The first church building Hugh Howard and Roger Straus, Thomas Jefferson, Architect: The Built Legacy of our Third President (New York: Rizzoli, 2003), 183.
“When do you make abjuration?” Bettie Hawkins to MJR, n.d., Acc. 1397, ViU.
“seduce[d] Miss Jefferson” Morning Post (London), 16 May 1788. I am grateful to my assistant, Emily Hatcher McCloskey, for locating this notice.
“the earliest intelligence of it” These quotes come from three undated letters from Bettie Hawkins to Martha Jefferson, although archivists have appended the dates 1788 and 1789 in brackets. Acc. 1397, ViU. With the newspaper notice, it is clear the last dates to 17 May 1788.
A revolt Sarah Nicholas Randolph, a great-granddaughter of Jefferson, published this story, much told in Jefferson-Randolph family tradition. Randolph, Domestic Life, 146. No documentation from either Jefferson or his daughter survives to support it, however. In any event, it was eleven months from the newspaper report to Jefferson’s withdrawal of his daughters from the school.
“seems to have great tendencies” Quoted in Julian P. Boyd, ed., The Papers of Thomas Jefferson (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1950), 14:356.
Marie de Botidoux Marie de Botidoux to MJR, January 1790, Acc. 5385-aa, ViU.
“At your age” MJR to Septimia Randolph, 2 December 1832, Acc. 4726-b, ViU. Jefferson assembled a new book he called The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth for his use.
As Martha saw in Paris Rousselot, Histoire de Pentemont, 37; Vera Lee, The Reign of Women in Eighteenth-Century France (Cambridge, Mass.: Schenkman Publishing Company, 1975), 82.
The Abbess had persuaded Marcel Fosseyeux, “Une abbesse de Panthémont au XVIII Siècle: Madame de Béthisy de Mézières, 1743–1789,” Revue du Dix-huitième Siècle 5 (1918), 1–16.
In spite of the abolition Choudhury, Convents and Nuns, 176–83. Choudhury points out the irony of their position, however: “Women religious came to represent the crimes and excesses which some of them had opposed in the eighteenth century.”
But it is to say Natalie Zemon Davis, Women on the Margins: Three Seventeenth-Century Lives (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1995). See particularly Marie de l’Incarnation.
As we have seen Marquis de Chastellux to TJ, Paris, 24 August 1784, PTJDE.
“entirely at your disposal” Rice, Thomas Jefferson’s Paris, 61–62. On the invitation to Versailles, Adrienne de La Fayette to TJ, 26 August 1786, PTJDE. On dining at their home, TJ to MJR, 14 June 1787, in Betts and Bear, Family Letters, 44. George Shackelford notes that “Patsy’s sponsor [at Panthemont] was Comtesse de Brionne, the niece of the Abbess Béthisy de Mézières.” Shackelford, Thomas Jefferson’s Travels, 172n18.
Just blocks away Anne Cary Morris, ed., The Diary and Letters of Gouverneur Morris: Minister of the United States to France; Member of the Constitutional Convention, Etc. (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1888), 1:35–36.
Probably the most brilliant salons The function and influence of the salons in French culture are an ongoing historiographic debate that is beyond the scope of this book. My point here is to argue that on all sides, Martha Jefferson saw lively, educated, elite women engaged in conversations with men about all branches of learning. Joan B. Landes, Women and the Public Sphere in the Age of the French Revolution (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1988).
In her fifties Kimball, Jefferson: The Scene of Europe, 101; Hayes, Road to Monticello, 297.
“quite the first salon” Morris, The Diary and Letters of Gouverneur Morris, 188.
Gouverneur Morris See, for example, ibid., 8, 166.
Young as she was Journal and Correspondence of Miss Adams, 1 September 1784 and again on 9 May 1785, 17 and 74.
Madame Houdetot “Maria Jefferson Eppes and her Little Son, Francis,” by Mrs. Nicholas (Susan) Ware Eppes, ICJS, 9; Madame Houdetot to TJ, 7 July 1789, PTJDE.
