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Martha Skelton Jefferson ( née Wayles; October 30, 1748 – September 6, 1782) was the wife of Thomas Jefferson from 1772 until her death in 1782. She served as First Lady of Virginia during Jefferson's term as governor from 1779 to 1781. She died in 1782, 19 years before he became president.
Of the six children born to Thomas and Martha, only two survived to adulthood, Martha and Mary. Martha died four months after the birth of her last child. The couple's letters to one another were burned, though by whom is unknown, and Thomas rarely spoke of her, so she remains a somewhat enigmatic figure. (Similarly, Jefferson did not speak much of his mother, Jane Randolph Jefferson.)
As a widower, Thomas had a long-standing relationship and children with Martha's half-sister, Sally Hemings, an enslaved woman who was three-quarters white by descent.
Martha's mother, Martha Eppes Wayles, had previously given birth to twins in 1746, but neither survived; the girl was stillborn and the boy died hours after his birth. Martha was nicknamed "Patsy". Martha's father John was a Lancaster-born emigrant to the Thirteen Colonies who worked as an attorney and prosperous Planter class and slave trader. In addition, he was an agent for the Farrell and Jones company based in Bristol, undertaking activities such as debt collection on their behalf. Martha Eppes Wayles was a daughter of Francis Eppes, a settler of the Bermuda Hundred, an early Virginian colony established along the Appomattox River. While little is known of Martha Eppes Wayles' life, she had an appreciation for fine literature, such as her favorite novel, Tristram Shandy and Les Aventures de Télémaque. (Her rebound version of the book, The Adventures of Telemachus, contains her signature on the title page and resides at the Library of Congress).
Martha Wayles had two stepmothers, neither of whom lived long after their marriages to John Wayles, and through one stepmother she had four half-sisters. Wayles married Tabitha Cocke, of Malvern Hill. They had four children: Sarah, Elizabeth, Tabitha and Anne. Sarah died in infancy. Tabitha and Anne married the Skipwith brothers, Robert and Henry, respectively. Tabitha Skipwith died with her first childbirth. Nancy Skipwith, "Aunty Skipwith" to the Jefferson children and grandchildren, died in 1798. Elizabeth married Eppington, Martha's cousin, and had two sons, Richard and John Wayles Eppes, the latter of whom married Thomas Jefferson's second daughter, Mary Jefferson. Wayles' second wife died most likely after the birth of Anne in August 1756 and before he married his third wife in January 1760.
On January 26, 1760, Wayles married his third wife, Elizabeth Lomax Skelton (she was the widow of Reuben Skelton, an older brother of Bathurst Skelton, his daughter Martha's first husband). Without producing a child with Wayles, she died on February 10, 1761. John Wayles then took Betty Hemings as a mistress, and gave Martha additional half-siblings. Martha likely received her education—including literature, dance, music, French language and Bible study— from private tutors or women in the family. She became the "Lady of the House" after her second stepmother died when she was 13 years of age and was often a hostess to John Wayles' social events and helped manage his business and household affairs. She knew how to make candles, soap, butter and remedies for illnesses.
They had six children, but only two daughters reached adulthood. An unnamed son, Jane Randolph, and Lucy Elizabeth, who died of whooping cough, died as infants. Only the eldest, Martha "Patsy" Jefferson, survived past the age of 26:
Among the more than 100 enslaved Black and Indigenous people were Betty Hemings, of mixed-race ancestry, and her 10 mixed-race children. The youngest, an infant, was Sally Hemings. The six youngest were quadroon in ancestry and half-siblings of Martha Wayles Jefferson, as they were fathered by her father. Betty also had four children born before those of Wayles'. All the Hemings family members gained privileged positions among the slaves at Monticello, where they were trained and worked as domestic servants, chefs, and highly skilled artisans. Sally Hemings, who was fathered by John Wayles, was the half-sister of Martha Wayles Jefferson, and the subject of a scandal about her relationship with Thomas Jefferson.
Martha's father, John Wayles, died at age 58 in 1773. He left substantial property, including slaves, but the estate was encumbered with debt.Death notice from The Virginia Gazette, June 3, 1773: "On Friday last died, at his house in Charles City, JOHN WAYLES, Esquire, attorney at law." Upon Wayles' death, Betty Hemings and her six children with John Wayles were moved "without hesitancy" to Monticello to prevent the Hemings from being separated. The estate was worth £30,000, but was in debt to Farrell and Jones in Bristol for £11,000. Wayles three sons-in-law, including Thomas Jefferson, decided to break up the estate and its debts. Martha and her husband Thomas Jefferson inherited the Willis Creek and Elk Hill plantations and a total of 135 people, including members of the Hemings family. They also inherited £4,000 in debt. Jefferson and other co-executors of the Wayles estate worked for years to clear the debt and the overwhelming debt led to Thomas Jefferson's financial ruin.
According to her daughter, Martha Jefferson was highly educated and musical, a constant reader, with a good nature and a vivacious temper that sometimes bordered on tartness. She had great affection for her husband. She was a little over tall, with a lithe figure, auburn hair, and hazel eyes. She was an accomplished needlewoman, some of her embroidery still exists. Martha maintained a collection of notes regarding her household duties and recipes, such as butchering and curing meat and the creation of large batches of soft and hard soap, candles, and beer. During her first year of marriage, she began the practice of brewing beer, producing that year.
Thomas limited his political service due to her health. Jefferson was in Philadelphia for the Second Continental Congress in 1776, where he drafted the Declaration of Independence over a period of two weeks in June 1776. He wished to return to her as soon as possible. Thomas served as governor and in the House of Delegates in Virginia. He declined the offer to serve as the commissioner to France made by the Continental Congress while she was alive.
Mrs. Jefferson's health worsened and she died on September 6, 1782, four months after the birth of her last child.
She was buried at Monticello and her tombstone was inscribed with words written by Thomas, the closing of which read: "Torn from him by death. September 6, 1782. This monument of his love is inscribed".
So that her children would not grow up with stepmothers, Martha had asked Thomas Jefferson to never marry again, and he never did. Her request has been attributed to her own disagreeable relationships with her stepmothers. At her death, she was 33; he was 39.Hyland, William G. Jr. Martha Jefferson: An Intimate Life with Thomas Jefferson. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2015; pg. 1
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