Jefferson was born in Shadwell in Albemarle County, Virginia, on April 13, 1743. His father, Peter Jefferson, and his mother Jane Randolph were members of Virginia's most famous families. In addition to being well born, Thomas Jefferson was well educated. He attended the College of William and Mary and read law (1762-1767) with George Wythe, the greatest law teacher of his generation in Virginia. He served in the founding of the University of Virginia in 1819. He died at Monticello on July 4, 1826 on the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson lived in Shadwell for a few years until the family moved to Tuckahoe. Jefferson was the eldest of his six sisters and one brother. Jefferson's father moved the family to Tuckahoe to care for the children orphaned by his best friend. Around the age of 17, on his way to college, Jefferson met a man named Patrick Henry. The two became close friends, and Henry asked Jefferson to help him obtain his license to become a lawyer. Jefferson became the daily companion of Dr. William Small, a mathematics professor. Small introduced Jefferson to two of his closest aides, George Wythe and Governor Francis Fauquier. The four men created a quartet, and Jefferson claims to owe much of his education to these three men. After finishing college in 1762, Jefferson studied law with Wythe and noticed growing tension between America and Great Britain. Jefferson was admitted to the bar in 1767. In 1769, Jefferson became a member of the legislature where he first attempted the emancipation of slaves. At his home in Shadwell, he planned and oversaw the construction of his home, Monticello, on a nearby hill. He was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses. Jefferson met Martha Skelton, a wealthy 23-year-old widow, in 1770 and married her in 1772. They settled in Monticello and had one son and five daughters. Only two of his children, Martha and Mary, survived to maturity. Mrs. Martha Jefferson died in 1782. Jefferson joined a group that opposed and intervened in disputes between Great Britain and the colonies. Along with other patriots, the group met in the Apollo Room of Williamsburg's famous Raleigh Tavern in 1769 and formed a non-importation agreement against Great Britain..