The affectionate relationship De Tessé loved British novels and often conducted readings of them in her salon evenings. George Green Shackelford, Jefferson’s Adoptive Son: The Life of William Short, 1759–1848 (University Press of Kentucky, 1993), 24–25.
“You need not dress” Caroline Tufton to MJR, Wednesday 1 July [1789], FLDA.
“the Dutchess of Devonshire” Ibid., [1789].
“And beaucoup [a lot]” Randolph, “Mrs. Thomas Mann Randolph,” 20–21.
Jefferson’s lodgings William Short to TJ, 14 March 1788, PTJDE.
Kitty (Catherine) Church TJ to MJR, Paris, 16 June 1788; TJ to MJ, 28 June 1787, in Betts and Bear, Family Letters, 44–45. Andrew Burstein, The Inner Jefferson: Portrait of a Grieving Optimist (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1995), 108.
“Make it a rule” TJ to MJ, 4 November 1786, in Betts and Bear, Family Letters, 31.
Martha would have been Journal and Correspondence of Miss Adams, 44, 50.
Sundays featured concerts Élisabeth Vigée Lebrun quoted in Marie Kimball, “Jefferson in Paris,” North American Review 248 (Autumn 1939): 73–86. Nabby Adams recorded two January 1785 visits to the Palais Royal: one with her brother, after the theater, and another to meet Anne Bingham. Journal and Correspondence of Miss Adams, 39, 44.
“one of the principal ornaments” TJ to Dr. James Currie, 14 January 1785, PTJDE.
She, Caroline and Elizabeth Marie Ball to MJR, Wednesday [Tuesday?] morning 23 June [1789], FLDA.
Nabby Adams had noticed Journal and Correspondence of Miss Adams, 34.
With its strategic mix Frederic Masson, quoted in Weigert, Un Centenaire: Le Temple de Pentemont, 20. Following Masson, Andrea Stuart argues that Caribbean-born Rose de Beauharnais’s sojourn in Panthemont was key to her integration to French society and to polishing the presentation that would one day attract the attentions of Napoléon Bonaparte. Andrea Stuart, The Rose of Martinique: A Life of Napoleon’s Josephine (New York: Grove Press, 2003), 76–79.
These older women boarders Zujovic, “Short History of Pentemont,” ICJS. This pamphlet includes floor plans for the three floors of the convent and school.
This was a common practice The separation of boarders from students was also usual. Rapley, Social History of the Cloister, 236.
A former student Jeanne-Louise-Henriette Campan, quoted in Fosseyeux, “Une abbesse de Panthemont,” 5. See also Lee, The Reign of Women, 7; Sonnet, L’Éducation des filles, 27.
“if every husband” MJR to TJ, 9 April 1787, Betts and Bear, Family Letters, 37–38.
She was very much Rousselot, Histoire de Pentemont, 39; Samia I. Spencer, “Women and Education,” 86; Goodman, Becoming a Woman, 78.
Three princesses Journal and Correspondence of Miss Adams, 27; Sonnet, L’Éducation des filles, 96; Maria (Polly) Jefferson joined her sister in the summer of 1787.
“for fear of taking” MJR to TJ, 25 March 1787, in Betts and Bear, Family Letters, 33.
Some thought MJR to TJ, 8 March 1787 and 3 May 1787, in Betts and Bear, Family Letters, 32, 39.
“demon of democracy” Botidoux to MJR, 4 November 1789; 4 December 1789, Acc. 1397, ViU.
Pensionnaires were allowed MJR to TJ, 9 April 1787, in Betts and Bear, Family Letters, 37.
“Know exactly” TJ to MJR, 16 June 1788, in Betts and Bear, Family Letters, 44–45.
The daughter of the Duc Rousselot, Histoire de L’Abbaye de Pentemont, 38.
“I think we are kept” J[ulia] Annesley to MJR, 20 April 1786, Acc. 1397, ViU.
Nevertheless, within a year MJR to Eliza House Trist, [after 25 August 1785], PTJDE.
