President Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13th, 1743. He was the third of eight children. His mothers name was Jane Randolph, and his father was Peter Jefferson. Peter was a planter and a surveyor in Albemarle County. In 1752, when Thomas was 9, he started going to a school run by a Scottish minister named William Douglas. Thomas began studying Latin, French and Greek. His father passed away when he was 14, in 1757. He inherited about 5,000 acres of land and dozens of slaves. He built his house there, the very famous Monticello. After his father died, Thomas was taught at the school of the minister James Maury. He stayed there from 1758-1760. He got a classical education and studied history and science. In 1760, Thomas went to The College of William and Mary when he was 16. He later graduated with highest honors in 1762. When he was 21, his oldest sister died at the age of 25. Not much later, Thomas became a lawyer; he took care of over one hundred cases per year between the years 1768 and 1773. In 1772, Thomas married a widow named Martha Wayles Skelton. Martha was 23 when she married Thomas. Together they had six children. Unfortunately, Martha passed away on September 6th, 1782. Thomas never remarried. Thomas served as the delegate to the Second Continental Congress, which started in 1775. It began right after the American Revolutionary War. Later in his life, Thomas wrote the Declaration of Independence. On July 4th, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was signed and approved. The Declaration of Independence is what began Thomas's famousness. In September 1776, Thomas returned to Virgina and was elected to the Virgina House of Delegates, which at the time was a new thing. Later, he served as the Virgina Governor from 1779-1781. Thomas also served as the first Secretary of State under George Washington. In 1796, Thomas lost the presidential race to John Adams, but he had enough electoral votes to become Vice President. In 1800, Thomas ran for President, and won. He served as the 3rd President of the United States of America from 1801-1809. Thomas Jefferson died on the Fourth of July in 1826, at the age of 83. President Jefferson was an amazing Founding Father, and he served our country well.
SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_jefferson