Jane Randolph Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson's mother
The basics

Quick Facts

IntroThomas Jefferson's mother
wasMother
Gender
Female
Birth9 February 1721, Shadwell
Death31 March 1776Massachusetts (aged 55 years)
Star signAquarius
Family
Father:Isham Randolph
Spouse:Peter Jefferson
Children:Thomas Jefferson Lucy Jefferson Lewis Randolph Jefferson
The details

Biography

Jane Randolph Jefferson, née Jane Randolph (February 9, 1721 – March 31, 1776) was the wife of Peter Jefferson and the mother of president Thomas Jefferson. Born in Shadwell Parish, Tower Hamlets, London, she was the daughter of Isham Randolph, a ship's captain and planter, and Jane Rogers. She was a cousin of Peyton Randolph.

Early life and education

Randolph was born in Shadwell, a maritime neighborhood of London. She most likely immigrated to Virginia as a child with her family and that her education was received entirely at home. Little is known of her; Jefferson rarely mentioned his mother in his extensive writings. According to the 20th-century biographer Merrill Peterson, she represented "zero quantity" in her son Thomas's life, but more recent scholarship questions Peterson's conclusions.

Marriage and family

Randolph married Peter Jefferson in Virginia in 1739. Together, they had the following children:

  • Jane Jefferson (1740–1765) - close to her brother Thomas, she died unmarried at age 25.
  • Mary Jefferson Bolling (1741–1817) - her husband John Bolling served in the Virginia House of Burgesses.
  • Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third President of the United States
  • Elizabeth Jefferson (1744–1774) - mentally handicapped
  • Martha Jefferson Carr (1746–1811) - her husband Dabney Carr, Thomas Jefferson's best friend, helped launch the intercolonial Committee of Correspondence in Virginia in March 1773, the first step to coordinated colonial action against Great Britain.
  • Lucy Jefferson Lewis (1752–1810)
  • Anna Scott Jefferson Marks (1755–1828) – twin of Randolph
  • Randolph Jefferson (1755–1815) – twin of Anna Scott

Jane Randolph Jefferson died from what was described at the time as an "apoplexy" on March 31, 1776, barely three months before Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Jane Randolph Jefferson
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
16. William Randolph
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
8. Richard Randolph
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
17. Dorothy Lane
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4. William Randolph
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
18. John Ryland
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
9. Elizabeth Ryland
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2. Isham Randolph
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
20. William Isham
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
10. Henry Isham
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
21. Mary Brett
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
5. Mary Isham
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
22. Christopher Banks
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
11. Katherine Banks
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1. Jane Randolph Jefferson
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
12. Thomas Rogers
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
6. Charles Rogers
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
13. Elizabeth Snow
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3. Jane Rogers
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
28. George Lilburn
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
14. William Lilburn
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
29. Eleanor Hicks
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
7. Jane Lilburn
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
30. Cristopher Nicholson
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
15. Elizabeth Nicholson
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
31. Jane Butler
 
 
 
 
 
 

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