Colonel Peter Jefferson

Peter Jefferson (February 29, 1708, - August 17, 1757) was the father of American President Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)[1]. A surveyor and cartographer, his Fry-Jefferson Map of 1751 accurately depicted the Allegheny Mountains for the first time and showed the route of "The Great Road from the Yadkin River thro Virginia to Philadelphia distant 455 Miles" — what would later come to be known as the Great Wagon Road.

Jefferson was born in Chesterfield County, Virginia, one of six children. He did not receive any formal education while young, but according to his famous son, he nevertheless "read much and improved himself."

In 1734, Jefferson claimed the land in present-day Albemarle County which he eventually named Shadwell. He married Jane Randolph in 1739 (daughter of Isham Randolph and granddaughter of William Randolph). For a year or two following his marriage, his residence was in present-day Powhatan County Virginia near Fine Creek. Jefferson built a house on the Shadwell tract in 1741 or 1742, and moved there sometime before Thomas Jefferson was born.

He was made one of the first officers of Albemarle County in 1745. Later in that same year, he was made guardian over the children of William Randolph, his wife's cousin who had recently died. He and his family moved to Tuckahoe in Goochland County, where Thomas Jefferson first attended school. In 1749, Peter Jefferson, along with Joshua Fry, Thomas Walker, Edmund Pendleton, and others, established the Loyal Land Company, and were granted 800,000 acres (3,200 km²) in present-day Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky.

1751 Fry-Jefferson map depicting 'The Great Waggon Road to Philadelphia'Peter Jefferson was a cartographer and surveyor who, along with Fry, completed the survey of the Virginia-North Carolina border, begun by William Byrd II some time earlier. The detailed Fry-Jefferson Map, cited by his son Thomas in Notes on the State of Virginia, was produced by him and Fry.

The Jefferson family moved back to Shadwell in 1752.

Peter Jefferson died at his house on the Shadwell tract in Albemarle County when his son Thomas was 14 years old and Thomas Walker was appointed his guardian. The house burned down in 1770. The area around his house is being studied, but his burial location is unknown.

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Peter Jefferson (February 29, 1708, - August 17, 1757) was the father of American President Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)[1]. A surveyor and cartographer, his Fry-Jefferson Map of 1751 accurately depicted the Allegheny Mountains for the first time and showed the route of "The Great Road from the Yadkin River thro Virginia to Philadelphia distant 455 Miles" — what would later come to be known as the Great Wagon Road.

Jefferson was born in Chesterfield County, Virginia, one of six children. He did not receive any formal education while young, but according to his famous son, he nevertheless "read much and improved himself."

In 1734, Jefferson claimed the land in present-day Albemarle County which he eventually named Shadwell. He married Jane Randolph in 1739 (daughter of Isham Randolph and granddaughter of William Randolph). For a year or two following his marriage, his residence was in present-day Powhatan County Virginia near Fine Creek. Jefferson built a house on the Shadwell tract in 1741 or 1742, and moved there sometime before Thomas Jefferson was born.

Peter Jefferson's children were:

Jane Jefferson (1740–1765) - died unmarried at age 25

Mary Jefferson Bolling (1741–1811) - married John Bolling, who served in the Virginia House of Burgesses

Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)

Elizabeth Jefferson (1744–1774) - mentally handicapped

Martha Jefferson Carr (1746–1811) - married Dabney Carr, founder of the underground Committee of Correspondence in Virginia on the eve of the American Revolution

Peter Field Jefferson (1748-1748) - died as an infant child

Peter Thomas Jefferson (1750-1750) - died as an infant child

Lucy Jefferson Lewis (1752–1811) - married Charles Lilburn Lewis

Anna Scott Jefferson Marks (1755–1828) - twin of Randolph

Randolph Jefferson (1755–1815) - twin of Anna Scott Thomas Jefferson,

Lucy Jefferson, and Randolph Jefferson were notable for having a number of descendants in common with the Lewis family of Virginia.

He was made one of the first officers of Albemarle County in 1745. Later in that same year, he was made guardian over the children of William Randolph, his wife's cousin who had recently died. He and his family moved to Tuckahoe in Goochland County, where Thomas Jefferson first attended school. In 1749, Peter Jefferson, along with Joshua Fry, Thomas Walker, Edmund Pendleton and others, established the Loyal Land Company, and were granted 800,000 acres (3,200 km²) in present-day Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky.

1751 Fry-Jefferson map depicting 'The Great Waggon Road to Philadelphia' Peter Jefferson was a cartographer and surveyor who, along with Fry, completed the survey of the Virginia-North Carolina border, begun by William Byrd II some time earlier. The detailed Fry-Jefferson Map, cited by his son Thomas in Notes on the State of Virginia, was produced by him and Fry.

The Jefferson family moved back to Shadwell in 1752.

