, Jane, he married in 1738. Monticello, the
future residence of his son Thomas, was a part of this farm. Peter
Jefferson was a leader among the men of his day and received expressions
of public confidence from the voters of his county. He died in 1759,
having directed that Thomas should complete his education in William and
Mary College at Williamsburg, then the capital of the colony.

Thomas entered the college and by assiduous application he soon built
upon the learning acquired in the public and private schools of his
county, an education quite liberal and advanced for that period.

He was tall, and in youth somewhat awkward in manner. What he lacked,
however, in personal grace was at once forgotten in the vivacity of his
conversation, made doubly charming by the extent and variety of his
learning. During his collegiate days he formed a close friendship with
Patrick Henry, John Marshall, and others who afterward became
distinguished in American history. He was always welcome in the house of
Governor Fauquier, from whom he learned much of the social, political,
and parliamentary life of the old world. It was here that he first met
George Wythe, a gifted and talented young lawyer, who afterward became
Chancellor of the State.

After leaving college he entered upon the study of the law in the office
of his friend Mr. Wythe, and with this and the management of his
father's estate he found himself abundantly occupied.

In 1767 he was admitted to the bar, and for several years devoted
himself to the practice of his profession. It is quite probable that, in
consequence of his inability to speak and his utter incapacity for
forensic controversy, his career at the bar would not have reached the
highest distinction. What he lacked, however, in the power of speech,
found ample compensation in the strength, beauty, and elegance of
expression which he commanded with the pen. This extraordinary talent
was destined soon to find abundant employment in defending the rights of
the people against the oppressive acts of the mother-country. Patrick
Henry had already argued the "Parsons' Cause" in December, 1763, and
Jefferson himself, as a college student at Williamsburg, had listened to
the impassioned speech of Henry in the Virginia House of Burgesses
against the Stamp Act of Parliament. But the fiery eloquence of his
friend Henry only fanned a flame that already burned in the breast of
Jefferson. Impulsive by nature, by education a