Martha Jefferson

The complicated life of Martha Jefferson Randolph intertwined closely with her famous father, Thomas Jefferson. He carefully oversaw her exceptional education in Philadelphia and Paris. Martha’s marriage to Thomas Randolph produced eleven children, but the couple was estranged due to his mental illness and alcoholism. She spent most of her time at Monticello with her father, raising her children. She oversaw the domestic staff, which included her enslaved half-aunt Sally Hemings and her children. As the executor of her father’s estate, the widowed Martha found herself in crippling debt and forced to sell Monticello.

Born: September 27, 1772, Albemarle County, Virginia

Died: October 10, 1836, Albemarle County, Virginia

Years Served: 1801 - 1809

Early Life and Family Background

Martha “Patsy” Jefferson Randolph was born at Monticello as the eldest daughter of Thomas Jefferson and Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson. After the death of her mother in 1782, ten-year-old Patsy Jefferson became her father’s closest emotional support. Jefferson described her as “the cherished companion of my afflictions,” and she was the only family member able to comfort him in his profound grief.

Patsy Jefferson grew up alongside her younger sister, Maria “Polly” Jefferson, and was additionally connected to the extended Wayles–Hemings family through her maternal grandfather, John Wayles. She was half-niece to the enslaved Hemings children: Elizabeth, Robert, James, Thenia, Critta, Peter, and Sarah “Sally” Hemings, who was the enslaved mistress of Thomas Jefferson at Monticello. This intertwined family history would shape much of Patsy’s adult life.

Education and Upbringing

Patsy Jefferson received an unusually thorough education for a young woman of her era. Her father, Thomas Jefferson personally oversaw her studies, emphasizing literature, languages, music, and moral philosophy.

In 1784, when Jefferson was appointed U.S. minister to France, he brought twelve-year-old Patsy to Paris and placed her at the prestigious Abbaye Royale de Panthemont, a convent school run by French nuns. There, she received rigorous instruction in needlework, religion, languages, and music. She became deeply influenced by the Catholic environment and even expressed interest in converting and taking religious vows. Alarmed, Thomas Jefferson immediately withdrew her and brought her to live with him as hostess of his Paris household.

Miss Jefferson thrived in European society, learned fluent French, and developed strong musical skill. She also reunited in Paris with her younger sister Polly and with their enslaved half-aunt Sally Hemings, who had accompanied Polly from Virginia.

Marriage and Family Life

Upon returning to the United States, Patsy Jefferson married Thomas Mann Randolph on February 23, 1790. Randolph, a member of one of Virginia’s oldest families, later served as a U.S. Congressman and Governor of Virginia. The couple had thirteen children, though several died young.

The Randolph marriage, while initially affectionate, grew increasingly troubled. Thomas Randolph struggled with alcoholism, financial instability, and mental illness. Although the couple eventually lived separately, Patsy Randolph returned to care for him during his final illness in 1829.

Role at Monticello

Patsy Randolph spent most of her adult life balancing duties between her own estate, Edgehill, and her father’s plantation at Monticello. She became Monticello’s principal hostess after her marriage, overseeing meals, linens, music, guest entertainment, and the complex domestic operations run by an enslaved household staff.

She supervised, among others, her half-aunt Sally Hemings, who held one of the most privileged domestic roles at Monticello, and Hemings’s children. Though she believed slavery to be morally wrong and especially devastating because it separated families, Patsy Randolph nonetheless continued to rely on enslaved labor, particularly when her family faced growing debts.

Patsy Randolph also inherited and curated an extensive collection of recipes. These included dishes she encountered in Paris and those gifted to her by leading political families, such as Abigail Adams, whose handwritten recipe for “creamed cheese” Patsy preserved.

Life in the White House

Contrary to popular belief, Martha Jefferson Randolph was not the primary White House hostess throughout Thomas Jefferson’s presidency. She was present in Washington only twice for extended periods - during the winter of 1802 and again in the winter of 1806.

During her second stay, she gave birth to her eighth child, James Madison Randolph, on January 17, 1806, making him the first child born in the White House. During her earlier visit in 1802, she was accompanied by her sister Polly Jefferson Eppes, who died two years later from complications shortly after childbirth. Polly’s widower, John “Jack” Eppes, later lived at the White House while serving in Congress, as did Thomas Randolph during his own congressional term.

While not a continuous White House Hostess, Patsy Randolph was her father’s indispensable emotional anchor and political asset. Her presence and that of her children helped Jefferson cultivate a family-centered image that softened political attacks. Patsy’s immediate arrival in Washington with her children served as a visible statement of unity and support.

Later Years and Struggles

Following Jefferson’s presidency, Patsy Randolph continued managing Edgehill and Monticello’s domestic affairs during her father’s visits home. Jefferson’s mounting debts ultimately forced his daughter, as executor of his estate, to sell Monticello and many of its enslaved inhabitants.

After Jefferson’s death in 1826, she lived for a time with her daughter Ellen Coolidge in Boston before relocating again to Virginia and later to Washington, D.C., where she frequently visited her daughter Septimia Meikleham. She was welcomed as a guest in the White House by President Andrew Jackson, who respected her father’s legacy.

Although some members of Congress proposed granting her a federal pension, none materialized. Two states, South Carolina and Louisiana, did provide her with cash gifts totaling $2,000, which she accepted in her final years.

Death and Will

Martha Jefferson Randolph died on October 10, 1836, during a visit to Virginia, and was buried at Monticello beside her parents.

In 1834, she dictated an informal addendum to her will requesting that her half-aunt, Sally Hemings, be given her “time”—a term used to signify a quasi-freedom for enslaved people. Because Virginia law required freed individuals to leave the state, the request would have forced Hemings into exile; in the end, it was moot, as Sally Hemings died in 1835, a year before Patsy.

Legacy

Martha “Patsy” Jefferson Randolph remains one of the most influential daughters in presidential history. Raised amid the profound contradictions of liberty and slavery, she became her father’s confidante, advisor, hostess, and emotional anchor. She shaped the social world of Monticello, contributed to early American political culture, and raised a large family whose members held prominent roles in the nineteenth century.

Her life reflects the complexities of the early Republic—its ideals, its family bonds, and its deep entanglement with slavery. As caretaker of Thomas Jefferson’s legacy and manager of the Monticello household, Patsy Randolph’s influence extended far beyond her father’s presidency and continues to inform the historical understanding of Jefferson’s personal and political world.