Martha Jefferson Randolph, Daughter of Monticello: Her Life and Times

by Cynthia A. Kierner

As the oldest and favorite daughter of Thomas Jefferson, Martha "Patsy" Jefferson Randolph (1772-1836) was extremely well educated, traveled in the circles of presidents and aristocrats, and was known on two continents for her particular grace and sincerity. Yet, as mistress of a large household, she was not spared the tedium, frustration, and great sorrow that most women of her time faced. Though Patsy's name is familiar because of her famous father, Kierner is the first historian to place Patsy at the center of her own story, taking readers into the largely ignored private spaces of the founding era. Randolph's life story reveals the privileges and limits of celebrity and shows that women were able to venture beyond their domestic roles in surprising ways.Following her mother's death, Patsy lived in Paris with her father and later served as hostess at the President's House and at Monticello. Her marriage to Thomas Mann Randolph, a member of Congress and governor of Virginia, was

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, American Revolution, American History, Biography Memoir

376 pages, Hardcover

First published April 15, 2012

Reviews

[Doug Ingold · Rating 4 out of 5]

A biography of Martha Jefferson Randolph, the daughter of Thomas Jefferson, was a long time coming. While hundreds of books have been written about the founding father this is the first devoted to his remarkable daughter. In it we learn a great deal about the lives of southern women in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Sex, for example, was a very risky activity. Married women appear to have had no way to avoid pregnancy and they approached childbirth with the gravity we associate with terminal illness: writing wills and giving bedside instructions to family members.
Martha’s own mother died at 34 following the birth of her sixth child. Martha’s only white sibling to reach adulthood, died at 26 following the birth of her third, and Martha lost her oldest daughter at 35 after her fourth child was born.
Jefferson, a widower at 39, devastated by the loss of his wife, had ten-year old Martha accompany him to Philadelphia and Paris because she was his greatest source of comfort and he knew she would receive a good education. This at a time when Virginia daughters were thought too weak to travel and had little need of a formal education.
Seventeen when she returned to Virginia, Martha was fluent in French and Italian, musically skilled and socially adept. Two months later she married a third cousin, the son of a wealthy Virginia farmer. Fathers of both bride and groom gave property and slaves to the new couple.
Martha would give birth to 12 children over the next 27 years and raise 11 of them to adulthood. There would be political turmoil and she would become estranged from her unstable husband, a man who served as governor of Virginia and member of Congress. She would home school her children while entertaining endless guests at Monticello where for 17 years she ran her father’s household. She would wrestle with confused thoughts about slavery while overseeing a home shared by multiple families, some free some enslaved, entangled by blood and inequality. Among them was Sally Hemings, a slave who was at one and the same time Martha’s age, Martha’s aunt, and though Martha would go to her death denying it, her father’s fertile mistress. Martha would watch her family’s debt mount and land values collapse, and would live to see economic devastation and the loss of Monticello itself.
Martha Jefferson Randolph was adored by her children and admired by everyone from Lafayette to the Madisons to Andrew Jackson as a welcoming hostess and lively conversationalist. While the book suffers from the occasional overstuffed sentence lumbering like a freight train across the page, the story is well researched, objectively told and well worth reading.

[Betsy Cornwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I chose this book after a visit to Monticello. I wanted to know more about Martha and how she became a famous hostess in a home that was essentially a glorified bachelor pad. Seriously, the game room is bigger than the dining room and the stairway isn't even wide enough to carry a child. I discovered a multi-dimensional, intelligent, resourceful woman deftly navigating 18th century American society. Kierner doesn't sugar-coat the racism and misogyny of Martha's time, nor does she condemn it. She just tells us what it was like. I think that every society has gifted women with talent and determination. Despite restrictions and prejudices, they seem to find ways to be themselves and enrich their worlds. I'm so glad that historians are finally starting to seek them out.

[Susan Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

An in-depth examination of the life of the daughter of Thomas Jefferson - her education, her family life, her duties, and her efforts to preserve Monticello and her father's legacy. Having recently visited the grounds of Monticello, the details about the grounds and interior are very accurate. Having a sense of the environs of historical people adds to our understanding of their motivations and accomplishments. As a bibliophile, my biggest thrill was the library, of course. Those interested in feminist perspectives and the contradictions of slavery should read this book.

[Janilyn Kocher]

It took me a few months to finish the book only because other books kept crowding it out for tours and such.
It’s a in depth look at the oldest daughter of Jefferson and her family.
It’s a great piece of history and helps readers get a more nuanced look at Jefferson, her progeny, her husband, and the effects of slavery and the early republic.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very well-done biography of a little-known woman, which also gives a refreshingly balanced account of the men in her life.

