Some say that whatever a man has decided to have placed on his tombstone says a lot about what that man considered to be of greatest importance in his life. Knowing that you would think that a man who accomplished as much in his life as did Thomas Jefferson would need a large grave marker. Or perhaps he’d need several tombstones to give the full story.

To my surprise, the first time I visited Jefferson’s gravesite and saw what he personally approved to be mentioned on his marker it was much less than I had expected. He was most proud of just a few things. Jefferson’s marker reads: “Here was buried Thomas Jefferson, Author of the Declaration of American Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia.”

You may note that Tom doesn’t mention that he was the one who doubled the size of the United States with the Louisiana Purchase. He didn’t find it important to leave us a notice that he was an important architect, inventor, and book collector. Indeed, his library became the basis for the Congressional Library after the first one was burned and destroyed by the British in the War of 1812.

He likewise didn’t share that he was an Ambassador to France as well as the Secretary of State to the first American President, George Washington. Nor did he tell us that he was Vice President to the second U.S. President, John Adams. And it’s especially noteworthy that he didn’t deem it necessary to mention that he was the third President of the United States of America.

Makes you wonder about some of the monumental tombstones you see in graveyards, about someone you may never have even heard about, doesn’t it? Perhaps Tom was just overly humble.

No, I don’t think so. He just believed his greatest contributions were to Freedom, Education, and Religion. Read his tombstone message again!