This page of biographical information describes the early life of our outstanding president Thomas Jefferson. It tells the story of Thomas Jefferson before his tremendous political career.

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early life

Jefferson was born at Shadwell, his father's home in Albemarle county, Virginia, on April 13, 1743. His father, Peter Jefferson, was a successful planter and surveyor who gained minor title to fame as an explorer and mapmaker. He acquired additional local fame as a member of the House of Burgesses and served as a county lieutenant. Thomas later held the same offices. Thomas Jefferson's mother, Jane Rnadolph, was a member of one of the most prominent families in Virginia, giving Thomas connections that could be useful later on in life.      Thomas Jefferson was well educated. Jefferson was taught in a classical education form in small private schools. He later attended the College of William and Mary--completing the course in 1762--where Doctor William Small taught him mathematics and introduced him to science. He was also taught and associated himself with the liberal-minded Lieutenant Governor Francis Fauquier, and read law (1762-1767) with George Wythe, one of the greatest law teachers of his generation in Virginia.      Jefferson was extremely talented at law. He was admitted to the bar in 1767 and practiced until 1774, when the courts were closed by the American Revolution. He was a successful lawyer though law was not his major source of income. Jefferson was the recipient of a large inheritance. He had inherited a considerable estate from his father, and doubled it by marrying Martha Wayles Skelton on Jan. 1, 1772.