Thomas Jefferson Randolph facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Thomas Jefferson Randolph
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Portrait by Charles Willson Peale
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| Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from the Albemarle district |
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| In office December 5, 1831 – December 1, 1833 Serving with Rice W. Wood, Thomas W. Gilmer
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| Preceded by | Thomas W. Gilmer |
| Succeeded by | Valentine W. Southall |
| Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from the Albemarle district |
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| In office December 1, 1834 – December 6, 1835 Serving with Alexander Rives
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| Preceded by | Valentine W. Southall |
| Succeeded by | Valentine W. Southall |
| Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from the Albemarle district |
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| In office December 5, 1836 – January 6, 1839 Serving with Alexander Rives
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| Preceded by | Valentine W. Southall |
| Succeeded by | Valentine W. Southall |
| Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from the Albemarle district |
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| In office December 5, 1842 – December 3, 1843 Serving with Sheldon F. Leake
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| Preceded by | Valentine W. Southall |
| Succeeded by | Valentine W. Southall |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 12, 1792 Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | October 8, 1875 (aged 83) Albemarle County, Virginia, U.S. |
| Resting place | Monticello |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse |
Jane Hollins Nicholas
(m. 1815; died 1871) |
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| Profession | Politician, planter, lawyer, soldier |
| Known for | Grandfather and namesake Thomas Jefferson |
| Signature | .png){kind=small} |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Confederate States |
| Branch/service |  Confederate army |
| Rank |  Colonel |
| Battles/wars | American Civil War |
Thomas Jefferson Randolph (born September 12, 1792 – died October 8, 1875) was an important figure from Albemarle County, Virginia. He was a farmer who owned large plantations, a soldier, and a politician. He served many terms in the Virginia House of Delegates. He was also the leader (rector) of the University of Virginia. During the American Civil War, he was a colonel in the Confederate army.
Thomas Jefferson Randolph was the favorite grandson of President Thomas Jefferson. He helped manage Jefferson's home, Monticello, in his grandfather's later years. After Jefferson died, Randolph was in charge of his estate. He also took part in important political meetings in Virginia in 1850 and 1861.
Contents
Early Life and Family
Thomas Jefferson Randolph was the oldest son of Thomas Mann Randolph Jr. and Martha Jefferson Randolph. His father later became the governor of Virginia. His mother, Martha, was the oldest daughter of U.S. President Thomas Jefferson. This made Thomas Jefferson Randolph the oldest grandson of President Jefferson.
He was born into one of the "First Families of Virginia," which were prominent families in the state. He was also a direct descendant of Pocahontas. He had an older sister and seven other younger brothers and sisters.
Randolph received a private education, which was common for wealthy families at the time. He spent part of his childhood at Monticello, his grandfather's home, and also at Poplar Forest, another of Jefferson's plantations. In 1809, his parents moved into Monticello.
When Randolph was 15, in 1807, his father sent him to Philadelphia for more studies. There, he focused on subjects like botany (the study of plants), other natural sciences, and anatomy.
Randolph became the leader of his family as he grew older. In 1819, he was involved in an incident at the Albemarle County courthouse. This caused concern for his grandfather, Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson died when Randolph was 34, and his father passed away two years later.
Marriage and Children
In 1815, Thomas Jefferson Randolph married Jane Hollins Nicholas (1798–1871). Her father, Wilson Cary Nicholas, was a former Congressman and Senator. He also served as Governor of Virginia, just like Jefferson and Randolph's father.
Jane Nicholas Randolph started and taught at a school on their Edgehill estate. She taught there from 1829 until 1850. Thomas and Jane Randolph had thirteen children together:
- Margaret Smith Randolph (1816–1842)
- Martha Jefferson ('Patsy') Randolph II (1817–1857)
- Mary Buchanan Randolph (1818–1821)
- Careyanne Nicholas Randolph (1820–1857)
- Mary Buchanan Randolph (1821–1884)
- Eleanor Wayles Randolph (1823–1896)
- Maria Jefferson Carr Randolph (1826–1902)
- Carolina Ramsey Randolph (1828–1902)
- Thomas Jefferson Randolph, Jr. (1829–1872)
- Jane Nicholas Randolph (1831–1868)
- Wilson Cary Nicholas Randolph (1834–1907)
- Meriwether Lewis Randolph (1837–1871)
- Sarah Nicholas Randolph (1839–1892)
Managing Plantations and Jefferson's Estate
Thomas Jefferson Randolph was a planter and a respected citizen in Albemarle County. Like his father and grandfathers, he managed plantations, including Monticello, using enslaved labor. In 1815, he began managing Monticello for his mother and grandfather. He also leased other farms from Jefferson, like Tufton and Lego. He built a stone house at Tufton and moved his family there.
