ALBEMARLE COUNTY – THE MONTICELLO GRAVEYARD Contributed by: Joan Renfrow ******************************************************************************** USGENWEB ARCHIVES(tm) NOTICE All documents placed in the USGenWeb Archives remain the property of the contributors, who retain publication rights in accordance with US Copyright Laws and Regulations. In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, these documents may be used by anyone for their personal research. They may be used by non-commercial entities so long as all notices and submitter information is included. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit. Any other use, including copying files to other sites, requires permission from the contributors PRIOR to uploading to the other sites. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net ******************************************************************************** THE MONTICELLO GRAVEYARD Plaque: This graveyard had its beginning in an agreement between two young men. Thomas Jefferson and Dabney Carr, who were school-mated and friends. They agreed that they would be buried under a great oak which stood here. Carr, who married Jefferson’s sister, died in 1773. His was the first grave on this site which Jefferson laid out as a family curying ground. Jefferson was buried here in 1826. The present monument is not the original designed by Jefferson, but a larger one erected by the United States in 1883. Its base covers the graves of Jefferson, his wife, his two daughters, and of Governor Thomas Mann Randolph, his Son-In-Law. The graveyard remains the property of Jefferson’s descendants and continues to be a family burying ground. Cemetery Plaque: The chart beleow shows the location of the burials in the front of the graveyard. Descendants and their families continue to be buried in the back portion of the graveyard. *map* The graveyard is owned and maintained by the Monticello Association, an organization of Thomas Jefferson’s lineal descendants. O.S. on Jefferson’s obelisk means ‘Old Style’, a date calculated before the calendar was put forward eleven days in 1752. 1. Anne Cary Bankhead (1791-1826), Granddaughter 2. George Wythe Randolph (1818-1867), Grandson 3. Mary Adams Randolph (1830-1871), Grandson's wife 4. Martha Jefferson Randolph (1772-1836), Daughter 5. Maria Jefferson Eppes (1778-1804), Daughter 6. Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) 7. Martha Wayles Jefferson (1748-1782), Wife 8. Thomas Mann Randolph (1768-1828), Son-in-law 9. Mary Buchanan Randolph (1818-1821) Great-granddaughter 10. Mary Jefferson Randolph (1803-1876), Granddaughter 11. Cornelia Jefferson Randolph (1799-1871), Granddaughter 12. James Madison Randolph (1806-1834), Grandson 13. Martha Jefferson Carr (1746-1811), Sister 14. Dabney Carr (1743-1773), Friend, Brother-in-law 15. Samuel Carr (1771-1855), Nephew 16. Jane Randolph Jefferson (1720-1776), Mother 17. Wilson Jefferson Cary (1784-1823), Great-nephew 18. William Mortimer Harrison (1802-1812), Cousin, drowned 19. Wilson Cary Nicholas (1761-1820), Grandson's Father-in-law Located near Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson. This gravesite is along the row near the gardens, and is much closer to the house than the graveyard where the former President and family is buried. Monticello and the Levy Family To the memory of RACHEL PHILLIPS LEVY Born in New York 23 of May 1769. Married 1787. Died 7 of IYAR (May) 5591 A.B. (1839) At Monticello, Va. Erected August 15, 1859 by her Son, JPL This is the grave of Rachel Phillips Levy (1769-1839), daughter of Jonas and Rebecca Machado Phillips of Philadelphia, and mother of Commodore Uriah P. Levy, USN (1792-1862), who purchased Monticello in 1836. An ardent admirer of Thomas Jefferson, Commodore Levy believed that the houses of great men should be preserved as "monuments to their glory," and he bequeathed Monticello in his will to the "People of the United States." The governement relinquished its claim to the estate, however, and litigation over the will deprived Monticello for seventeen years of an owner to care for it. In 1879, Jefferson Monroe Levy (1852-1924), who shared his uncle Uriah's admiration for Jefferson, gained clear title to Monticello and began to make badly needed repairs. After adding considerable land from the original Monticello tract, he sold the house and 662 acres to the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation in 1923. At two crucial periods in the history of Monticello, the preservation efforts and stewardship of Uriah P. and Jefferson M. Levy successfully maintained the property for future generations.