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm working on a play (as an author) about Jefferson and Adams at the end of their lives. This is part of the research. As an actual biography it is fine, although she doesn't emerge as an important American figure. Martha was a good mother; Kierner does her best to convince that the Randolph marriage may not have been as bad as commonly thought, and it is unquestionably true that she made her father's old age possible. In return, his extravagance cost the Randolphs Monticello, and worse, the enslaved residents were sold to satisfy the debt Jefferson incurred. The useful slant from my own point of view is that even though Martha herself never breathed a critical word about the third President, she also resolutely shut down any talk about the liaison with Sally Hemings. Hemings was Martha's aunt through the maternal line, as she was fathered by Martha Wayles Jefferson's father. Sally came to Monticello as a child with her mother.

Martha Randolph was present in Paris when Jefferson first impregnated Sally at 15 or 16 (he was 44). She was within close proximity during the 1800 election when the story first broke. Jefferson's daughter resented the story, but took her cue from Daddy and maintained silence. Of course, she was around Monticello throughout the presidency and post-presidency. Later Martha's son attempted to pin the paternity raps for the Hemings/Jefferson branch on cousins, but historian Annette Gordon-Reed sufficiently documented Jefferson's sexual history to make it irrefutable that the author of the Declaration of Independence kept his own flesh and blood as property.

Which does not obviate the Declaration of Independence. But it does make it clear the Founding Fathers weren't gods. And a nation unwilling to confront the truth about its own history or fidelity to its founding ideals? Welcome to 2025.

[Mike Shoop · Rating 3 out of 5]

Using a wide variety of sources, both print and electronic, providing copious notes, Kiernan presents a good serviceable biography of Thomas Jefferson's oldest daughter, who has become largely forgotten in the public memory except as the daughter of a great president. Martha lived a "privileged but troubled life," and Kierner deftly shows that, with plenty of information on Martha's childhood, her education in Paris when her father served there, through marriage with one of prominent (and numerous) Randolph clan in Virginia, birthing and raising 12 children, managing multiple plantations (including Monticello), assisting her father at home and in Washington, etc., through to old age, ruinous debt, the loss of Monticello, and the general decline of her family. Kiernan keeps the focus on Martha at all times, and manages to provide a portrait of a woman whose illustrious father had high expectations of her but only in terms of society's limitations on women. She who socialized with such notables as Harriet Martineau, John James Audubon, and Dolley Madison, supported Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren, and created the accepted "family story" of Thomas Jefferson's life, also endured the terrible disappointments and frustrations of most women of her age. But Martha rose to meet large challenges, provided security for many of her family, detested slavery but did little to remove it from her life, suffered estrangement from her husband for at least a decade, and at times was able to step out of the confines of the boundaries set for women. A rather remarkable life, all things considered. An interesting read.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was very excited to find this book via my local library and got my hands on it just as COVID19 forced the library to shut down. I've read a few historical fiction renderings of Martha's life (America's First Daughter, Monticello: A Daughter and Her Father), which I greatly enjoyed, but one of the most frustrating things they have in common is that they pretty much wrap up at the death of Jefferson. I have always wanted to know more about Martha's later life after the death of her father.

Ultimately, I enjoyed the book very much, although it could be very dry in some spots, which led me to skim over them. Definitely worth a look, though.

[Robert Muller · Rating 3 out of 5]

The context/biography ratio in this book is a little low, mostly because the primary sources are rare on the ground, not unusual for women in history, and Martha Jefferson Randolph's role in history is limited to being the daughter of a president, making it even less likely to find much original information. That said, there's a bit too much dependency on secondary sources here, and some of the claims sourced that way are misleading to my reading. Nothing to worry about unless you're depending on this book for your own research. Treat it as a non-collaborative Wikipedia entry.

One interesting question unanswered (unanswerable?) is why Jefferson didn't keep Martha's letters to him, given his professed love for her and the fact that he kept letters from many other women. Just asking.

The picture that emerges of Randolph suggests many missed opportunities, but that's not unusual for the period, taking into account 12 children and her relationship with her father.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall this was a very interesting book about Martha Jefferson Randolph and her life and times. It was dry in some parts that made for a challenge to read but worth reading to learn more about her and her father who while he fathered children with a slave was still a brilliant and fascinating man. Her life was tragic in many ways though because her life revolved around her father and not her own happiness.

[The History Mom]

Readable nonfiction about Jefferson's daughter who served as her father’s acting First Lady and as his closest confidante, taking on that responsibility as a young girl when her mother passed away. This strong woman had 12 children and spent time in Paris, Philadelphia, and Washington City, but Monticello was always her favorite place.

[Joseph Holm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful and needed book for understanding Jefferson.