“Ah! Mais vraiment” Randolph, “Mrs. Thomas Mann Randolph,” 17–18.
CHAPTER 4: FAMILIES REUNITED
“had we met with her” TJ to Elizabeth Wayles Eppes (EWE), 28 July 1787, PTJDE.
The warmth of the day TJMB, 1:790.
She was undoubtedly wearing Abigail Adams (AA) to TJ, 10 July 1787, Cappon, Letters, 185.
“As she had left” AA to TJ, 6 July 1787, Cappon, Letters, 183.
Or perhaps the Virginia Gordon-Reed, Hemi
ngses, 204–5.
“lying messengers” TJ to Maria Cosway, 12 October 1786, PTJDE.
It was a tie Burstein, Inner Jefferson, 79–85; Kukla, Mr. Jefferson’s Women, 98–103.
“What she thinks” AA to TJ, 10 July 1787, Cappon, Letters, 185.
“reconcile her little Sister” AA to TJ, 26 June 1787, Cappon, Letters, 178.
“When she arrives” TJ to MJR, 7 April 1787, in Betts and Bear, Family Letters, 36.
“render my happiness” MJR to TJ, 9 April 1787, in ibid., 37.
No portrait was ever “Account of Mrs. Nicholas Ware Eppes,” ICJS.
“beautifull girl” AA to Mary Smith Cranch, 16 July 1787. The Adams Papers Digital Edition, ed. Sara Martin (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, Rotunda, 2008–2017).
“lovely Girl” Extract from Diary of Nathaniel Cutting at LeHavre and Cowes, 12 October 1789, PTJDE.
“beautiful” Gaillard Hunt, ed., The First Forty Years of Washington Society in the Family Letters of Margaret Bayard Smith (1906; repr., New York: Frederick Ungar, 1965), 34.
“She was low” Jefferson, Memoirs of a Monticello Slave, 5; Peachy Gilmer, “Peachy R. Gilmer Memoir,” in Francis Walker Gilmer, ed. Richard Beale Davis (Richmond: Dietz Press, 1939), 373.
“large, loosely made” Gilmer, “Memoir,” 373.
“a delicate likeness” Hunt, First Forty Years of Washington Society, 232.
“dignified and highly agreeable” Randall, Jefferson, 2:223.
“beaming with intelligence” Hunt, First Forty Years of Washington Society, 232; Gilmer, “Memoir,” 373.
“delicacy and sensibility” 27 January 1785. Journal and Correspondence of Miss Adams, 45.
“frank, communicative” [Unknown] “Mrs. Thomas Mann Randolph, Eldest Daughter of Thomas Jefferson” by a Granddaughter, The American Monthly Magazine: Historic, Patriotic 17 (July 1900 by DAR): 30.
“break so painful” MJR to TJ, 8 [March] 1787, in Betts and Bear, Family Letters, 32.
“I have not been able TJ to MJR, 7 April 1787, in Betts and Bear, Family Letters, 36.
“leading her” TJ to EWE, 28 July 1787, PTJDE.
Francis Eppes TJMB, 1:522.
“not wish its continuance” TJ to EWE, [3? October 1782], PTJDE.
“mightily like her sister” Jefferson, Memories of Monticello Slave, 15.
“Here all is good humor” Edward C. Carter II and Angeline Polites, eds., The Virginia Journals of Benjamin Henry Latrobe, 1795–98 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1977), 2:259.
“you would have found” TJ to Eliza House Trist, 15 December 1786, PTJDE.
Eppes’s cordial empathy TJ to Francis Eppes, 24 January 1786, PTJDE.
It may be something Scharff, Women Jefferson Loved, 151.
Eppes coordinated Martha Jefferson Carr to TJ, 2 January 1787, Boyd, Papers, vol. 15, Supplementary Documents, 632–33.
“Dear little Polly” Ibid.
“often mentions you” Francis Eppes to TJ, 22 December 1783, PTJDE.
“dear Poll” TJ to Francis Eppes, 10 November 1783, PTJDE.
