JEFFERSON. county asylum for llie insane. There are flour- mills, tanneries, a pork-packing plant, cream- eries, anil manufactures of boots and shoes, fur- niture, wagons and carriages, brick and tile, sash, doors, blinds, etc. Jeli'erson, settled in 18.37, is governed, under a charter last revised in 1893, by a mayor, chosen every two years, and a coun- cil. The water-works and electric-light plant are owned and o|)erated by the municipality. I'lipu- lalinii, in 1S!II). :i287 ; "in 1000, 2584. JEFFERSON, Jo.seph (182!)—). A distin- guished American comedian, the fourth ot a line of actors, of whom his father and grandfather bore the same name. His mother had been Mrs. Burke, a singer of high repute. He was born in Philadcljihia, February 20, 182!), and from in- fancy was upon the stage, ap|)caring as Cora's child in I'izarro when only three years old, and with Kiee as a miniature ".Jim Crow' when four years old. In 1838 his father removed to the West, playing in Western and Southern cities. They vent in 1842 to Mobile, where his father died of yellow fever, and for several years after this Joseph went through the hard training of a strolling actor, play- ing minor parts in many cities of the United States and in Mexico. After his return to the East, in 1840. his circumstances improved, and the next few years were largely spent in variois cities of the S.jutli. In 18j() he made his lust visit to Europe. Returning again to Xew York, he became a member of Laura Keene's company, and in her newly opened theatre in 1857 appeared as Dr. Pangloss in The Heir-al-Laic, and in sev- eral less inijKirtant roles. In 1858 he played with E. A. Sothern in Miss Keene's production of Our American Cousin, really creating the part of Asa Trenchard. It was while acting in Our Amcririin Cousin that he began his search in literature for a character combining both humor and pathos, which he finally found in Irving's ]iip 'an ^Vinkle: but his dramatization of the sketch was so unsatisfactory to himself that it was afterwards altered and amplified by Bouci- cault, and became JefTerson's most famous role. He played it for the first time in London, in 1805, and since then this character. Dr. Pangloss, and liiib Acres in TIte Rivuls, which he revived in Pbilndelphia in 1880. have been the principal ones in liis repertory. He has al^^o acquired a con- siderable rcjiutation as a landsca|)e painter in oils. Mr. .Tefferson has been twice married — to Miss Margaret Lockycr in 1850. and, after her death, to Miss Sarah Wanen in ISti". He owns a fine plantation in Louisiana, and when not on the stage spends his winters there. His Autobiog- raphy (Xew York. ISOO), besides being an enter- taining account of his own life, is full of inter- esting allusions to many contemporaneous actors and actresses. Consult: Winter, The Jeffersons (Boston, ISSl) : Carroll. Tu-eh-e Americans, Their Lives and Times (Xew Y'ork. 1883) : Mat- thews and Hutton. Actors and Actresses of Great Britain and the Vnited States (Xew Y'ork. 1886). JEFFERSON, TnoM.s (1743-182f>) . Author of the Dcilaratiim of Independence, and third President of the Vnited States, bom in .Mbemarle County. Va.. April 2. O. S. (April 13. X. S.), 1743. His father was Peter .TefTerson. a man of some prominence in his community: his mother was .Jane Randolph, a sister of William Ran- dolph, of Tuckahoe. Thomas was educated first 162 JEFFERSON. in a common .school, in the ordinary studies for a boy of seven, and when nine years old tlic Rev. -Mr. Douglas gave him instruction in I'rcnch and in the classical languages. He [ircjiari'd for col- lege under the tuition of the Rev. .lr. -Maury, and at the age of seventeen became a student in il- liam and Jlary's College. Jeli'erson did well in the classics, in French, Italian, and Spanish, and acquired an equipment in mathematics and science such as was rarclv had save by spe- cial students. On leaving college he turned lii.s attention to law, and studied for about five years under Ceorge Wythe, the head of his profession in irginia. In 1707, at the age of twenty-four, lie was admitted to the bar. In 171)0 Jeli'erson took his seat in the House of Burgesses, elected on the arrival of the new Governor, Lord Botetourt. A set of too inde- pendent resolutions brought about the dissolution of the assembly; but before returning home the Burgesses met at the Raleigh Tavern and adopted a nouim|)ortation agreement, of which .Jefferson was one of the signers. The quest i<m of eman- cipating slaves was then being ;igitate(l in Eng- land, but little had been heard on the subject in the Colonies. Jeli'erson propo.sed an act which would give masters the right to free their slaves whenever they thought proper; but the bill failed to pass, and the principle was not established until seventeen years later. His term over, he resumed law practice, re- moved to an unfinished house (subse(|uently famous as 'Montiiello') . and. on Xev Y'ear's Day, 1772. married .Martha Skelton. daughter of John Wayles. and widow of Bathurst Skelton. In March, 1773. when the House of Burgesses came together again, Jeli'erson. Henry, and others of advanced opinions undertook to form a connnitfee of correspondence for the spread of political intelligence in the Colonies. This scheme had scarcely been adopted and the conunittee selected when the Governor dissolved the House. In the spring of 1774, however, all of the old members reappeared in their seats, and while this session was in progress news came of the Boston Port Bill. Jefl'erson. with .some of the other leaders, succeeded in having a resolution passed to observe a day of prayer and fasting, and again the Governor resorted to dissolution. The Burgesses in a secret meeting requested the Conunittee of Correspondence to consult with the other Colonies as to the e])ediencv of a general congress, and then resolv<'d in favor of a meeting of representatives from the coimties of Virginia, to be held at Williamsburg on ,ugust 1st. Jef- ferson was chosen a representative, but was pre- vented by illness from attending. He feu-warded, however, to Peyton Randolph, the president of the convention, a draft which he hoped to see adopted as instructions to the delegates to be selected for the Colonial Congress. When pre- sented, copies of this document were ordered to be printed, and this first of .Jefferson's political writings appeared in pamphlet form as .4 .Sfj/m- marii Vieir of the liii/hts of liritish America, This was sent to England, where, after receiving some interpolations from the pen of Edmund Burke, it was published and widely circulated — .a circumstance which .TefTerson regarded as the reason for including his name with others in a bill to punish sedition. In the session of the con- vention held in the spring of 1775. .Jefferson was on the Committee to see to the defense of Virginia,
