Читать книгу First Ladies For Dummies - Marcus A. Stadelmann, Marcus A. Stadelmann PhD - Страница 65

Martha Wayles (see Figure 4-2) was born on October 19, 1748, in Charles City County, Virginia. Nicknamed “Patty” by her parents, she grew up wealthy. Her parents, Martha Eppes Wayles and John Wayles, were prominent figures in Virginia’s society. Martha was educated by private tutors and studied literature, dance, and French. Her father was an attorney and prominent slave trader who owned several plantations.

At the young age of 18, Martha married Bathurst Skelton, an attorney, who died within two years of them being married. Being a widow at the age of 20, she was courted by many young gentlemen, including Thomas Jefferson, who was also an attorney. They met while Thomas was serving in the Virginia House of Burgesses, Virginia’s colonial legislative assembly. Martha lived only a few blocks away in the house she had inherited from her husband. By the time they met, Martha had not only become a widow but also recently lost her only child.

Source: C-Span / National Cable Satellite Corporation / Public Domain

FIGURE 4-2: Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson.

Thomas Jefferson decided to pursue Martha with what she loved most: music. They played music together and sang songs, and Thomas even gave her a piano as a gift. Martha fell in love with Thomas while they played music together. She played the harpsichord, and he played the violin.

The two got married on January 1, 1772, and then the couple moved to Thomas’s estate called Monticello, which he had designed himself. When Martha married Thomas, the future president received a plantation and a large number of enslaved people as part of her dowry. After Martha’s father’s death in 1773, Thomas received even more property, including enslaved people, so he then owned 187 enslaved people, making him the second largest slave owner in Virginia.

Among the enslaved people Thomas received when marrying Martha was his future mistress, Sally Hemings, who was fathered by Martha’s father, John Wayles.

According to colonial law, a widowed woman’s property automatically became the property of her new husband.

The next 10 years proved to be hectic. Thomas Jefferson was involved in the American Revolution, being a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1776 and writing the Declaration of Independence the same year. In 1779, he was elected the governor of Virginia. Martha became the First Lady of Virginia.

Martha started brewing her own beer while married to Thomas Jefferson, producing 170 gallons in the first year alone.