Talk:Martha Jefferson Randolph

Deletion discussion

 * Previous deletion debate

First Lady
Patsy only rarely resided in the President's house. Dolly Madison spent more time hosting for Jefferson, but Thomas himself performed the most work of this type during his presidency. This reference should be deleted. 173.57.26.204 (talk) 19:33, 19 November 2010 (UTC)

Internal contradiction around 130 slaves?
"She attempted to keep enslaved people with their families when she could, and freed some slaves, but she kept many that she was forced to sell by creditors to settle outstanding debts.[2][34] For instance, in 1827, after her father's death, she sold 130 slaves. As a result, families were separated. The remaining enslaved people were her most valuable assets, and she hired them out when she could for income. She sold two more slaves in 1833.[2] . . . She inherited Monticello from her father in 1826, as well as his many debts. Her eldest son Thomas Randolph acted as executor of the estate. Except for five slaves freed in her father's will, and "giving her time" (informal emancipation) to Sally Hemings, they sold the remainder of the 130 slaves at Monticello to try to settle the debts."

So if, in 1827, Patsy sold 130 enslaved people from Monticello, and presumably that means the "remainder of *130* [enslaved] at Monticello," then who was being hired out and ultimately sold in 1833? Are these from the 8 people that TJ deeded her as a [human] wedding present? Vargob (talk) 23:53, 16 February 2022 (UTC)

First Lady
Category:First Ladies and Gentlemen of Virginia was removed from the article in this edit. She was the First lady of Virginia when her husband was governor of the state. So, I reverted that change.–CaroleHenson (talk) 19:23, 19 October 2022 (UTC)

Readiness for Good Article status
Starting today or tomorrow, I will be working on the article to prepare it to be assessed for Good Article status, using this checklist (based upon WP:Good article criteria):


 * Meets MOS guidelines for sections, layout, lists, etc.
 * Clear, concise prose
 * Edit content for objective, encyclopedic tone and grammar
 * No unnecessary detail
 * Reliable, verifiable sources with good citation format.
 * No copyright violations of content or images
 * Sufficient illustrations with good captions

–CaroleHenson (talk) 20:18, 30 December 2022 (UTC)


 * I looked through the sources I've been using for writing first lady articles in case more information is needed. Unfortunately, most of them omit Jefferson because she wasn't a presidential spouse, but Presidential Wives has a chapter on her, and it's available to borrow online for free. I don't know how much there is to write about her or what's still needed, but there could be something useful there if necessary. Thebiguglyalien (talk) 20:52, 30 December 2022 (UTC)


 * No, wrong book. It's A Companion to First Ladies, which can be accessed with Wikipedia Library. Thebiguglyalien (talk) 21:00, 30 December 2022 (UTC)


 * Okay, great, thanks .–CaroleHenson (talk) 21:06, 30 December 2022 (UTC)

Tracking status
Tracking status of GA prep, a work-in-progress, with comments and status indented below each of the bullets:
 * Meets MOS guidelines for sections, layout, lists, etc.
 * ✅ re: sections, layout–CaroleHenson (talk) 05:22, 31 December 2022 (UTC)
 * the only list in the article is for her twelve children. My take is that it would be hard to read in prose, even so, perhaps that would be better.–CaroleHenson (talk) 05:22, 31 December 2022 (UTC)


 * Clear, concise prose
 * Edit content for objective, encyclopedic tone and grammar
 * No unnecessary detail
 * Removed some trivia.
 * Comment: moving trivie or detailed info into notes.–CaroleHenson (talk) 17:04, 31 December 2022 (UTC)


 * Reliable, verifiable sources with good citation format.
 * No copyright violations of content or images
 * ✅ no copyright violations for images–CaroleHenson (talk) 04:43, 31 December 2022 (UTC)


 * Sufficient illustrations with good captions
 * ✅ improved captions, added citations, sufficient illustrations for the article–CaroleHenson (talk) 04:43, 31 December 2022 (UTC)


 * Expand intro–CaroleHenson (talk) 04:52, 31 December 2022 (UTC)
 * For a GA article, need more independent sources / books, including A Companion to First Ladies–CaroleHenson (talk) 05:00, 31 December 2022 (UTC)

This article needs serious revision.
This synopsis really misses the boat on Martha Jefferson Randolph. Some good historian, please rewrite it. 2600:100D:B042:7D2A:3C5B:D36A:CEC5:BA9E (talk) 20:10, 24 July 2023 (UTC)