Peter Jefferson | |
|---|---|
| Member of the VirginiaHouse of Burgesses fromAlbemarle County | |
| In office 1754–1755 Serving with Allen Howard | |
| Preceded by | Joshua Fry |
| Succeeded by | William Cabell |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1708-02-29)February 29, 1708 |
| Died | August 17, 1757(1757-08-17) (aged 49) Albemarle County, Virginia,British America |
| Resting place | Shadwell, Albemarle County, Virginia |
| Spouse | Jane Randolph (m. 1739) |
| Children | 10, includingThomas,Lucy, andRandolph |
| Parents |
|
| Occupation | Tobacco plantation owner,surveyor,cartographer |
Peter Jefferson (February 29, 1708 – August 17, 1757) was a planter, cartographer, and politician incolonial Virginia best known for being the father of the thirdpresident of the United States,Thomas Jefferson. The "Fry-Jefferson Map", created by Peter in collaboration withJoshua Fry in 1757, accurately charted theAllegheny Mountains for the first time and showed the northbound route of "The Great Road from theYadkin River through Virginia to Philadelphia distant 455 Miles", which later becameGreat Wagon Road. The map also indicates the southbound route of theTrading Path fromPetersburg, Virginia to OldHawfields, North Carolina and beyond.
Jefferson was born at a settlement called Osbornes[a] along theJames River[3] in present-dayChesterfield County, Virginia, the son of Captain Thomas Jefferson (1679–1731),[4] a large property owner, and Mary Field (1680–1715), who was the daughter of Major Peter Field ofNew Kent County, Virginia, and granddaughter ofHenry Soane (1622–1661), a member of the VirginiaHouse of Burgesses.[3] Jefferson's mother, Mary Field Jefferson, died when he was eight years of age.[3] Peter Jefferson had several brothers and sisters including Judith Jefferson (1698–1786) who married George Farrar (1692–1772), Thomas Jefferson (1700–1723), and Field Jefferson (1702–1765). During his childhood, he learned about plantation management from his father. When he was 18 years of age, he managed his father's plantations.[5] His father died when he was 24 years of age.[3]
He did not receive any formal education while young, but according to his son Thomas Jefferson, he nevertheless "read much and improved himself" and provided for education for his children.[3] He was the fourth child of six children.[3]
From his father's estate, he inherited land and slaves in 1731 along theJames River near Isham Randolph and his nephew William Randolph ofTuckahoe. Jefferson's residence, called Fine Creek Manor,[3] was in present-dayPowhatan County, Virginia near Fine Creek. It is now part ofFine Creek Mills Historic District.[6] He was a sheriff, surveyor, and justice of the peace.[3] In 1734, Jefferson claimed the land in present-dayAlbemarle County, Virginia, which he eventually namedShadwell.[6] By purchase and patent, Peter Jefferson assembled a second plantation which he called “Snowdon” (aka Snowden), located at the Horseshoe Bend of what was then known as the Fluvanna River (later the James River). The name recalls Mount Snowdon, presumably the home of his Jefferson ancestors.[7][8]
He marriedJane Randolph, daughter ofIsham Randolph and granddaughter ofWilliam Randolph, in 1739.[6] For a year or two following his marriage, they lived at Fine Creek Manor. Jefferson built a house on the Shadwell tract, after hiswife's birthplace, in 1741 or 1742. They moved there sometime before his son,Thomas, was born in 1743. His friendWilliam Randolph, a widower and his wife's cousin, died in 1745, having appointed Jefferson as guardian to manage theTuckahoe Plantation until his son came of age. That year the Jeffersons relocated to Randolph's plantation in the Fine Creek area.[3][6]
Jane and Peter offered a privileged life for their family whether in established areas of eastern Virginia or, later, as they settled in the Shadwell plantation of the Piedmont. They ate on fine dishware, frequently entertained, enjoyed classic books and music, and attended dances. The family was considered prosperous and cultured.[9] While at Tuckahoe, Peter also oversaw the development of his plantation at Shadwell, traveling there as needed while also deftly managing the affairs of the Tuckahoe plantation.[9]
In 1752, Jefferson returned to Shadwell,[6] which was improved to include a mill along theRivanna River. A member of the gentry, he was a host to his peers and to Native Americans who travelled on official business toColonial Williamsburg.[3] A favored guest wasCherokee chiefOntasseté.[10]
Jefferson had more than sixty slaves at Shadwell.[3]
In 1757, Peter Jefferson died at Shadwell, and his land was divided between his two sons, young Thomas andRandolph.[6] Thomas inherited the land along theRivanna River with views of the mountain to be calledMonticello. Randolph inherited "Snowdon," the so-called Fluvanna Lands.[7][8]All of his children were beneficiaries of his estate.[3]
Peter Jefferson had ten children:
Thomas Jefferson, Lucy Jefferson, and Randolph Jefferson had several descendants in common with the Lewis family of Virginia.[11]
Andrew Burstein inThe Washington Post described Peter Jefferson as "an accomplished, strong-minded, self-reliant frontiersman"[12] of the eighteenth century who migrated within Virginia to the western uplands called thePiedmont.[13] He was among the initial settlers of Albemarle County, Virginia in 1737[12] and acquired property over the years to farm tobacco. By the time of his death, he held 7,200 acres.[3]
Albemarle's founders lived their lives as tobacco planters, militiamen, road builders; they were ambitious, practical, businesslike individuals. Planters large and small transported their tobacco or wheat on tied-together canoes along the Rivanna River (three feet deep in most places during the navigable months of November to June) and eastward along the James. Most roads were forest paths, such as theRichmond-Albemarle passage skirting Shadwell...
— Andrew Burstein inThe Washington Post
He was also acartographer andsurveyor. In 1746, he andThomas Lewis ran theFairfax Line, a surveyor's line between the headwaters of theRappahannock andNorth Branch Potomac Rivers, which established the limits of the "Northern Neck land grant" (also known as the "Fairfax Grant").[3]
In 1749, Peter Jefferson, along withJoshua Fry,Thomas Walker,Edmund Pendleton and others, established theLoyal Company of Virginia, and were granted 800,000 acres (3,200 km2) in present-day Virginia,West Virginia andKentucky. In the same year, withJoshua Fry, Jefferson extended the survey of theVirginia-North Carolina border, begun byWilliam Byrd II some time earlier. The detailedFry-Jefferson Map, cited by his son Thomas in his 1781 bookNotes on the State of Virginia, was produced by him and Fry.
In 1754 and 1755, he served in the VirginiaHouse of Burgesses.[3]
