Martha Jefferson Randolph - Marriage and Family

Marriage and Family

In 1790 at the age of 18, Martha married Thomas Mann Randolph, Jr., a planter. Soon after their marriage, her father Jefferson deeded eight slaves from Monticello as a wedding gift, including Molly Hemings, the eldest daughter of Mary Hemings. Randolph became a politician, serving as state and US representative and later as Governor of Virginia (1819 to 1822).

The couple had twelve children, eleven of whom survived to adulthood:

• Anne Cary Randolph (1791–1826).
• Thomas Jefferson Randolph (1792–1875).
• Ellen Wayles Randolph (1794–1795).
• Ellen Wayles Randolph (1796–1876). Named after deceased sister. Married to Joseph Coolidge {1798-1879}
• Cornelia Jefferson Randolph (1799–1871).
• Virginia Jefferson Randolph (1801–1882).
• Mary Jefferson Randolph (1803–1876).
• James Madison Randolph (1806–1834). First child born in the White House.
• Benjamin Franklin Randolph (1808–1871).
• Meriwether Lewis Randolph (1810–1837). His widow Elizabeth Martin remarried to Andrew Jackson Donelson, a nephew of President Andrew Jackson.
• Septimia Anne Randolph (1814–1887).
• George Wythe Randolph (1818–1867), briefly in 1862, he was Secretary of War of the Confederate States of America.

Martha Randolph educated her children at home, likely with the help of private tutors, as most planters did. Being engrossed with the cares of her large family, she passed only a portion of her time in the White House when her father was president. She visited with her husband and children in 1802, with her sister Mary in 1803, and during the winter of 1805/1806. She strongly tried to "protect" Jefferson's reputation among her children from the allegations about a relationship with his mixed-race slave Sally Hemings.

After Thomas Jefferson's retirement, Martha devoted much of her life to his declining years. She had separated from her husband, said to suffer from alcoholism and mental instability. Jefferson describes her as the "cherished companion of his youth and the nurse of his old age". Shortly before his death, he said that the "last pang of life was parting with her."

She inherited Monticello from her father in 1826, as well as his many debts. Her eldest son Thomas Randolph acted as executor of the estate. Except for five slaves freed in her father's will, and "giving her time" to Sally Hemings, they sold the remainder of the 130 slaves at Monticello to try to settle the debts. Within a few years, they sold the plantation as well.

After business reverses and the death of her husband, Martha Randolph considered establishing a school. The state legislatures of South Carolina and Virginia each donated $10,000 to her for her support. Increasing financial difficulties obligated her to sell Monticello to James T. Barclay in 1831. He sold it in 1834 to Uriah P. Levy, a wealthy United States naval officer (later the first Commodore of the Navy) and Jefferson admirer. Although Levy was then based in New York, his Sephardic Jewish ancestors had been resident in the South for five generations. Levy invested his own funds in renovating and preserving Monticello.

Martha was estranged from her husband until shortly before his death in 1828. She died at their Edgehill estate in Albemarle County, Virginia.