Shadwell Chapter
Organized February 5, 1925
Charlottesville, Virginia
Shadwell was the plantation of Colonel Peter Jefferson, and the birthplace of his illustrious son, Thomas Jefferson. It consisted of a patent of a thousand acres, and was joined on the east by the estate of William Randolph, from whom he soon obtained, "for the consideration of Henry Weatherbourne's biggest bowl of arrack punch", an additional four hundred acres. The jolly bargain provided the site for the mansion, which was built in 1737, and named Shadwell after the parish in London where Mrs. Jefferson was born. Thomas Jefferson tells us that his father was the third or fourth settler in Albemarle, meaning, of course, among those whose lands were grants or patents.
Shadwell was a farm-house, a story and a half in height, and had the four spacious ground rooms and hall, with garret chambers above, common in these structures two hundred years since. It also had the usual huge outside chimneys, planted against each gable like Gothic buttresses, but massive enough, had such been their use, to support the walls of a cathedral, instead of those of a low wooden cottage. In that house was born Thomas Jefferson.
In the spirit of Virginia hospitality, this home was thrown open to constant guests. Being near the public highway, it was also the stopping place for all passersby, including the great Indian chiefs on their visits to and from the Colonial Capital.