Peter Jefferson died at his house on the Shadwell tract in Albemarle County when his son Thomas was 14 years old and Thomas Walker was appointed his guardian. The house burned down in 1770. The area around his house is being studied, but his burial location is unknown.

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Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States, was of English descent, but with deep and wide Virginia roots. His father and paternal grandparents were Virginians; his mother was born in London to English parents.

Jefferson's father, Peter Jefferson, was a surveyor and cartographer, as well as a Virginia land-owner and planter. He and Joshua Fry, another surveyor, created the Fry-Jefferson Map of 1751, which for the first time accurately showed the Allegheny Mountains, and noted the route of what was later called The Great Wagon Road from Virginia to Philadelphia. Jefferson's mother, Jane Randolph, is seldom mentioned in his writings, but she played a critical role in managing the household of this prominent family. When her husband died in 1757, she had eight children living, the oldest 17, the youngest only two years old.

Long before he became president, Thomas Jefferson played an influential part in Virginia colonial and revolutionary life - he was a lawyer, scholar, and statesman. He served in the Second Continental Congress and wrote the text of the Declaration of Independence. He also served as Governor of Virginia, American Minister to France, Secretary of State under Washington and Vice President under Adams. As President, he was responsible for the Louisiana Purchase, aided the Lewis and Clark expedition, and established West Point.

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Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States, was of English descent, but with deep and wide Virginia roots. His father and paternal grandparents were Virginians; his mother was born in London to English parents.

Jefferson's father, Peter Jefferson, was a surveyor and cartographer, as well as a Virginia land-owner and planter. He and Joshua Fry, another surveyor, created the Fry-Jefferson Map of 1751, which for the first time accurately showed the Allegheny Mountains, and noted the route of what was later called The Great Wagon Road from Virginia to Philadelphia. Jefferson's mother, Jane Randolph, is seldom mentioned in his writings, but she played a critical role in managing the household of this prominent family. When her husband died in 1757, she had eight children living, the oldest 17, the youngest only two years old.

Long before he became president, Thomas Jefferson played an influential part in Virginia colonial and revolutionary life - he was a lawyer, scholar, and statesman. He served in the Second Continental Congress and wrote the text of the Declaration of Independence. He also served as Governor of Virginia, American Minister to France, Secretary of State under Washington and Vice President under Adams. As President, he was responsible for the Louisiana Purchase, aided the Lewis and Clark expedition, and established West Point.

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Early Days

Peter Jefferson was born on February 8, 1708 near present day Richmond, Virginia in a family of the colonial gentry. His grandfather, Thomas Jefferson, held the title of office surveyor of roads from 1687 until his death in 1697. The elder Thomas Jefferson’s duties as surveyor included laying the best routes to churches and county courthouses as well as built and maintained bridgesThe skills of his grandfather without a doubt would have an impact on Peter Jefferson’s future profession. Peter Jefferson’s education as a young child consisted of his servant nursemaids, but he gained most of his knowledge from practical applications. For example, he would often accompany his father on numerous business transactions and he took over the management of his father’s plantation when he was eighteen. Through the social prominence of his parents Jefferson became acquainted with men such as William Mayo, the county surveyor, and Thomas Randolph who’s son William would be a life long friend of Peter.

As Peter Jefferson grew older he believed it to be politically and socially desirable to become associated with the gentry on the north side of the James River. His good friend William Randolph suggested that he might pursue an area along the Rivanna River. While serving as justice of Goochland County Jefferson traveled in a northwest direction from Goochland. Jefferson encountered beautiful landscape as Edgar Hickish states, “The bottom lands were covered with a tall grass, which, when rippled by the stiff south wind, resembled a lake of green; and in the distance could be seen the smoke azure of the great Blue Ridge. Due to his position as justice Jefferson easily obtained a 2,000 acre tract of land on the north side of the James River. Jefferson scored an additional 200 acres from his good friend William Randolph for Henry Witherburne’s “biggest bowl of arrack punch. William Mayo, a Jefferson family acquaintance, was the Goochland County surveyor and a map-maker both profitable businesses. Jefferson was interested in Mayo’s skills and developed great respect for him when he visited his father after running the dividing line between Virginia and North Carolina. Peter Jefferson biographer Edgar Hickish addresses the possibility that Jefferson may have accompanied Mayo on surveying trips and he may have received mathematics instruction from Joshua Fry at the College of William and Mary.

Early Albemarle

In 1737 Peter Jefferson joined his close friend William Randolph in a 50,000 land venture, which would be the first of many to follow. Around the same year Jefferson began to settle in Albemarle County. According to his son Thomas’ autobiography he was the third or fourth settler in the region (Randolph). Peter Jefferson, who already achieved social status, became even more prominent upon marrying Jane Randolph in 1739. Jefferson’s family moved from Goochland County to Shadwell in Albemarle County in 1742. Upon the death of William Mayo, Jefferson became the Goochland County surveyor and soon after the county divided one September 18, 1744 with half becoming Albemarle.

