The Founders' Almanac --- Thomas Jefferson --- The Heritage Foundation

as a luminary of Science, as a votary of liberty, as a model of patriotism, and as a benefactor of human kind."

James Madison, letter to Nicholas P. Trist, July 6, 1826

Read an essay by Dorothea Wolfson about Thomas Jefferson's life and accomplishments.
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Born	April 13, 1743, Shadwell, Albemarle County, Virginia; the son of Peter Jefferson (a planter who died when Jefferson was 14) and Jane Randolph [Jefferson] (a first generation immigrant from England).
Education	Attended a preparatory school and was graduated from William and Mary College (1762); studied law and was admitted to the Virginia bar (1767).
Religion	Known but to God.
Family	At the age of 28 married Martha Wayles Skelton on January 1, 1772; they had six children: Martha Washington Jefferson (1772), Jane Randolph Jefferson (1774), an unnamed son, who died soon after childbirth (1777), Mary Jefferson (1778), an unnamed daughter who died soon after childbirth (1780), and Lucy Elizabeth Jefferson (1782).
Accomplishments	Virginia House of Burgesses (1769-74) Second Continental Congress (1775-76) Primary Author of Declaration of Independence (1776) Virginia House of Delegates (1776-1779) Governor of Virginia (1779-81) Confederation Congress (1783-1784) Minister to France (1785-88) Secretary of State (1789-1793) Vice President of the United States (1797-1801) President of the United States (1801-09) Founded the University of Virginia (1819)
Died	July 4, 1826 at his home, Monticello, Virginia, where he is buried.
Last Words	"Is it the Fourth?"

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