Martha Wayles married Bathurst Skelton on 20 November 1766, a month after celebrating her eighteenth birthday.

After the death of her first husband, she married Thomas Jefferson, her fifth cousin. Their great-grandson, Thomas Jefferson Randolph, married Mary Walker Meriwether, daughter of Dr. Francis Meriwether and Margaret Douglas Meriwether.

^BIRTH **Burke’s states birth was between 19 and 30 Oct.; Charles City Co. or Charles City, Chester Co.? BLEVINS has 30 Oct 1748 in The Forest.

http://www.jeffersonlegacy.org/commentary.html

Martha’s Upbringing
Martha Wayles was born on 19 October 1748, in Charles City County, Virginia. The family home, known as “The Forest,” was not very far from Williamsburg (Charles City County was just west of the colonial capital).   So little is known about Martha’s birth, family, and upbringing that one finds only a rare mention of her and varying accounts among the teaspoon’s worth that does exist, with one source even placing her birth incorrectly in Lancaster, England. (3)  

Martha appears to have attended – and would have been expected to have done so, given her father’s wealth and their close proximity to the capital – social events in Williamsburg.  Because her father buried three wives and lived for many years as a widower after the death of his third wife, Martha most assuredly would have attended these social functions on the arm of her father – at least on an intermittent basis – and would have been responsible for helping to host affairs at The Forest for her widower father. 

Although the details are lost, it is clear that Martha Wayles knew how to manage a large household. Running a thriving, bustling plantation with its vast estate, mansion, farms, large slave population, attendant overseers, and frequent guests and visitors – which was the case for both the Wayles and Jefferson plantations – required considerable skill and energy.  Several sources note that, in addition to organizing the family affairs and ordering home supplies, Martha assisted her father in managing the plantation/home business accounts.

Because her mother died from complications giving birth to her, Martha’s domestic education would have been at an accelerated pace.  Young Ms. Wayles would have found herself thrust into the role of mistress of the home at a tender age, and would be again forced into this role after the death of both stepmothers. It was common among Wayles’ contemporaries for widowers to seek the assistance of female relatives in raising infant daughters or, if the family could afford, for them to employ tutors.  Of these scenarios we are unsure, but the poise, domestic skills, and education attributed to Martha Wayles as a young woman would point to the likelihood John Wayles had help raising his daughter.  “Patty,” as she was nicknamed, knew how to make soap, candles, butter, and other household staples of the eighteenth century, and she could cook, sew, and treat illnesses with homemade remedies. 

From descriptions of her as an adult, we know she was not only literate but was well read for a woman of her time; she enjoyed poetry and fiction.  Families of comfortable means in the Tidewater region of Virginia in the mid-eighteenth century often employed traveling teachers or tutors to educate their daughters, as young girls were not formally educated at schools. Their basic education at home focused on the domestic arts and was supplemented by tutors in such areas as literature, music, dancing, bible study, and even French. Because Martha grew up to be an accomplished musician, it appears likely she received lessons as a child.

http://www.jeffersonlegacy.org/commentary.html (not valid 2021)

Mrs. Skelton
Martha Wayles married Bathurst Skelton on 20 November 1766, a month after celebrating her eighteenth birthday. The couple apparently wed at the Wayles family home, but we are uncertain about how or where Ms. Wayles met Mr. Skelton.  Given the fact that Elizabeth Lomax Skelton, the third wife of Martha’s father, had formerly been married to Bathurst Skelton’s older brother Reuben, it is likely the Wayles family knew the Skelton family. 

Bathurst Skelton was born in June 1744, making him four years Martha’s senior. The Skelton family was, by all accounts, reasonably prosperous, and Bathurst Skelton attended the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg.  Unfortunately, little is known about the marriage of Bathurst and Martha or their lives together, except that a son, John, was born on 7 November 1767. Tragically, Bathurst Skelton did not live to see his son’s first birthday, dying on 30 September 1768.  His death was attributed to illness. 
Martha Wayles Skelton was a widow with an infant child at the tender age of nineteen.  After losing her husband, Martha moved with her son back to The Forest to live with her father.  During this time, the young widow appears to have had many suitors after, of course, a suitable period of time for mourning.  Wealthy, beautiful, and accomplished, Martha would have been a very attractive figure among single men in Tidewater society.

http://www.jeffersonlegacy.org/commentary.html

Education:
There exists no record of formal education for Martha. Considering the domestic skills and intelligence many contemporary observers made of her, Martha Wayles Jefferson was likely educated at home by traveling tutors in literature, poetry, French, Bible study; with notable accomplishment on the pianoforte and harpsichord, she likely received considerable length of training in music. Certainly a young woman of her region, era and wealth would also be trained in sewing and medicinal preparations .

http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=3

Thomas and Martha are 5C.

On 23 December 1771, Jefferson traveled to The Forest from Monticello to sign a wedding bond. One week later, on 30 December 1771, Jefferson purchased a marriage license in Williamsburg then traveled back to The Forest.