Loyal Land Company

Jefferson along with other land speculators including Dr. Thomas Walker, John Meriwether, and Joshua Fry formed the Loyal Land Company. The group petitioned for an area of land consisting of 800,000 (1,250 sq. mi.), which began at the North Carolina and Virginia line and ran north and west until the quantity of the grant had been reached. The group had four years to complete the surveys for the land. Jefferson and Fry went to the eastern coast to a monument left my William Mayo in 1728 to begin the survey of the border. In this aspect Jefferson’s family connection with Mayo proved invaluable, as he was familiar with the details of Mayo’s expedition and carried his map with him. The typical surveying duties included drawing up notes, making “reconnaissance” sketches, as well as naming streams and rivers. The two men also had time to explore the countryside because much of it was part of their tract through the Loyal Land Company. The survey culminated in a map of the border by both Jefferson and Fry, which appeared in Williamsburg on November 6, 1749.

Legacy to Western Exploration

Peter Jefferson and his good friend and neighbor Joshua Fry began a partnership and were commissioned to create the newly established county lines between March 4th and the 16th in . In early September 1746 Joshua Fry and Jefferson teamed up again to survey the Fairfax line of the Northern Neck. Once the data was collected from the expedition Jefferson and colleague Robert Brooke drew the plat based on William Mayo’s earlier map and Jefferson added topographic features such as the Shenandoah Valley and the Blue Ridge and Allegheny Mountains. While in Williamsburg Jefferson and Fry became aware of a request from the British Lords of Trade and Plantations to the Governor of Virginia for the creation of a comprehensive map of the Virginia Colony. The two men were approved to complete the map on July 19, 1750. According to Hickish, Fry had long dreamed of mapping Virginia showing the “bays, navigable rivers, counties, parishes, and principle estates,” which he had proposed on December 15, 1738 to the House of Burgesses. The preliminary drawings were made at the Albemarle County’s surveyor’s office and the final draft was produced at Jefferson’s home Shadwell taking one year to complete and would be known as the “Fry-Jefferson Map”. The Council examined the map and could not determine “where the hand of Jefferson ceased and that of Fry commenced.”

Final Days

Peter Jefferson began to fall ill on June 25, 1757 and a slave was sent to Castle Hill to request the services of Dr. Thomas Walker. Walker made eleven visits to Shadwell before Jefferson passed away on August 17, 1757. Through family connections and self-advancement Peter Jefferson was considered an accomplished man of his day. He acquired large tracts of land, led numerous surveying expeditions and created some of the most detailed and accurate maps of his day. Jefferson’s talents and skills would greatly influence his son Thomas Jefferson who would follow in the footsteps of his father.

http://www2.vcdh.virginia.edu/lewisandclark/students/projects/adven...

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Peter Jefferson was the father of US President Thomas Jefferson. A surveyor and cartographer, his "Fry-Jefferson Map" of 1751—created in collaboration with Joshua Fry—accurately depicted the Allegheny Mountains for the first time and showed the route of "The Great Road from the Yadkin River through Virginia to Philadelphia distant 455 Miles"—what would later come to be known as the Great Wagon Road.

Jefferson was born in what is now Chesterfield County, Virginia, son of the elder Thomas Jefferson and Mary Field, one of six children. He did not receive any formal education while young, but according to his son Thomas Jefferson, he nevertheless "read much and improved himself."

In 1734, Jefferson claimed the land in present-day Albemarle County, which he eventually named Shadwell after his wife's birthplace. He married Jane Randolph, daughter of Isham Randolph and granddaughter of William Randolph, in 1739. For a year or two following his marriage, his residence was in present-day Powhatan County Virginia near Fine Creek. Jefferson built a house on the Shadwell tract in 1741 or 1742, and moved there sometime before his son, Thomas, was born in 1743. His friend William Randolph, a widower, died in 1745, having appointed Jefferson as guardian to manage his Tuckahoe Plantation and care for his four children. That year the Jeffersons relocated to Tuckahoe, returning to Shadwell in 1752, where Jefferson died in 1757. His estate was divided between his two sons, young Thomas and Randolph.

Peter Jefferson's children were: Jane Jefferson (1740–1765) - died unmarried at age 25 Mary Jefferson Bolling (1741–1811) - married John Bolling, who served in the Virginia House of Burgesses Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) third President of the United States of America. Elizabeth Jefferson (1744–1774) - mentally handicapped. Martha Jefferson Carr (1746–1811) - married Dabney Carr, founder of the underground Committee of Correspondence in Virginia on the eve of the American Revolution Peter Field Jefferson (1748) - died as an infant. Lucy Jefferson Lewis (1752–1811) - married Charles Lilburn Lewis Anna Scott Jefferson Marks (1755–1828) - twin of Randolph Randolph Jefferson (1755–1815) - twin of Anna Scott Thomas Jefferson, Lucy Jefferson, and Randolph Jefferson were notable for having a number of descendants in common with the Lewis family of Virginia.

