Martha Jefferson Randolph; 1801-1809

Born: 1772
Died: 1836

Martha Wayles Skelton was a 22-year-old widow and mother from a wealthy Virginia family when she married the 29-year-old Thomas Jefferson in 1772. Though no likeness of Martha now exists, she was described as auburn-haired and graceful, a harpsichordist who shared Jefferson's love of music. The couple had six children, but only two daughters lived to adulthood and Martha's own health steadily worsened. In 1780, Jefferson refused an appointment to Paris because of Martha's fragile condition. Two years later, at 33, she died -- 20 years before her husband became President. By all accounts, Jefferson was devastated by the loss. He never remarried.

During Jefferson's Presidency, his eldest child, Martha -- nicknamed Patsy -- served as hostess during her winter visits to the White House. Born in 1772, Patsy attended convent schools in Paris while her father served as Minister to France (1784-1789). In 1790, she married fellow Virginian Thomas Mann Randolph, who joined Patsy at her father's Monticello home. Over the years they had 12 children, including the first baby born in the White House. Besides Patsy, Jefferson sometimes asked his Virginia neighbor Dolley Madison (whose husband, James, he'd appointed Secretary of the State) to act as White House hostess.

Third President
Thomas Jefferson