Editing Thomas Jefferson (section)

===Monticello, marriage, and family===
{{Further|Martha Jefferson|Monticello}}
[[File:Monticello 2010-10-29.jpg|thumb|alt=Monticello plantation house|[[Monticello]], Jefferson's home near [[Charlottesville, Virginia]]]]
In 1768, Jefferson began constructing his primary residence, [[Monticello]] near present-day [[Charlottesville, Virginia]]. Its [[Italian language|Italian]] name means "Little Mountain" in English. Monticello is located on a hilltop overlooking his {{convert|5000|acre|km2 mi2|adj=on}} plantation.{{efn|His other properties included [[Shadwell (Virginia)|Shadwell]], [[Tufton Farm|Tufton]], Lego, Pantops, and his retreat, [[Poplar Forest]]. He also owned the unimproved mountaintop Montalto, and the Natural Bridge.<ref>[[#Bear|Bear, 1967]], p. 51.</ref>}} He spent most of his adult life designing Monticello as an architect and was quoted as saying, "Architecture is my delight, and putting up, and pulling down, one of my favorite amusements."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.monticello.org/thomas-jefferson/a-day-in-the-life-of-jefferson/a-delightful-recreation/building-monticello/|title=Building Monticello|access-date=April 21, 2020}}</ref> Construction was done mostly by local masons and carpenters, assisted by Jefferson's slaves.<ref>[[#TJFSlaveBuilders|TJF: Monticello (House) FAQ – "Who built the house?"]]</ref> He moved into the South Pavilion in 1770. Turning Monticello into a [[Neoclassical architecture|neoclassical]] masterpiece in the [[Palladian architecture|Palladian]] style became Jefferson's lifelong project.<ref>[[#Ellis96|Ellis, 1996]], pp. 142–144.</ref>

On January 1, 1772, Jefferson married his third cousin,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vintag.es/2017/05/they-did-what-15-famous-people-who.html|title=They Did What? 15 Famous People Who Actually Married Their Cousins|access-date=August 24, 2019}}</ref> [[Martha Jefferson|Martha Wayles Skelton]], a 23-year-old widow of Bathurst Skelton.<ref name="Tucker p.47">[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 1, p. 47.</ref><ref>[[#Roberts93|Roberts, 1993]]</ref> She was a frequent hostess for Jefferson, and managed the large household. Historian [[Dumas Malone]] described the marriage as the happiest period of Jefferson's life.<ref>[[#Malone48|Malone, 1948]], p. 53.</ref> Martha was a skilled pianist; Jefferson often accompanied her on the violin or cello.<ref>[[#Malone48|Malone, 1948]], pp. 47, 158.</ref> During their ten-year marriage, Martha bore six children: [[Martha Jefferson Randolph|Martha]] "Patsy" (1772–1836); Jane Randolph (1774–1775); an unnamed son who lived for only a few weeks in 1777; [[Mary Jefferson Eppes|Mary]] "Polly" (1778–1804); Lucy Elizabeth (1780–1781); and another Lucy Elizabeth (1782–1784).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/lucy-jefferson-1782-1784|title=Lucy Jefferson (1782–1784)|website=Thomas Jefferson's Monticello|access-date=February 17, 2020}}</ref>{{efn|While the news from Francis Eppes, with whom Lucy was staying, did not reach Jefferson until 1785, in an undated letter,<ref>{{cite web |title=To Thomas Jefferson from Francis Eppes [14 October 1784] |via=Founders Online, National Archives |access-date=September 29, 2019 |url=https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-07-02-0342 |work=The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 7, March 2, 1784 – February 25, 1785 |editor-first=Julian P. |editor-last=Boyd |publisher=Princeton University Press |date=1953 |pages=441–442}}</ref> it is clear that the year of her death was 1784 from another letter to Jefferson from  James Currie dated November 20, 1784.<ref>{{cite web |title=To Thomas Jefferson from James Currie, 20 November 1784 |via=Founders Online, National Archives |access-date=September 29, 2019 |url=https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-07-02-0388 |work=The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 7, March 2, 1784 – February 25, 1785 |editor-first=Julian P. |editor-last=Boyd |publisher=Princeton University Press |date=1953 |pages=538–539}}</ref>}} Only Martha and Mary survived to adulthood.<ref name="Martha">[[#Skelton|White House Archives]]</ref> Martha's father, John Wayles, died in 1773, and the couple inherited 135 enslaved people, {{cvt|11000|acre|km2 mi2|lk=off}}, and the estate's debts. The debts took Jefferson years to satisfy, contributing to his financial problems.<ref name="Tucker p.47"/>

Martha later suffered from ill health, including [[diabetes]], and frequent childbirth weakened her. A few months after the birth of her last child, she died on September 6, 1782, with Jefferson at her bedside. Shortly before her death, Martha made Jefferson promise never to marry again, telling him that she could not bear to have another mother raise her children.<ref>[[#Gordon08|Gordon-Reed, 2008]], p. 145; [[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], p. 53.</ref> Jefferson was grief-stricken by her death, relentlessly pacing back and forth for roughly three weeks, and finally emerging to take long rambling rides on secluded roads with his daughter, Martha, who said she was "a solitary witness to many a violent burst of grief".<ref name="Martha"/><ref name="Halliday48">[[#Halliday09|Halliday, 2009]], pp. 48–53.</ref>