[Jeanne Manton · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent and objective view of the life of Thomas Jefferson's daughter Patsy. So very well written.

[Lani · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was totally enthralled in this biography of Thomas Jefferson's eldest daughter. I've spent a good chunk of my life surrounded by Jefferson - living in Virgina and visiting Monticello, attending a HS named after him, spending time at the University he founded, and then attending his alma mater - so I have a certain fondness for the man. But I also always want to know more about the women, and you don't hear much about Martha Jefferson Randolph because she wasn't like the vocal Abigail Adams or the folk hero Dolley Madison.

The main critique others have of this book, and I agree with it, is that the book is less about Jefferson Randolph herself than it is about the better documented people surrounding her. She was diligent about maintaining her father's legacy, but did little to keep track of her own.

Most sources cited are letters to Martha or about Martha, or more general societal texts about the world she lived in. It makes much of the biographical details conjecture, particularly when the author tries to discuss Jefferson Randolph's motivations and feelings about her situation. Although it's a failing, I don't think it's a terrible one, nor does it seem to misrepresent the woman the book is about. (Would Martha agree? Hard to say.)

I would hestitate to say this is the definitive book of Martha Jefferson Randolph's life, but I don't know that there ever will be one with the sources available. However, it's certainly a solidly researched book about a woman in unique circumstances, and a time when women's lives weren't necessarily well-documented.

I found the book enjoyable, and I felt that the author did a wonderful job developing personalities of the principal people in Jefferson Randolph's life. More conjecture based on slim sources perhaps, but the characterizations of the crazy family members were what made the book enjoyable despite a rather dry topic.

Worth a read if you're interested in the lifestyles and tribulations of Virginian women during a time when the state was struggling with the institution of slavery morally and economically. The troubles created by slavery as noted in this book make me wonder about the effect of cognitive dissonance and the motivations of the Civil War in Virginia.

[Donna Jo Atwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

If the number of footnotes are any indication of the amount of research done for a book, this biography should be a champion. If the standard of success is what you learn about the biographee's life, perhaps not (depending on what you alread know about Martha (Patsy) Jefferson Randoph).
I can understand Kierner's problems with so many blanks in Martha's life--that is the nature of the beast with 18th/early 19th century women. Even relatively well-known women were expected to not expose their lives to the public. And Kierner does do a good job of pointing out in those blank instances what a typical Southern woman of Martha's social class would be expected to do.
I found the intertwining family connections to be very interesting and, given the custom of naming children after other family members, they were remarkably easy to keep straight.
My biggest gripe was the amount of time Kierner spent going on and on about Thomas Jefferson's relationship with the Hemings family particularly since she makes the case that it was not that big of deal to Martha.

[Victoria · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had a friend who absolutely loved this book. I felt committed to read it due to her recommendation but I confess I found it to be a laborious read with a lot of details simply not known. I had to work really hard not to judge the Jeffersons by todays standards which people often have a tendency to do when reading history. Despite the challenges facing the world I remain grateful to be born and living at the time I'm living, life for a Colonial woman was hard, difficult and life threatening. Unless you are really into Colonial history and the Jeffersons I wouldn't recommend this book.

[Toby Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

While Kierner has done her research and bought to life a rather silent figure, the writing could have been more layered. The writing was dry and missed the narrative structure that has pulled me in with other biographies. The book seems to lose sight of it's focus at times, whether that was to fill space or to paint a picture, but the the purpose of bringing up topics was not clear. I was hoping for more of a discussion as her role as hostess for Thomas Jefferson. While it is mentioned, it was rather rushed.

[Joylynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting read. Not the fastest, but detailed, and reads well. Reads more like a story than a biography.

Well done by the author, about a women very few know about. Detailed, but not overly so.

Would definitely recommend those who read womens literature, biographies, or who are interested in womens' history.

[Mistyblue · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed learning about Mrs Randolph, although the book was at times a laborious read. Very little is known about aspects of Martha's life and nothing done by the author could change that. The true test to me about the readability of a book is whether I regret reading it and I don't regret reading this one at all.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a scholarly biography of Thomas Jefferson's only surviving daughter. It was a smooth read- even with foot notes! It is amazing that the founding fathers were so brilliant yet financially strapped. Martha was an interesting woman to read about.

[Aunt · Rating 2 out of 5]

This became a laborious read.

[Mary Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A most excellent biography; serious and factual yet an easy read.

[David]

A good biography. Most people do not think about Jefferson's daughter as anything but his hostess in Paris, Washington, or Monticello, but she was far more than that.

[Emily Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent research. Time sequence seemed to jump around and it was often difficult to put information in perspective.