Peter Jefferson and his family moved from Shadwell to Tuckahoe Plantation in Goochland County in 1745, where Thomas Jefferson first attended school. Jefferson was made one of the first officers of the newly created Albemarle County (formerly northern Goochland County) in 1745. Later in that same year, he was made guardian over the children of William Randolph, his wife's cousin who had recently died. Jefferson was a cartographer and surveyor. In 1746, he and Thomas Lewis ran the famous "Fairfax Line"—a surveyor's line between the headwaters of the Rappahannock and North Branch Potomac Rivers—which established the limits of the "Northern Neck land grant" (also known as the "Fairfax Grant").

In 1749, Peter Jefferson, along with Joshua Fry, Thomas Walker, Edmund Pendleton and others, established the Loyal Land Company, and were granted 800,000 acres (3,200 km²) in present-day Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky. In the same year, with Joshua Fry, Jefferson extended the survey of the Virginia-North Carolina border, begun by William Byrd II some time earlier. The detailed Fry-Jefferson Map, cited by his son Thomas in his 1781 book Notes on the State of Virginia, was produced by him and Fry.

• Reference: WikiTree Genealogy - SmartCopy: Nov 30 2017, 15:17:11 UTC

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Peter Jefferson announcer, see Peter Jefferson (radio). Peter Jefferson Born February 29, 1708 Henrico Countie, Virginia Colony Died August 17, 1757 (aged 49) Albemarle County, Virginia Colony Occupation surveyor, cartographer Spouse(s) Jane Randolph Jefferson Children 10, including Thomas, Lucy and Randolph

Peter Jefferson (February 29, 1708 – August 17, 1757) was the father of US President Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826). A surveyor and cartographer, his "Fry-Jefferson Map" of 1751—created in collaboration with Joshua Fry—accurately depicted the Allegheny Mountains for the first time and showed the route of "The Great Road from the Yadkin River through Virginia to Philadelphia distant 455 Miles"—what would later come to be known as the Great Wagon Road. Contents

   1 Childhood

   2 Personal life

       2.1 Children

   3 Career

   4 Death

   5 See also

   6 References

Childhood

Jefferson was born in what is now Chesterfield County, Virginia and is the son of Captain Thomas Jefferson[1] and Mary Field (granddaughter of Henry Soane of the Virginia House of Burgesses). His siblings include Judith Jefferson Farrar (wife of George Farrar) and Field Jefferson. He did not receive any formal education while young, but according to his son Thomas Jefferson, he nevertheless "read much and improved himself." Personal life

In 1734, Jefferson claimed the land in present-day Albemarle County, which he eventually named Shadwell after his wife's birthplace. He married Jane Randolph, daughter of Isham Randolph and granddaughter of William Randolph, in 1739. For a year or two following his marriage, his residence was in present-day Powhatan County Virginia near Fine Creek. Jefferson built a house on the Shadwell tract in 1741 or 1742, and moved there sometime before his son, Thomas, was born in 1743. His friend William Randolph, a widower, died in 1745, having appointed Jefferson as guardian to manage his Tuckahoe Plantation and care for his four children. That year the Jeffersons relocated to Tuckahoe, returning to Shadwell in 1752, where Jefferson died in 1757. His estate was divided between his two sons, young Thomas and Randolph.[2] Children

Peter Jefferson's children were:

   Jane Jefferson (1740–1765) - died unmarried at age 25

   Mary Jefferson Bolling (1741–1811) - married John Bolling III, who served in the Virginia House of Burgesses and who was a descendent of Pocahontas

   Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) third President of the United States of America.

   Elizabeth Jefferson (1744–1774) - mentally handicapped.

   Martha Jefferson Carr (1746–1811) - married Dabney Carr, founder of the underground Committee of Correspondence in Virginia on the eve of the American Revolution

   Peter Field Jefferson (1748) - died as an infant.

   Peter Jefferson (1750) - died as an infant.

   Lucy Jefferson Lewis (1752–1811) - married Charles Lilburn Lewis

   Anna Scott Jefferson Marks (1755–1828) - twin of Randolph

   Randolph Jefferson (1755–1815) - twin of Anna Scott

Thomas Jefferson, Lucy Jefferson, and Randolph Jefferson were notable for having a number of descendants in common with the Lewis family of Virginia.[3] Career

Peter Jefferson and his family moved from Shadwell to Tuckahoe Plantation in Goochland County in 1745, where Thomas Jefferson first attended school. Jefferson was made one of the first officers of the newly created Albemarle County (formerly northern Goochland County) in 1745. Later in that same year, he was made guardian over the children of William Randolph, his wife's cousin who had recently died. Jefferson was a cartographer and surveyor. In 1746, he and Thomas Lewis ran the famous "Fairfax Line"—a surveyor's line between the headwaters of the Rappahannock and North Branch Potomac Rivers—which established the limits of the "Northern Neck land grant" (also known as the "Fairfax Grant").

