TikTok #9: Who Was First Lady Martha Jefferson

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Fact #9: Who was First Lady Martha Jefferson?

First Lady Martha Jefferson technically never made it to the White House - as she died nearly 20 years before her husband would become president. However, she is still regarded by many as a First Lady.

By the age of 19, Martha was already a widow. Just a few years later, her son would die. However, her life was about change.

That same year, she began courting her third cousin, Thomas Jefferson. In 1972 the couple married.

The pair would have 6 kids together. Only one child would make it past the age of 25.

Martha died only after 10 years of marriage to Thomas Jefferson. She made him promise not to remarry after her death, as she didn’t want anyone else raising her children.

Thomas Jefferson was a mess and went into hiding for a year after her death. Later, in his memoir, he would reminisce about his wife, saying, “I lost the cherished companion of my life in whose affections, unabated on both sides, I had lived the last ten years of my life in unchequered happiness.”

With no wife, Thomas Jefferson was a bachelor president. He asked the wife of his friend James Madison to fill in as White House hostess. For both of his terms, Dolley Madison was the unofficial First Lady.

Jefferson kept his promise and never remarried. However, DNA evidence shows that he had a least one illegitimate child with his half-sister in law, and slave, Sally Hemmings.

REFERENCES:
http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=3
https://www.vqronline.org/essay/jeffersons-farewell-romance