Description
Book SynopsisMartha Jefferson is the first and only biography of Thomas Jefferson's greatest love and true kindred spirit, who died an untimely death at the young age of thirty-three in 1782. Drawing on a wealth of newly probed sourcesincluding family letters, documents, and the handwritten notes left by Jefferson's famed biographer, Dumas MaloneWilliam G. Hyland Jr. captures the charm, sophistication, and grace, as well as a profound sense of history, of this little known and elusive figure who, until now, has been a mere footnote to the story of America's founding. Hyland brings us a conflicted and honest Martha Jefferson, who endured the Revolution as valiantly as some mendefending her very doorstep from raiding British troopsand presided over the domestic life of the Jeffersons' little mountain, Monticello, during her husband's long absences and historic rise to power. A revealing and insightful look at an often overlooked American woman, this book provides a unique and previously unexplored un
Trade ReviewVery little has been known about Martha Wayles Jefferson. William Hyland has changed that by successfully combining what was known with what had been forgotten or overlooked and then placing her with the people she knew and the places she visited. A heart-warming story that is enlightening and easy to read. -- White McKenzie Wallenborn, M.D., Former President of the Thomas Jefferson Heritage Society
Martha Jefferson was the most important person in Thomas Jefferson’s life. William Hyland’s insightful portrait tells us how this little understood fact acquired a tragic dimension. -- Thomas Fleming, author of The Intimate Lives of the Founding Fathers
It’s hard to imagine a nonfiction book that combines a passionate romance with political intrigue, and even wartime panic, but William Hyland has accomplished this task. His Martha Jefferson is a meticulous and insightful account of the central person in Thomas Jefferson’s life—an extraordinary woman whom history has largely ignored. She, and their relationship, are now in the spotlight, finally. -- Arthur T. Downey, author of The Creole Affair: The Slave Rebellion that Led the U.S. and Great Britain to the Brink of War
Mrs. Thomas Jefferson, beloved wife and steadfast partner in the revolutionary years of America’s founding visionary, is at long last brought fully and convincingly to life. I commend the work. It may be perhaps the best way to bring the Jefferson and women imaginings back to reality. -- Eric S. Peterson, Editor, Light and Liberty: Reflections on the Pursuit of Happiness
We cannot understand Thomas Jefferson without knowing the love of his life, Martha Wayles Jefferson. Hyland masterfully brings Martha to life by compiling little known facts and opinions about her and placing her in the context of Thomas Jefferson’s life. -- Cynthia Burton, historian and author of Jefferson Vindicated — Fallacies, Omissions, and Contradictions in the Hemings Genealogical Search Paperback (2005)
Table of ContentsI.INTRODUCTION II.THE FOREST III.LITTLE JACK IV.THE WIDOW V.LOVE VI.PATSY AND POLLY VII.‘UNCHEQUERED HAPPINESS’ VIII.WAR IX.A PROMISE X.SUICIDE XI.PARIS XII.EPILOGUE: SALLY HEMINGS AND MARTHA JEFFERSON