In 1749, Peter Jefferson, along with Joshua Fry, Thomas Walker, Edmund Pendleton and others, established the Loyal Land Company, and were granted 800,000 acres (3,200 km²) in present-day Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky. In the same year, with Joshua Fry, Jefferson extended the survey of the Virginia-North Carolina border, begun by William Byrd II some time earlier. The detailed Fry-Jefferson Map, cited by his son Thomas in his 1781 book Notes on the State of Virginia, was produced by him and Fry. 1751 Fry-Jefferson map depicting 'The Great Waggon Road to Philadelphia' Death

Peter Jefferson died at his house on the Shadwell tract in Albemarle County when his son Thomas was 14 years old. See also

   Thomas Jefferys, in 1776 producer of The American Atlas: Or, A Geographical Description Of The Whole Continent Of America

   John Harvie Peter Jefferson Chief Executor.

   Thomas Lewis (1718–90), a surveyor with Jefferson of the "Fairfax Line"

   Thomas Jefferson, Peter's presidential son, who wrote the Declaration of Independence.

   North Carolina–Tennessee–Virginia Corners

References

Meacham, Jon (2012) Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power. Random House. p. 5 Malone, Dumas (1948). Jefferson, The Virginian. Jefferson and His Time. Little, Brown. pp. 31–33. Sorley, Merrow Egerton (2000) [1935]. "Chapter 33: Families Related to the Lewis Family". Lewis of Warner Hall: The History of a Family. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co. p. 821. ISBN 9780806308319.

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Father of President Thomas Jefferson

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Peter Jefferson (February 29, 1708, - August 17, 1757) was the father of American President Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826). A surveyor and cartographer, his Fry-Jefferson Map of 1751 accurately depicted the Allegheny Mountains for the first time and showed the route of "The Great Road from the Yadkin River thro Virginia to Philadelphia distant 455 Miles" — what would later come to be known as the Great Wagon Road. Jefferson was born in Chesterfield County, Virginia, one of six children. He did not receive any formal education while young, but according to his famous son, he nevertheless "read much and improved himself." In 1734, Jefferson claimed the land in present-day Albemarle County which he eventually named Shadwell. He married Jane Randolph in 1739 (daughter of Isham Randolph and granddaughter of William Randolph). For a year or two following his marriage, his residence was in present-day Powhatan County Virginia near Fine Creek. Jefferson built a house on the Shadwell tract in 1741 or 1742, and moved there sometime before Thomas Jefferson was born. He was made one of the first officers of Albemarle County in 1745. Later in that same year, he was made guardian over the children of William Randolph, his wife's cousin who had recently died. He and his family moved to Tuckahoe in Goochland County, where Thomas Jefferson first attended school. In 1749, Peter Jefferson, along with Joshua Fry, Thomas Walker, Edmund Pendleton, and others, established the Loyal Land Company, and were granted 800,000 acres (3,200 km²) in present-day Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky. 1751 Fry-Jefferson map depicting 'The Great Waggon Road to Philadelphia'Peter Jefferson was a cartographer and surveyor who, along with Fry, completed the survey of the Virginia-North Carolina border, begun by William Byrd II some time earlier. The detailed Fry-Jefferson Map, cited by his son Thomas in Notes on the State of Virginia, was produced by him and Fry. The Jefferson family moved back to Shadwell in 1752. Peter Jefferson died at his house on the Shadwell tract in Albemarle County when his son Thomas was 14 years old and Thomas Walker was appointed his guardian. The house burned down in 1770. The area around his house is being studied, but his burial location is unknown. Peter Jefferson's children were: Jane Jefferson (1740–1765) Mary Jefferson Bolling (1741–1811) - married John Bolling, who served in the Virginia House of Burgesses Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) Elizabeth Jefferson (1744–1774) - mentally handicapped Martha Jefferson Carr (1746–1811) - married Dabney Carr, founder of the underground Committee of Correspondence in Virginia on the eve of the American Revolution Peter Field Jefferson (1748-1748) - died as an infant child Peter Thomas Jefferson (1750-1750) - died as an infant child Lucy Jefferson Lewis (1752–1811) - married Charles Lilburn Lewis Anna Scott Jefferson Marks (1755–1828) - twin of Randolph Randolph Jefferson (1755–1815) - twin of Anna Scott Thomas Jefferson, Lucy Jefferson, and Randolph Jefferson were notable for having a number of descendants in common with the Lewis family of Virginia. Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States, was of English descent, but with deep and wide Virginia roots. His father and paternal grandparents were Virginians; his mother was born in London to English parents. Jefferson's father, Peter Jefferson, was a surveyor and cartographer, as well as a Virginia land-owner and planter. He and Joshua Fry, another surveyor, created the Fry-Jefferson Map of 1751, which for the first time accurately showed the Allegheny Mountains, and noted the route of what was later called The Great Wagon Road from Virginia to Philadelphia. Jefferson's mother, Jane Randolph, is seldom mentioned in his writings, but she played a critical role in managing the household of this prominent family. When her husband died in 1757, she had eight children living, the oldest 17, the youngest only two years old. Long before he became president, Thomas Jefferson played an influential part in Virginia colonial and revolutionary life - he was a lawyer, scholar, and statesman. He served in the Second Continental Congress and wrote the text of the Declaration of Independence. He also served as Governor of Virginia, American Minister to France, Secretary of State under Washington and Vice President under Adams. As President, he was responsible for the Louisiana Purchase, aided the Lewis and Clark expedition, and established West Point

