Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson
    Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson
    Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson
    Ebook50 pages43 minutes

    Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson

    By Thomas Jefferson

    3.5/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    This short but richly detailed memoir by Thomas Jefferson offers a rare autobiographical glimpse into the fascinating mind of this Founding Father during the tumultuous events of his remarkable public career.

    In addition to being our third President, Jefferson was Minister to France during the early stages of the French Revolution, wartime Governor of Virginia, Washington's Secretary of State and Vice President during the John Adams administration.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherEnhanced Media Publishing
    Release dateJul 24, 2017
    ISBN9781387120130
    Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson
    Author

    Thomas Jefferson

    Thomas Jefferson was the 3rd president of the United States. William Peden is professor emeritus of English at the University of Missouri.

    Read more from Thomas Jefferson

    Related to Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson

    Related ebooks

    Political Biographies For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      A Year in Reading: Jedediah Britton-Purdy

      Dec 11, 2019

      Books often bring the new for me, but this year they were more of a trace backward, stitching new experience into what underlay it. The post A Year in Reading: Jedediah Britton-Purdy appeared first on The Millions.

      10 min read

    • Article

      Signs Of The Times

      Nov 24, 2022

      Signs Of The Times
      7 min read

    • Article

      Zenger’s Zingers

      Oct 19, 2021

      Zenger’s Zingers
      12 min read

    • Article

      ‘My Ancestors Were mps With Royal Connections’

      Dec 28, 2023

      YOUR CELEBRATING DISCOVERIES As she posted off her DNA test, Lynsey Ford had no idea of the amazing family secrets it would help her unlock. She would go on to discover ancestors who were members of Parliament, bishops and authors, and who had links

      5 min read

    • Article

      Where There’s A Will…

      May 12, 2023

      Where There’s A Will…
      11 min read

    • Article

      A Legacy Of Hope And Glory

      Jun 9, 2021

      DESPITE my birthplace in the Mississippi Delta and my early years in schools whose teachers tried hard to educate the children in the poorest state in the Union, I reckon I had a head start when I arrived in Suffolk as the bride of a farmer. White ch

      3 min read

    • Article

      A Man Of The People

      Aug 17, 2020

      A Man Of The People
      4 min read

    • Article

      ‘London Archives Revealed William’s Route To Riches’

      Aug 24, 2021

      JEAN THOMSON is a retired teacher who lives in Herefordshire. She has been researching her family history for 10 years Britain was a land of potential for the burgeoning middle classes in the late 18th century. Commerce, the legal profession, teachi

      3 min read

    • Article

      How Did You Do?

      Oct 9, 2020

      LEARN THE ANSWERS TO LAST ISSUE’S CHALLENGES CHAT GENEALOGY Join the Family Tree Academy Facebook group – simply go to Facebook & search for ‘Family Tree Academy’ Last month we looked at the topic of handwriting with a focus on burial records and wil

      4 min read

    • Article

      A Son Of The Revolution

      Oct 1, 2022

      A Son Of The Revolution
      4 min read

    • Article

      Plots, Pikes, Plague And Puritans

      Feb 9, 2021

      Plots, Pikes, Plague And Puritans
      6 min read

    • Article

      ‘Call yourself English?’

      Aug 21, 2019

      ‘Call yourself English?’
      19 min read

    • Article

      Your LETTERS

      Feb 12, 2021

      Your LETTERS
      11 min read

    • Article

      Trading In Tragedy

      Jul 28, 2020

      Trading In Tragedy
      5 min read

    • Article

      Quaker Awakening

      Mar 9, 2021

      Quaker Awakening
      12 min read

    • Article

      Early Convict Transportation

      May 2, 2023

      Early Convict Transportation
      5 min read

    • Article

      Pictures From The Past

      Sep 21, 2021

      Pictures From The Past
      6 min read

    • Article

      Rule Breaker

      Jan 12, 2023

      Rule Breaker
      6 min read

    • Article

      A Pioneer Printing Family

      Jun 22, 2020

      A Pioneer Printing Family
      5 min read

    • Article

      Richard The Radical

      Nov 26, 2020

      Richard The Radical
      10 min read

    • Article

      The Popish Plot

      Aug 4, 2022

      The Popish Plot
      9 min read

    • Article

      Your LETTERS

      Sep 11, 2020

      I was inspired to write in to you to encourage beginners to family history always, always, always to look at original documents. I have been looking back at my branch of the Dunn family in Bermondsey, who seemed to have the habit of calling their off

      6 min read

    • Article

      A Life Lost To History

      Aug 24, 2021

      A Life Lost To History
      2 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson

    3.5/5

    22 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson - Thomas Jefferson

      Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson by Thomas Jefferson. First published in 1821. Thomas Jefferson – An Essay by Elbert Hubbard. First published in 1916. Published 2017 by American History Classics. All rights reserved.

      ––––––––

      ISBN:  978-1-387-12013-0.

      Previous page: Portrait of Thomas Jefferson while in London in 1786 by Mather Brown.

      Autobiography

      By Thomas Jefferson

      JANUARY 6, 1821

      ––––––––

      At the age of 77, I begin to make some memoranda, and state some recollections of dates and facts concerning myself, for my own more ready reference, and for the information of my family.

      The tradition in my father's family was, that their ancestor came to this country from Wales, and from near the mountain of Snowdon, the highest in Great Britain. I noted once a case from Wales, in the law reports, where a person of our name was either plaintiff or defendant; and one of the same name was secretary to the Virginia Company. These are the only instances in which I have met with the name in that country. I have found it in our early records; but the first particular information I have of any ancestor was of my grandfather, who lived at the place in Chesterfield called Ozborne's, and owned the lands afterwards the glebe of the parish. He had three sons; Thomas who died young, Field who settled on the waters of Roanoke and left numerous descendants, and Peter, my father, who settled on the lands I still own, called Shadwell, adjoining my present residence. He was born February 29, 1707-8, and intermarried 1739, with Jane Randolph, of the age of 19, daughter of Isham Randolph, one of the seven sons of that name and family, settled at Dungeoness in Goochland. They trace their pedigree far back in England and Scotland, to which let everyone ascribe the faith and merit he chooses.

      My father's education had been quite neglected; but being of a strong mind, sound judgment, and eager after information, he read much and improved himself, insomuch that he was chosen, with Joshua Fry, Professor of Mathematics in William and Mary college, to continue the boundary line between Virginia and North Carolina, which had been begun by Colonel Byrd; and was afterwards employed with the same Mr. Fry, to make the first map of Virginia which had ever been made, that of Captain Smith being merely a conjectural sketch. They possessed excellent materials for so much of the country as is below the Blue Ridge; little being then known beyond that ridge. He was the third or fourth settler, about the year 1737, of the part of the country in which I live. He died, August 17th, 1757, leaving my mother a widow, who lived till 1776, with six daughters and two sons, myself the elder. To my younger brother he left his estate on James River, called Snowdon, after the supposed birth-place of the family: to myself, the lands on which I was born and live.

      He placed me at the English school at five years of age; and at the Latin at nine, where I continued until his death. My teacher, Mr. Douglas, a clergyman from Scotland, with the rudiments of the Latin and Greek languages, taught me the French; and on the death of my father, I went to the Reverend James Maury, a correct classical scholar, with whom I continued two years; and then, to wit, in the spring of 1760, went to William and Mary College, where I continued two years. It was my great good fortune, and what probably fixed the destinies of my

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1