Program Information

The wife of Thomas Jefferson never served as first lady. When Jefferson became President in 1801 he had been a widower for nearly two decades.

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Transcript

Lead: The wife of Thomas Jefferson never served as first lady.

Tag: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts.

Content: Martha Wayles Skelton was a wealthy young widow in 1770 when the tall, gangly, red-haired Thomas Jefferson began the courtship that would lead to their marriage. She played the harpsichord, he the violin and, as the months passed, their mutual love of music brought them closer together. After their wedding on New Year's Day in 1772, they left her home near Williamsburg, Virginia, traveling by carriage the 100 miles to Monticello. On the way a powerful snowstorm forced them to switch to horseback, having to negotiate drifts sometimes 18 inches deep. They came to the all-but-deserted house after the servants had gone to bed. Later both would remember the "horrible dreariness of such" a homecoming and the welcome relief of a half-filled bottle of wine. Martha Jefferson was home.

Mrs. Jefferson's health was never good, and bearing Tom six children in ten years did little to improve her condition. Only two of the children lived beyond infancy. After the last birth in 1782, Martha's health collapsed and she died in September. There is a legend that, as she was failing, he promised never to remarry. Whether such is true or not, he never did.

When Jefferson became President in 1801 he had been a widower for nearly two decades. His daughter Patsy and Dolley Madison, the vibrant wife of Secretary of State James Madison, acted as hostesses at social functions. During the Jefferson years, the White House reflected the more casual lifestyle of a single man, with the President eliminating many social functions and dressing down with appropriate "republican simplicity." It is reputed that the British ambassador was once received at the White House with Jefferson still wearing the presidential bedroom slippers.

Martha Jefferson would have served as first lady with flair and grace, but she would probably not have been consulted on weighty matters of state. Jefferson's views on the role of women were very traditional. Young women, he once wrote his daughters, should avoid novels and poetry and learn dancing, drawing, French, music and needlework. Her job was to run the household. He was clearly a man of the 18th century.

At the University of Richmond, this is Dan Roberts.

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