Martha Skelton Jefferson & Martha Jefferson Randolph: Life Before the White House

Martha Skelton Jefferson was born Martha Wayles on October 30, 1748. Her father, John Wayles, worked for Farrell & Jones (who were Bristol-based merchants) as an attorney, slave trader, and business agent. He was also a prosperous planter. Her mother, Martha Eppes, was a daughter of Francis Eppes, and came from an early Virginia settlement along the James River, Bermuda Hundred.

Martha Wayles became Martha Skelton at the age of 18 when she married Bathurst Skelton on November 20, 1766. They had a son named John who was born in the November of the next year. On September 30, 1768, Bathurst died after a sudden illness. And on June, 10, 1771, their son John died of a fever.

Martha then married Thomas Jefferson on January 1, 1772. After their wedding they spent two weeks at Martha's father's plantation, The Forest. Then they set out for Jefferson's plantation, Monticello. They made the 100-mile journey in a two-horse carriage during one of the worst snowstorms to hit Virginia. When they were eight miles away from their destination their carriage got bogged down, and they had to ride the rest of the way on horseback. When they arrived the slaves had already banked the fires, and were asleep. So the couple settled in the "Honeymoon Cottage", which was a 20-foot-square, freezing cold, brick building. They lived there until the main house was complete, and it was later named the North Pavilion. The couple had six children together, but sadly only two daughters reached adulthood, and out of them only Martha "Patsy" lived past the age of 26.

When Martha's father died in 1773 she and her husband inherited his many slaves and debts. It took Jefferson and the other co-executors of the estate decades to pay them all off. Among the slaves was Betty Hemings and her 10 children. The six youngest of them were Martha's half-siblings.

Martha served as the First Lady of Virginia from 1779 to 1781, during the American Revolution. Due to Martha Washington's request she raised money for her state's militia in the Continental Army during that time, and also contacted other prominent Virginians to raise funds for the troops, one of which was Nelly Madison who was the mother of James Madison.

On September 6, 1782, Martha Jefferson died four months after giving birth to her youngest child. It had been a difficult pregnancy, she had gained a dangerous amount of weight, and it had been hard to run her household or even sit comfortably. Possibly making the pregnancy even worse was her rumored diabetes. After she died Jefferson was heartbroken, and burnt all their letters to each other. He rarely spoke of her afterwards, but he never remarried, honoring her wishes. Although it is widely believed that he had several children by Sally Hemings, one of the slaves who was also Martha's half-sister.

No facial images of Martha survives, but there is one silhouette (it is shown above). However we do know she was a little over five feet tall, and had auburn hair, hazel eyes, and a lithe figure. Her daughter and other eye-witnesses said she was highly educated and musical person, and constant reader. According to them she had a good nature, a vivacious temper, and a great affection for her husband.

Martha "Patsy" Jefferson was born at her father's plantation on September 27, 1772. When her mother died she was just ten years old, but was still leaned on by her heartbroken father. She later wrote about this period saying "in those melancholy rambles I was his constant companion, a solitary witness to many a violent outbursts of grief."

From the time she was twelve to the time she was seventeen, she lived with her father in Paris. It was there her father enrolled her at the Pentemont Abbey, an exclusive convent school. He was promised that Protestant students were exempt from religious instruction, but despite their assurances Patsy expressed a desire to convert to Catholicism and stated she was considering religious orders. After that Jefferson promptly withdrew her and her sister Polly from the school.

Martha married Thomas Mann Rudolph, Jr., in 1790 at the age of 18. They had thirteen children together, eleven of which made it to adulthood.

After her father became president she made several extended visits to the White House. During those visits she functioned as an informal First Lady for her widower father.