The Widower Jefferson and the Women He Loved

Here's Where It Gets Interesting

Sharon McMahon

Government, History, Storytelling, Education

4.9 • 15.1K Ratings

🗓️ 15 August 2022

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On today’s episode of Here's Where It Gets Interesting, we hear about the wife of Thomas Jefferson, Martha, who is listed as an official First Lady, but who passed away nearly twenty years before Jefferson’s presidency. Thomas Jefferson never remarried, but he did rely on two very important women to support him through the years as a widower. Learn about who they were and how their lives were destined to be connected, even before they were born.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hello,
0:02.0	welcome. Welcome to another episode of Sharon Says So,
0:05.0	where we've been talking about America's First Ladies
0:08.0	and the people and events that defy their times.
0:12.0	Today we're going to learn just a little about the women
0:15.6	who were an indispensable part of Thomas Jefferson's life, his political
0:21.1	career, and eventually his presidency.
0:25.6	Keep listening, because here's where it gets interesting.
0:30.7	I'm Sharon McMahon,
0:32.1	and welcome to the Sharon Sayso podcast.
0:38.0	The first part of today's story may feel eerily familiar
0:42.0	if you've already listened to my episode on Martha Washington
0:45.6	because not so surprisingly the lives and customs of young women from wealthy families in
0:50.9	colonial America didn't differ all that much from each other.
0:55.8	Nor did their names just to make sure things stay extra super confusing for
1:01.9	another couple of podcast episodes because Thomas Jefferson's wife was also named Martha.
1:09.0	In 1720, Martha Wales' skeleton was 22 years old.
1:15.8	Though no portraits of her were painted during her lifetime, she was said by acquaintances
1:20.6	to be a natural beauty with large hazel eyes, a slender build, and rich a armored hair.
1:28.8	She was a widow.
1:30.8	Four years earlier at age 18 she had married another man, another man who was a young and promising lawyer, but he died after an accident when he was only 24.
1:44.4	Martha was a mother at the time of her husband's death.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Sharon McMahon, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Sharon McMahon and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.