Thomas Jefferson to Martha Jefferson, December 11, 1783.After the death of his wife, Jefferson carefully planned the education and training of his daughters, Martha (1772-1836), Maria (1778-1804), and Lucy (1782-1784). In this letter, he laid out a plan of study for his daughter Martha, so that she would be able to fulfill the social role of plantation mistress. Learning the social graces of music, dancing, letter writing, as well as knowledge of literature and language ability were skills that he considered essential.
