The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1918-01-03
ERHAPS the average boy
is more familiar with the
name of Thomas Jeffer-

.lUfSX1H Is more familiar with the
| 1XaoBgn name of Thomas Jeffer-
N gy son as President of the
! United States than that of any
other man with the exception of
Washington and Lincoln. 1t may
be that this is partly because of the
fact that Jefferson was the author
Of the Declaration of independence
and his name comes into promi-
nence with each recurring Fourth
of July. 1t is one. that must ever
stand forth prominently in the his
tory of our country.
He seems to have been of Welsh
origin and his father was Peter
jefferson, man of comparative
wealth. His wife was Miss Jane
Randolph, lady of excellent fami-
ly, who had been born in London.
When she married Peter Jefferson
they took possession of an estate
of fourteen hundred acres in the
vicinity of the present town of
Charlottesville in North Carolina.
They gave the name of Shadwell
to their plantation, because that
was the name of the parish in Lon
don from which Mrs. Jefferson had
come. Their son Thomas was born
at Shadwell on the End of April in
the year 1743 and he was the eldest
of eight children. His father died
when the boy Thomas was fourteen
years old. Mrs. Jefferson and her
children had ample means for their
support. Thomas was sent to
school at the age of five years and
he had the best teachers obtainable
in that day. He was but nine years
old when be was placed in the
family of a Scotch minister to be
taught Greek. Latin and French,
studies that boys of nine years do
not tackle very often in our day.
He was of studious turn of mind,
and we read that he was great
favOrite not only of his teachers
but of his schoolmates. He had a
kindly manner and other elements
of character that count for popu-
larity.
| He not yet seventeen when he
entered William and Mary College,
where he became such close stu
dent that he often spent fifteen
hours day over his books and in
reciting. About sunset each day
he ran a mile and back to give
himself the exercise he needed.
He was extremity fond of hunting
and of horseback riding, two forms
of outdoor diversion that no doubt
added to the good health he seems
to have had throughout long life
of eighty-three years. The JEFF
fersonian simplicity" of which we
have heard a good deal. began to
manifest itself early and rather sud-
denly in life. We are told that
when Thomas jefferson first en-
tered college he had his horses and
lived more extensively than most
of the other students. He went
much into fashionable society and
was one of the best dressed young
students in the city of Williams
burg, During the second year at
college young Jefferson seems to
have undergone some kind of a
change of heart that altered his
thought and habit so entirely that
be discarded his horses, gave So
ciety the cold shoulder. put aside
! the violin of which he had been
so fond and became an abnormally
studious young man of the simplest
habits of life. He became one of
the best scholars that ever left
William and Mary College. He
was but twenty-one years old when
he was admitted to the bar, a very
serious-minded and digni6ed young
man, who had already become in
terested in national affairs. He
was of the young men who had
heard the speech of Patrick Henry,
s. y ~