A Remembrance of Thomas Jefferson

Editor's note: April is the birth month of Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826). In honor of the occasion, Commissioner Mark Schoenrock made the following presentation at a meeting of the Jefferson County Commissioners the morning of Tuesday, April 23, 2024.The American founder and patriot for whom our county is named, Thomas Jefferson, was born in this month of April, on April 13, 1743 on the edge of the Virginia wilderness. It was the season of white dogwood and honeysuckle blossoms speckling the dark forests of the Piedmont. He died on July 4, 1826, at his beloved Monticello above Charlottesville. He, along with fellow founding father John Adams, died on the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. What he accomplished, what he stood for, and the importance of his life even to us in this ensuing generation, in his 83 years in mortality is remarkable, and of enduring importance to the American experiment. He wrote the script for his own tombstone as follows:“Here was buried Thomas Jefferson,Author of the Declaration of American Independence,Of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom,And Father of the University of Virginia.He did not think it important enough to mention that he had been:Elected a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses,Elected Governor of Virginia,Served as the first American Ambassador to France,The first American Secretary of State,Vice President,And twice elected as the third President of the United States.He and his family endured many hardships and made many sacrifices in his over 60 years of service to his fellow citizens. His service was an indispensable bedrock of the foundation of American independence and formation of the government which has served the United States of America now for 248 years. May his example of service, courage and dedication be an example and beacon to us in our time in our service to our fellow citizens.

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