Jane Hollins Nicholas Randolph

Jane Hollins Nicholas Randolph (1798–1871) was the daughter of Wilson Cary Nicholas and Margaret Smith Nicholas. On March 6, 1815, Jane married Thomas Jefferson Randolph, Thomas Jefferson’s eldest grandson, at Warren, her family’s estate. The couple lived for a brief time at Monticello before relocating to Thomas Jefferson's Tufton farm, and finally took possession of Randolph’s father’s Edgehill estate in 1825. Jane and Thomas Jefferson Randolph had 13 children, 12 of whom lived to adulthood.

To ease the family’s financial difficulties, Jane Randolph founded the Edgehill School. With the help of her mother-in-law and sisters-in-law, and later three of her daughters, Edgehill School became one of the region’s most prestigious educational institutions for girls, operating from 1829 until 1897, and closing only during the Civil War years.

Jane Nicholas Randolph died on January 18, 1871, and was buried in the family cemetery at Monticello.^[1]

Further Sources

• Thomas Jefferson Foundation. Jefferson Quotes and Family Letters.