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GEDCOM Source

@R1500437281@ Ancestry Family Trees Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members. Ancestry Family Tree http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=86654742&pid...

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GEDCOM Note

Biography
Father of US President Thomas Jefferson 1743-1826 In 1745, he was made guardian over the children of William Randolph, his wife's cousin who had recently died. Peter Jefferson died at his house on the Shadwell tract in Albemarle County. It burned down in 1770. The area around his house has been studied, but his burial location is unknown. Peter Jefferson (son of Thomas Jefferson II and Mary Field) was born February 29, 1707/08 in Osbornes, Henrico Co. Virginia, and died August 17, 1757 in Shadwell, Goochland Co. (now Albemarle Co.) Virginia. He married Jane Randolph on October 03, 1739 in Goochland Co. Virginia.Holmes.[1] [2][3]

Notes for Peter Jefferson: Peter Jefferson married Jane Randolph. They had nine children. Son Thomas, at age two, remembered being handed up to a slave on horseback and carried on a pillow from his father's frontier farm in Albemarle Co., Virginia to a much larger plantation fifty miles to the east near Richmond, the Randolph's estate at Tuckahoe. Peter went there to raise the children of his friend who had died.

In 1746, on a slope of the Blue Ridge, a man carved his initials into a tree. Tokens neither of vandalism nor sentiment, they marked the beginning of a boundary. The whittler was Colonel Peter Jefferson, a gentleman, landowner, county official, and land surveyor for His Majesty King George II. He stood more than six feet tall, and his son, Thomas, later recalled that he had the strength of three men-an advantage for a man of his position. Colonel Jefferson often had to run survey lines straight through obstacles. It meant clambering over rocks, crawling through brush, and wading through icy streams. Another surveyor, Thomas Lewis, described working with him: "It was with the greatest Difficulty we Could get along-the mountains being prodigiously full of fallen Timber & Ivey as thick as it could grow, so interwoven that horse or man Could hardly force his way through it...." Peter Jefferson had been born thirty-eight years before at Osborne's, below Richmond, Virginia, a scion of established Tidewater stock. As a young man-improved largely by self-education-he moved west to the Piedmont and Goochland County, newly created and named for Governor William Gooch. There he spent ten years acquiring and developing property along the James River. Among his near neighbors was the county surveyor, William Mayo. Before coming to the Old Dominion at age forty, Mayo had surveyed the West Indian island of Barbados, to the acclaim of settlers and the government. In 1728, he was selected to help survey the line between Virginia and North Carolina. For his Goochland County duties, Mayo needed an assistant and Peter Jefferson, suited to the work, got the job. In Virginia, there was no formal course of study to become a surveyor. Young men could read such books as John Gibson's Treatise on Surveying or John Love's GEODESIA, but hands-on practice was essential. Peter Jefferson learned his profession on the job. The fundamental job of a surveyor was to transfer land from the crown to private ownership. The process started with a settler's selection of a tract. The county surveyor recorded it in an entry book, and commonly sold the applicant treasury rights at the rate of five shillings for every fifty acres. These rights had to be submitted to the secretary of state's office in Williamsburg. The secretary of state issued a warrant for the amount of land to which the claimant was entitled. The warrant was given to the county surveyor, who would, in time, survey the tract. Once the fieldwork was completed, the surveyor drew a plat and wrote a description of the property. The survey plat and description were copied and entered into the county survey book, and the originals were sent to the secretary of state. Upon entry of the warrant, survey plat, and description, the secretary issued a land patent signed by the governor and marked with the colony's seal. As an assistant county surveyor, Peter Jefferson not only surveyed tracts for other claimants, but also acquired landholdings himself. In 1734 and 1735 he patented about 1,000 acres in Goochland County, including the land on which his son would build Monticello. Using a compass, a surveyor guides two chainmen on a scramble through the brush of a hillside, a challenge much like what they would have experienced on the colonial Virginia frontier. Dave Doody. In 1739, Jefferson wed Jane Randolph, a cousin of his close friend, William Randolph, and began construction of a house on a tract along the Rivanna River, a tributary of the James and the main highway of commerce from the village of Charlottesville. Jefferson named the place Shadwell, after the parish in London where Jane had been born. His surveyor's income enabled him to build a comfortable wood frame home with barns and outbuildings. In that home, Peter and Jane Jefferson's third child, and first son, Thomas, was born. By then, more settlers were moving into the western sections of Goochland, and in 1744 the House of Burgesses, meeting in Williamsburg, passed an act dividing it into two counties, the