Jefferson had two daughters, the only two of his children who survived to mature life. One of these, Maria, who in childhood went to Paris in the care of Mrs. Adams, and who was remarkable for her beauty and the loveliness of her nature, died in early womanhood. She was indifferent to her own beauty, and almost resented the admiration which it called forth, exclaiming, “You praise me for _that_ because you can not praise me for better things.” She set an extraordinary value upon talent, believing that the possession of it alone could make her the worthy companion of her father. She was most tenderly beloved by him, and, at the time of her early death, he wrote to his friend, Governor Page: “Others may lose of their abundance; but I, of my want, have lost even the half of that I had. My evening prospects now hang on the slender thread of a single life.” This “single” life was that of Martha Jefferson Randolph. She lived to be not only the domestic comforter, but the intellectual companion of her father. She was one of that type of daughters, of which, in our own country, Theodocia Burr and Katherine Chase have been such illustrious examples. These women, equally beautiful, intellectual, and charming, identified themselves not only with the private interests, but with the public life and political ambitions of their fathers. Had Martha Jefferson been less womanly and domestic, she might have made herself famous as a _belle_, a wit, or a scholar. Married at seventeen, the mother of twelve children, seven of whom were daughters, the fine quality of her intellect, and the nobility of her soul were all merged into a life spent in their guidance, and in devotion and service to her husband and father. The mother of five children at the time of her father’s inauguration as President of the United States, separated from Washington by a long and fatiguing journey, which could only be performed by coach and horse-travel, Mrs. Randolph never made but two visits to the President’s house, during his two terms of office. Her son, James Madison Randolph was born in the “White House.”