Martha Jefferson

Americans1700sWomenFirst Ladies
Written By Heather Rogers, America's Preeminent Presidential Doodler

WIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON // #3

  • First Lady of Virginia, but died twenty years before Jefferson’s presidency

  • Jefferson was her second husband

  • She made him promise not to remarry (maybe because she didn’t want her kids raised by a stepmom, like she was?)

  • Instead, he began carrying on with her half-sister, Sally Hemmings

  • And the “carrying on” likely wasn’t consentual

Martha Jefferson was a widow
Heather Rogers, America's Preeminent Presidential Doodler

Heather isn’t a historian, an academic, or an impartial storyteller… but she has read more than one book about every U.S. president. Out of spite. She was dubbed America’s Preeminent Presidential Doodler by one of her favorite authors and she’s been repeating it ever since. When she’s not reading or doodling history books, she’s a freelance graphic designer and illustrator.

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