new one to be called Albemarle, after another governor William Anne Keppel, the second earl of Albermarle. Peter Jefferson became an Albemarle County justice of the peace and judge of the court of chancery. The county surveyor position went to Joshua Fry. Jefferson became his assistant, and, when Fry was elected county militia lieutenant, Peter became the lieutenant colonel. Thereafter he was addressed as "Colonel." Within a few months of these events, the Jeffersons moved back to Goochland County to live at Tuckahoe plantation. Its owner, and his friend, William Randolph, a widower, had died, leaving three orphans. Colonel Jefferson assumed responsibility for the care and rearing of the young Randolphs, while he pursued his surveying.. Part of the colony, the Northern Neck between the Potomac and Rappahannock rivers, was a proprietorship, where the land claim laws differed. In the seventeenth century, King Charles II had granted the peninsula to several of his supporters. Thomas, Lord Fairfax, took it over in the eighteenth century, and it became known as the Fairfax Tract. Its lands were disposed of, not by the colonial government in Williamsburg, as elsewhere in Virginia, but by the proprietor, Lord Fairfax. He appointed the county surveyors within the Fairfax Tract, and lands were surveyed and sold upon his order. The problem of knowing where a tract of land was situated created problems. The Fairfax Tract, for instance, was to begin at the headwaters of the Rappahannock River. At the time Charles II made the grant, the position of the headwaters was not known. Lord Fairfax claimed that the headwater of the Rappahannock was the Rapidan River, and that all of the lands within the forks of the Rappahannock were part of the Fairfax Tract. A commission was formed to resolve the question of the boundary line between the crown lands and the Fairfax Tract. Joshua Fry was appointed to represent the interests of the king. Fry, in turn, recommended that his associate, Peter Jefferson, serve as one of the two surveyors for the crown. The other was Robert Brooke. Captain Benjamin Winslow and Thomas Lewis were appointed surveyors for Lord Fairfax.. The basic instrument used by colonial surveyors was the plane surveying compass or "circumferentor," as it was commonly called in England. This was a circular brass or wooden box, housing a magnetized needle set on a bearing. The needle swiveled to magnetic north, and around it was a dial commonly graduated into 360 degrees. The face of the instrument was engraved with a compass rose showing the letters of the four cardinal points set at the points of 90-degree quadrants. The letters for east and west were often reversed, making it easier to read the orientation of a line directly from the compass. The needle, dial, and face were protected by glass held in place by a brass ring or by glazier's putty. The compass was mounted on a base, which extended into two arms set opposite each other. At each end of the arms were sighting vanes. Each vane was cut into a large sighting oval and a narrow slit. The oval was on top of the slit on one vane, and the slit was over the oval on the other vane. Often a thin wire or horsehair was stretched over the oval, providing more precision. The surveyor sighted the compass by peering through the slit in one of the vanes and lining up the horsehair or wire in the oval of the other vane with a target or object in the field. Colonial Williamsburg's Willie Balderson, portraying the surveyor, and Brian Simpers, serving as his tally man, determine the bearing of a survey line with a wooden plane surveying compass. Dave Doody. Although surveyors used a plane surveying compass to determine the bearing of a survey line, distances were measured using a chain. Carrying the chain and measuring the distances along the survey lines was done by laborers, called chainmen. A full surveyor's chain consisted of one hundred equal links and was sixty-six feet long. Each link represented a decimal of the chain, and twenty-five links equaled an English statutory pole. The standard chain equaled four poles. Eighty chains equaled one mile.. Although the full chain was standard equipment in England, dragging a sixty-six-foot chain through the brush of colonial Virginia's forests was impractical. A long chain would hang on brush or logs and the dense vegetation often made it difficult for the chain carriers to see each other. Colonial surveyors like Peter Jefferson used a half-or two-pole-chain, which had fifty links and was thirty-three feet. To measure distances, the lead chainman walked toward the mark that the surveyor had determined with his compass. The rear chainman played out the chain, keeping the rear end of the chain over the beginning point. At the end of the chain, the lead chainman stopped and stuck in the ground an iron or wooden pin about twelve inches long. As soon as the lead chainman set the pin, the rear chainman moved to that spot, and the process began again. As he advanced along the survey line, the rear chainman picked up the pin that the lead chainman had left. Chainmen carried ten pins, and when all ten pins had been collected, the chainmen knew that they had measured five full chains if they were using a half chain, or ten full chains with a full chain. Much of the country through which the Fairfax Line passed was densely wooded and mountainous. In his journal of the