e history of transportation. (Thomas Jefferson, an intimate history [by] Fawn M. Brodie. Published: New York, Norton [1974])Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743, at Shadwell, the family farm in Goochland (now Albemarle) County, Virginia. (The date was April 2 by the calendar then in use.) He was the third child in the family and grew up with six sisters and one brother. Two other brothers died in infancy. His father, Peter Jefferson, had served as surveyor, sheriff, colonel of militia, and member of the House of Burgesses. Thomas's mother, Jane Randolph Jefferson, came from one of the oldest families in Virginia. Thomas developed the normal interests of a country boy—hunting, fishing, horseback riding, and canoeing. He also learned to play the violin and to love music. Jefferson was 14 years old when his father died. As the oldest son, he became head of the family. He inherited more than 2,500 acres (1,010 hectares) of land and at least 20 slaves. His guardian, John Harvie, managed the estate until Jefferson was 21. Thomas began his studies under a tutor. At age 9, he went to live with a Scottish clergyman, who taught him Latin, Greek, and French. After his father died, Thomas entered the school of James Maury, an Anglican clergyman, near Charlottesville. (Thomas Jefferson : a life / Willard Sterne Randall. Published: New York : H. Holt, 1993)In 1760, when he was 16, Jefferson entered the College of William and Mary at Williamsburg. The town had a population of only about 1,000. But as the provincial capital, it had a lively social life. There, young Jefferson met two men, William Small and Judge George Wythe, who would have a great influence on him. Small was a professor of mathematics at the college. "From his conversation," Jefferson later recalled, "I got my first views of the expansion of science and of the system of things in which we are placed." Small introduced his eager young disciple to Wythe, one of the most...
