Monticello Association

The Monticello Association was founded in 1913 to care for, preserve, and continue the family graveyard at Monticello. It is a non-profit organization whose members include the lineal descendants of Thomas Jefferson, 3rd president of the United States, and his wife Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson. Jefferson was the designer, builder, owner, and, with his family, first residents of Monticello in Charlottesville, Virginia.

On Monday, April 14, 1913 (the first business day after Thomas Jefferson's birthday), a group of 13 descendants of Thomas Jefferson met in Charlottesville, Virginia, for the first meeting of the Monticello Graveyard Association. Officers were elected, and a constitution and bylaws were adopted. At the Annual Meeting in 1919 the membership voted to drop the word "Graveyard" from the title of The Monticello Association.

While there have been some changes in the Monticello Association during the past 100 years, the scope and purposes of the Monticello Association have remained the same, as stated in Article II of its Constitution. Somewhat abbreviated, they are: (i) to preserve and care for the graves and grounds of the Monticello graveyard, (ii) to protect and perpetuate the reputation and fame of Thomas Jefferson, and (iii) to encourage association and friendship among Mr. Jefferson's descendants. Additional purposes of The Monticello Association include: (i) to defend the property rights of the lineal descendants of Col. T. J. Randolph as owners of the original Monticello graveyard, and (ii) to affirm the rights of the descendants of Thomas Jefferson to burial in the addition to the Monticello graveyard as provided in the covenant under which this property was deeded.

In his will, Jefferson conveyed the graveyard to Thomas Mann Randolph, Jr., his daughter Martha's husband, and then in trust to Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson. He named his eldest grandson, Thomas Jefferson Randolph, as his executor. The original section of the graveyard was given to T. J. Randolph's descendants under a restrictive covenant deed and will, and a subsequent section given to all of the lineal descendants of Thomas Jefferson under a restrictive covenant deed.

Thus from its inception, the Monticello graveyard has been available to all lineal descendants of Thomas Jefferson and has been managed and cared for by The Monticello Association as a single unit. Burials in the Monticello graveyard continue to this day.

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