Randolph was very close to his grandfather. In Thomas Jefferson's will, written in 1826, Randolph was named the executor of his estate. This meant he was responsible for handling all of Jefferson's property and debts after his death.
Jefferson's estate had many debts when he died on July 4, 1826. To pay these debts, Randolph had to sell many of Monticello's belongings and property. This included about 130 enslaved people. On January 19, 1827, about six months after Jefferson's death, a large sale took place. This sale helped pay off a significant portion of the estate's debts.
His mother, Martha Randolph, did not sell Sally Hemings at the auction. Instead, she allowed her to live freely in Charlottesville, Virginia with her two younger sons. Jefferson had formally freed two of Sally Hemings's sons, Madison and Eston, in his will. Two of their older siblings had also left Monticello years earlier.
In the 1850 federal census, Randolph owned 46 enslaved people in Albemarle County. In the 1860 census, he owned 34 enslaved people who lived with him. His son, Thomas Jefferson Randolph Jr., also owned enslaved people.
Political Career
Voters in Albemarle County elected Thomas Randolph many times to serve as a delegate in the Virginia House of Delegates. This was a part-time role. He often served alongside Alexander Rives, who was a friend of Randolph's since their school days.
After Nat Turner's slave rebellion in 1831, Randolph proposed a plan in the Virginia House of Delegates. This plan would have slowly freed children born into slavery after July 3, 1840. They would have to work as apprentices and then leave Virginia when they became adults. However, this plan was defeated by a vote of 73 to 58.
In 1850, Randolph was elected as one of four delegates to the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1850. He represented Albemarle, Nelson, and Amherst Counties.
Author and Educator
In 1829, Randolph published a collection of his grandfather's writings called Memoir, Correspondence and Miscellanies: from the Papers of Thomas Jefferson. This was the first time many of Jefferson's writings were published together.
Soon after, Randolph became a member of the Board of Visitors at the nearby University of Virginia. This board helps oversee the university.
Randolph also allowed his wife and unmarried sisters to teach school at the original house on his Edgehill estate, starting in 1829. His sister, Cornelia Randolph, taught painting, drawing, and sculpture there.
From 1857 to 1864, Randolph served as the rector (the head) of the University of Virginia. He took over this role from Andrew Stevenson.
Civil War and Later Years
Voters in Albemarle County also elected Randolph as a delegate to the Virginia Secession Convention of 1861. His youngest brother, George Wythe Randolph, was also a delegate and supported Virginia leaving the United States. George W. Randolph later became the Confederate States Army Secretary of War for eight months in 1862.
During the American Civil War, Thomas Jefferson Randolph held the rank of colonel in the Confederate Army. However, he likely did not fight in battles. Many plantation owners who owned more than 10 enslaved people were excused from active military service.
After the war, Randolph remained active in politics. He served as the temporary chairman of the 1872 Democratic National Convention.
Death and Legacy
Thomas Jefferson Randolph died at his home, Edgehill, on October 7, 1875. He passed away after a carriage accident. He was buried next to his wife in the Monticello family graveyard.
His Tufton estate is now part of Monticello and is home to the Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants. Many of his and his family's letters are kept at the University of Virginia library.
Historical Discussions About Jefferson's Family
Historians have long discussed the family life of Thomas Jefferson. In the 1860s, historian Henry S. Randall wrote about a story that suggested President Jefferson had children with one of his enslaved people, Sally Hemings. Randall noted that Thomas Jefferson Randolph, Jefferson's grandson, had personally observed that some of the Hemings children looked very similar to his grandfather.
In the 1850s, Randolph told biographer Henry Randall that Jefferson's nephew, Peter Carr, was the father of Hemings's children. He also stated that his mother had told him Jefferson was away for 15 months before one of Sally Hemings's children was born, meaning he could not have been the father.
However, in 1998, a Y-DNA study was conducted. This study looked at the male descendants of the Carr family and the Hemings family. The results showed no genetic link between the Carr and Hemings lines for the descendants of Eston Hemings, Sally's youngest son. The study did show a match between the Jefferson male line and the descendant of Eston Hemings. This suggested a male from the Jefferson line was the father. The test did not provide information about Sally Hemings's other children.
Historian Andrew Burstein has commented that the Jefferson family members who denied the connection in the mid-1800s blamed two of Jefferson's nephews. However, their DNA did not match. This suggests that no other Jefferson male had the same close access to Sally Hemings as President Jefferson did.
Images for kids
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Thomas Jefferson Randolph's signature