expedition, Lewis described the hardships of running a straight line through heavy brush and across boulder-strewn hillsides. On one mountain slope the surveyors were so "often in the outmoust Danger this tirable place was Calld Purgatory." At another location, the surveyors had to cross a stream, which Lewis called the "River Styx" because of its dismal appearance. The far bank was so steep that the packhorses slipped and many fell, along with the baggage on their backs, into the river. Lewis wrote: "We got all our Bagage over as it Began to grow Dark So we were Obliged to Encamp on the Bank & in Such a place where we Could not find a plain Big enough for one man to Lye on. No fire wood Except green or Roten Spruce pine no place for our horses to feed." Often their equipment broke and had to be repaired. Some days food ran low and on others they found no water to drink. After four weeks of trial and tribulation, Peter Jefferson and company reached the Potomac. Because of a compass error, they had come out south of the spring that was the headwater of the Potomac. This meant that they had to run the line a second time, in the opposite direction, to the point where they began. Moving to the headwaters, the men drank a toast to King George and started back Thursday, October 23, 1746. The return journey was as difficult. Several men, including Peter Jefferson, became sick. Brooke fainted in the middle of a swamp, nearly drowning in the shallow, brown water.... The Fry-Jefferson Map, with a cartouche depicting a prosperous colony, was the finest of colonial Virginia and often prominently displayed in the homes and offices of enterprising Virginians. -Colonial Williamsburg. One night the surveyors became separated from their baggage party and were forced to sleep in a cold rainstorm with only handfuls of wet leaves for shelter or warmth. But all was not hardship. On October 30, 1746 the men celebrated the birthday of King George, drinking a toast to his health and firing nine guns in his honor.. Three weeks after leaving the headwater spring, the surveyors reemerged in the grove of trees on the side of the Blue Ridge where they had begun their survey, and where Jefferson had carved his initials.. The four surveyors reassembled in January at Tuckahoe. There, using paper purchased from William Parks in Williamsburg, they prepared a map of the Fairfax Line.. Joshua Fry and Peter Jefferson were selected three years later to extend the boundary between Virginia and North Carolina. As Thomas Jefferson wrote, his father "being of strong mind, sound judgement, and eager about information, . . . read much and improved himself, insomuch that he was chosen, with Joshua Fry . . . to run the boundary-line between Virginia and North Carolina.". Beginning where the 1728 survey of Mayo and others had stopped, Fry and Jefferson carried the line ninety miles into the mountains to the west.. In 1751, they collaborated on a map of Virginia. It was the first map to show the Appalachian Mountains running in the correct direction, and it became the standard cartographic reference of Virginia in the eighteenth century. The year it was published, war broke out with France. The Jeffersons moved back to Albemarle County and Fry was appointed military commander of the provincial forces. His second in command was a young man who had been a county surveyor within the Fairfax Tract, George Washington. A few months later, Fry was thrown from his horse and killed. Washington succeeded him as commander of the Virginia Militia, and Peter Jefferson assumed the post of county surveyor for Albemarle. In 1754, Jefferson became a one-term member of the House of Burgesses. Peter Jefferson is best remembered as the father of Thomas Jefferson. The accomplishments of the son are monuments, and the legacy of the father is far more than some initials carved into a tree on the side of the Blue Ridge. He was responsible for surveying tens of thousands of acres of frontier wilderness. He served his king and country, and, with Fry, accurately mapped Virginia.. On July 13, 1758, Peter Jefferson wrote his will. To son Thomas he left the pick of the choicest of the family's 7,500 acres. He died that August 17. Source Link: https://www.geni.com/documents/view?doc_id=6000000175887816822label=@S1991@

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Peter Jefferson

Peter Jefferson on Monticello, the Thomas Jefferson Foundation

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Peter Jefferson

Find A Grave Memorial ID # 17650608

NOTE: There are three (3) Jeffersons buried in the Monticello Graveyard:

Jane Randolph Jefferson (1720-1776)
US President Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
US First Lady Martha Wayles Jefferson (1748-1782)

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Peter Jefferson (February 29, 1708 – August 17, 1757) was a planter, cartographer and politician in colonial Virginia best known for being the father of the third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson. The "Fry-Jefferson Map", created by Peter in collaboration with Joshua Fry in 1757, accurately charted the Allegheny Mountains for the first time and showed the route of "The Great Road from the Yadkin River through Virginia to Philadelphia distant 455 Miles"—what would later come to be known as the Great Wagon Road.

Source:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Jefferson