Peter Jefferson left this dying declaration regarding his son, Tom: “. . . Tom should receive a thorough classical education.” And Peter died when Tom was only 14, but he left him sufficient funds for such an education.  And then some.

At age 16, Tom dedided he should apply for entrance into the College of William and Mary at Williamsburg, Virginia. Just a few weeks before his 17th birthday he received the results of his entrance examinations. His outstanding results allowed Tom to be admitted into an advanced class in the school of philosophy. Tom would reside in Williamsburg for the next 7 years.

Tom had earlier struck up a friendship with Patrick Henry. It was probably Patrick’s enthusiastic boast that he had been admitted to the bar after studying for only 5 weeks, that convinced Tom to study law. Tom’s mentor became the well established lawyer, George Wythe. George later became the first law professor at the new law school at the College of William and Mary, and in 1776 was a signer of Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence.

In a day when most law students studied law for a year, or less, as in the case of Patrick Henry, Tom studied diligently for five years before asking to be examined. Shortly before his 24th birthday, Tom was examined for admission to the bar. He was found to be superbly prepared. He became very successful at his craft, to the surprise of some of his more seasoned collegues at the bar.

To an inquiry about Tom’s performance as a courtroom lawyer, one gentleman replied: “It is hard to tell because he always took the right side.”

Tom learned there were drawbacks to the practice of law. He was able to collect only about one-third of the fees which he earned. He soon began to require at least partial payments in advance for his legal representation.

Although he loved the law, lawsuits over land and property rights must have become tiresome to Jefferson’s brilliant mind. He said: “I was bred to the law, and that gave me a view to the dark side of humanity. Then I read poetry to qualify it with a gaze upon its bright side.”

His poetry presents itself in his most masterful document, The Declaration of Independence.