Third Week of Preparing Appendix for "Jefferson’s Masterpiece"

As I worked last week on Thomas Jefferson’s biographical sketch for the appendix of Jefferson’s Masterpiece, I learned some facts about his life that I didn’t know. Most everyone can recite Jefferson’s major accomplishments – author of the Declaration of Independence, first Secretary of State of the United States, second American Vice President and third President of the United States. But did you know that his home at Monticello is filled with examples of his inventiveness and innovations? Examples of the things he invented and constructed include a moldboard plow of least resistance, a machine for duplicating a document, a revolving bookstand, a wheel cipher to encode and decode messages, a seven-day clock, dumbwaiters and automatic double doors.

In some respects, Jefferson’s life was very sad. For example, his marriage to Martha Wayles Skelton only lasted ten years. She died four months after the birth of their sixth child. It is reported that he did not leave his room for three weeks following Martha’s funeral. Martha was 34 years old when she died and he was 39. He lived 44 more years and never remarried.

Only two of their six children lived to adulthood. A son died at birth, two daughters lived for a year and a third daughter lived two years. The strange thing about their last two children – daughters – is that they shared the same name – Lucy Elizabeth Jefferson. The first Lucy lived a year and the second Lucy lived to the age of two. Their first and fourth children, both daughters, lived to become adults. Martha “Patsy” Jefferson Randolph Jefferson, their first born, was the only child to survive Jefferson.

Last week was very productive. In addition to preparing Jefferson’s biographical information, I also completed biographical sketches for each of the signers, and I started working on a section for the appendix that will detail what happened to the 56 men after they signed the Declaration of Independence.

I appreciate you spending time with me today,

Dennis