved there in 1780. In May 1781, the family fled advancing enemy armies, ultimately escaping to Poplar Forest, Jefferson’s Bedford County estate.

Patsy’s childhood effectively ended on September 6, 1782, when her mother died from complications due to childbirth.

She became her father’s “constant companion,” she recalled year martha jefferson randolph biography for kids2 XAGOM