“I was mighty glad” Mary Jefferson to TJ, 1 April 1784, in Betts and Bear, Family Letters, 25.
Francis and Elizabeth Eppes Genealogical records are incomplete for this family. Francis Eppes to TJ, 22 December 1783; Francis Eppes to TJ, 14 October 1784, PTJDE; pennock.ws/surnames/fam/fam13935.html, accessed 14 November 2012.
“prittyly” Martha Jefferson Carr to TJ, 6 May 1785, PTJDE.
“Mrs Eppes is Extreemly anxious” Martha Jefferson Carr to TJ, 22 May 1786, PTJDE.
“French English erethmatick” Francis Eppes to TJ, 31 August 1786, Boyd, Papers, 15:631.
“Books are her delight” AA to TJ, 6 July 1787, Cappon, Letters, 184.
“No,” she replied TJ to Francis Hopkinson, 13 March 1789, PTJDE.
An inventory taken “Inventory of the property of Elizabeth Wayles Eppes,” in Martha McCartney, “A Documentary History of Eppington, Chesterfield County, VA,” 67–69. Typescript report, February 1994. ICJS.
“quickest sensibility” AA to TJ, 6 July 1787. Cappon, Letters, 183.
“They as well as” Francis Eppes to TJ, 16 September 1784, PTJDE.
“It is almost impossible” EWE to TJ, 13 October 1784, PTJDE.
“the Complicated evils” Dr. James Currie to TJ, 20 November 1784, PTJDE. Elizabeth Eppes’s letter was not received until 6 May 1785. TJ learned of his daughter’s death from this letter, which arrived on 26 January 1785, having been brought to France by Lafayette. Editors’ notes, PTJDE. Martha Jefferson Carr to TJ, 15 April 1784. Boyd, Papers, 613. On treating pertussis, see: medicinenet.com/pertussis/page5.htm#what_is_the_treatment_for_whooping_cough, accessed 15 November 2012.
“It is in vain” TJ to Francis Eppes, 5 February 1785, PTJDE.
“Mr Jefferson is a man” Journal and Correspondence of Miss Adams, 68.
“wish to have Polly” TJ to Francis Eppes, Summary Journal of Letters, 13 January 1785, PTJDE.
“I must have Polly” Editors’ note, PTJDE. TJ to Francis Eppes, 11 May 1785.
“hang on my mind” TJ to Francis Eppes, 30 August 1785, PTJDE. A great loss is the letter of the same date that Martha wrote to Elizabeth Eppes, accompanying her father’s. Only Nabby Adams’s observations remain to testify to Martha’s grief.
“some strange fatality” Francis Eppes to TJ, 11 April 1786, PTJDE.
“very much afraid” Martha Jefferson Carr to TJ, 5 May 1786, PTJDE.
“tho after much ado” Martha Jefferson Carr to TJ, 22 May 1786, PTJDE.
“Nothing but force” Francis Eppes to TJ, 23 May 1786, PTJDE.
Eppes would later blame Francis Eppes to TJ, 31 August 1786, PTJDE.
“not withstanding” John Wayles Eppes to TJ, 22 May 1786, PTJDE.
“She says she has” Martha Jefferson Carr to TJ, 22 May 1786, PTJDE.
“I long to see you” Maria Jefferson to TJ, [22 May 1786], Betts and Bear, Family Letters, 31.
“as many dolls” TJ to Maria Jefferson, 20 September 1785, Betts and Bear, Family Letters, 29.
But so intractable Eliza House Trist to TJ, 24 July 1786, PTJDE.
A regular visitor James Currie to TJ, 9 July 1786, PTJDE.
“I can not go” Maria Jefferson to TJ, [31 March 1787], Betts and Bear, Family Letters, 36.
“countermanding your orders” EWE to TJ, [31 March 1787], PTJDE.
“must at last” Martha Jefferson Carr reporting EWE’s words to TJ, 2 January 1787, PTJDE.
stranded at home EWE to TJ, 7 May 1787, PTJDE.
