Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. I.djvu/193

THOMAS JEFFERSON 155 years. He describes her as the "cherished com panion of his youth and the nurse of his old age," and shortly before his death remarked that the "last pang of life was parting with her." After the business reverses and the death of her father and husband, she contemplated establishing a school, but was relieved from the necessity by a donation of $10,000 each from South Carolina and Virginia. She left a large family of sons and daughters, whom she carefully educated. There is no known portrait of Mrs. Jefferson. Her sister, MARY, born at Monticello, August 1, 1778; died in Albemarle County, Va., April 17, 1804, was also educated in the convent at Panthe- mont, France, and is described, in a letter of Mrs. Abigail Adams, "as one of the most beautiful and remarkable children she had ever known." She married her cousin, John Wayles Eppes, early in life, but was prevented by delicate health from the enjoyment of social life. She spent the second winter of Mr. Jefferson s first term with her sister as mistress of the White House. She left two chil dren, one of whom, Francis, survived. Jefferson s last surviving granddaughter, Mrs. Septima Ran dolph Meikleham, died in Washington, D. C., on September 16, 1887. See "The Domestic Life of Thomas Jefferson," by Miss Sarah N. Randolph (New York, 1871).