JEFFERSON'S MARRIAGE LICENSE-BOND (Fac-simile).................. 42 PART OF DRAFT OF DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE (Fac-simile)........... 52 Martha Jefferson RANDOLPH (From Portrait by Sully).......................................... 65 289 MONTICELLO (Plan of the First Floor) ........ 334 THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA (In 1850)............................... 386 432 THE DOMESTIC LIFE OF JEFFERSON. CHAPTER I. Jefferson's Birthplace. -Sketch of his early Life.-Character of his Parents. His Grandfather, Isham Randolph.-Peter Jefferson's Friendship for William Randolph.-Randolph dies, and leaves his young Son to the Guardianship of Jefferson.-His faithful Discharge of the Trust.-Thomas Jefferson's earliest Recollections.-His Father's Hospitality.-First Acquaintance with Indians.—Life of the early Settlers of Virginia: its Ease and Leisure.-Expense of Thomas Jefferson's early Education.Death of his Father.-Perils of his Situation.-Letter to his Guardian. -Goes to William and Mary College.-Extract from his Memoir.Sketch of Fauquier.—Of Wythe. ON a long, gently sloping hill five miles east of Charlottesville, Virginia, the traveller, passing along the county road of Albemarle, has pointed out to him the spot where Thomas Jefferson was born, April 13th, 1743. A few aged locust-trees are still left to mark the place, and two or three sycamores stretch out their long majestic arms over the greensward beneath, once the scene of young Jefferson's boyish games, but now a silent pasture, where cattle and sheep browse, undisturbed by the proximity of any dwelling. The trees are all that are left of an avenue planted by him on his twenty-first birthday, and, as such, are objects of peculiar interest to those who love to dwell upon the associations of the past. The situation is one well suited for a family mansion-offering from its site a landscape view rarely surpassed. To the south are seen the picturesque valley and banks of the Rivanna, with an extensive, peaceful-looking horizon view, lying like a sleeping beauty, in the east; while long rolling B hills, occasionally rising into mountain ranges until at last they are all lost in the gracefully-sweeping profile of the Blue Ridge, stretch westward, and the thickly - wooded Southwest Mountains, with the highly-cultivated fields and valleys intervening, close the scene on the north, and present landscapes whose exquisite enchantment must ever charm the beholder. A brief sketch of Jefferson's family and early life is given in the following quotation from his Memoir, written by himself: January 6, 1821.-At the age of 77, I begin to make some memoranda, and state some recollections of dates and facts concerning myself, for my own more ready reference, and for the information of my family. The tradition in my father's family was, that their ancestor came to this country from Wales, and from near the mountain of Snowden, the highest in Great Britain. I noted once a case from Wales in the law reports, where a person of our name was either plaintiff or defendant; and one of the same name was Secretary to the Virginia Company. These are the only instances in which I have met with the name in that country. I have found it in our early records; but the first particular information I have of any ancestor was of my grandfather, who lived at the place in Chesterfield called Osborne's, and owned the lands afterwards the ♦ glebe of the parish. He had three sons: Thomas, who died young; Field, who settled on the waters of the Roanoke, and left numerous descendants; and Peter, my father, who settled on the lands I still own, called Shadwell, adjoining my present residence. He was born February 29th, 1708, and intermarried 1739 with Jane Randolph, of the age of 19, daughter of Isham Randolph, one of the seven sons of that name and family settled at Dungeness, in Goochland. They trace their pedigree far back in England and Scotland, to which let every one ascribe the faith and merit he chooses. My father's education had been quite neglected; but being of a strong mind, sound judgment, and eager after information, he read much, and improved himself; insomuch that he was chosen, with Joshua Fry, Professor of Mathematics in |