355. ANCESTRY, Thomas Jefferson's.—
The tradition in my father's family was that
their ancestor came to this country from Wales,
and from near the mountain of Snowdon, the
highest in Great Britain. I noted once a case
from Wales, in the law reports, where a person
of our name was either plaintiff or defendant;
and one of the same name was secretary to the
Virginia Company. [23]
These are the only instances
in which I have met with the name in
that country. I have found it in our early
records; but the first particular information I
have of any ancestor was of my grandfather,
who lived at the place in Chesterfield called
Ozborne's, and owned the lands afterwards the
glebe of the parish. He had three sons:
Thomas who died young, Field who settled on
the waters of Roanoke and left numerous descendants,
and Peter, my father, who settled on
the lands I still own, called Shadwell, adjoining
my present residence. He was born February
29, 1707-8, and intermarried 1739, with Jane
Randolph, of the age of 19, daughter of Isham
Randolph, one of the seven sons of that name
and family, settled at Dungeoness in Goochland.
They trace their pedigree far back in
England and Scotland, to which let every one
ascribe the faith and merit he chooses.—
Autobiography. Washington ed. i, 1.
Ford ed., i, 1.
(1831)