The pangs of grief TJ to Francis Eppes, 26 May 1787, PTJDE.
Jefferson’s sister Mary Jefferson Bolling to TJ, 3 May 1787, PTJDE; Martha Jefferson Carr to TJ, 27 April 1787, PTJDE; EWE to TJ, 7 May 1787, PTJDE.
“vexation and the affliction” Andrew Ramsay to TJ, 6 July 1787, PTJDE.
“as rough as” AA to TJ, 6 July 1787, Cappon, Letters, 183.
in accommodations Mary Jefferson Bolling to TJ, 3 May 1787, PTJDE.
“She was so much attached” AA to TJ, 26 June 1787, Cappon, Letters, 178.
Ever wary of AA to TJ, 27 June 1787, Cappon, Letters, 179.
the little girl confided AA to TJ, 6 July 1787, Cappon, Letters, 183.
“Oh, now I have” AA to TJ, 20 May 1804, Cappon, Letters, 269.
“Polly had learned” Scharff, Women Jefferson Loved, 184.
“did not succeed” Dumas Malone, “Polly Jefferson and Her Father,” Virginia Quarterly Review 7 (January 1931): 95.
“could ride a horse” Scharff, Women Jefferson Loved, 148, 278.
“If I must go” AA to TJ, 10 July 1787, Cappon, Letters, 185.
“to go out” TJ to Maria Jefferson, 20 September 1785, Betts and Bear, Family Letters, 30.
“She fancies” TJ to AA, 30 August 1787, Cappon, Letters, 193–94.
Ten-year-old Sally Hemings Gordon-Reed, Hemingses, 143.
the girls were very fond AA to TJ, 27 June 1787, Cap
pon, Letters, 179.
Elizabeth could have Scharff, Women Jefferson Loved, 176–80.
to supply the comfort Gordon-Reed, Hemingses, 201.
“the old Nurse” AA to TJ, 26 June 1787 and 27 June 1787, in Cappon, Letters, 178–79.
“the girl she has” AA to TJ, 6 July 1787, in Cappon, Letters, 183.
Whatever the cause Gordon-Reed, Hemingses, 194–95, 205–6.
Captain Ramsay had Andrew Ramsay to TJ, 6 July 1787, PTJDE.
knew no such attentions Gordon-Reed, Hemingses, 207.
“accustomed to her” AA to TJ, 26 June 1787, Cappon, Letters, 178.
It required courage Scharff, Women Jefferson Loved, 180–82.
the new clothes AA to TJ, enclosure to letter, 10 July 1787, Cappon, Letters, 186–87.
For Sally’s part Gordon-Reed, Hemingses, 209.
James had been training Gordon-Reed, Hemingses, 163–66.
When his sister arrived Gordon-Reed, Hemingses, 226.
a different way of life Annette Gordon-Reed has discussed James Hemings in Paris at length; see Hemingses, chapters 7, 8, 11, and 12.
he paid dearly TJMB, 7 November 1787, 1:685; Gordon-Reed, Hemingses, 216, for today’s equivalent.
“may have been” Gordon-Reed, Hemingses, 221, 223.
received wages TJMB, January, November, and December 1788, 1:690, 718, 722.
“well above that” Gordon-Reed, Hemingses, 235–38.
Hemings-Jefferson controversy For a more detailed account of this debate, see Catherine Kerrison, “Sally Hemings,” in A Companion to Thomas Jefferson, ed. Francis Cogliano (West Sussex, UK: Blackwell Publishing, 2012), 284–300.
Such a woman Gordon-Reed, Hemingses, 269 and chapters 13 and 15.
The calculations of this relationship Gordon-Reed, Hemingses, chapters 16 and 17.
“To induce her” Madison Hemings, “Memoirs of Madison Hemings,” in Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy, Annette Gordon-Reed (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1997), 246; Gordon-Reed, Hemingses, chapter 14.
“During that time” Hemings, “Memoirs,” 246.
the word concubine Gordon-Reed, Hemingses, 107.
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