The first meeting of the Monticello Association was held on April 14, 1913 at the Colonial Hotel in Charlottesville, Virginia. It was a result of the activities, through the immediately preceding years, of a small group of the descendants of Thomas Jefferson Randolph of Edgehill who were concerned about the care and preservation of the family graveyard at Monticello. During the previous winter, through correspondence and a circular sent to interested members of the family, some funds had been solicited and a preliminary organization of about thirty people had been effected in preparation for the meeting at Charlottesville. It was a project dear to the heart of Miss Cornelia J. Taylor to whom, along with other members of the family living near Monticello, had fallen the burden of caring for the graveyard during the previous decade. Dr. and Mrs. W. M. Randolph of Charlottesville were also much interested, and it is certain that others, too, lent help and encouragement. Lt. Col. J. R. Kean, then living in Washington, seems to have been the center for the correspondence on the subject, and, as evidenced from the minutes of the first meeting he carried forward the preliminary steps of organization.
Thirteen members attended the first meeting at which the only business transacted, as reported in the minutes, was an election of officers and the adoption of a constitution and by-laws. Colonel Kean was elected President, Miss Cornelia J. Taylor, Vice President; and Mr. Virginius R. Shackelford, Secretary, and the constitution and by-laws then adopted are printed elsewhere in this volume. The published "Minutes of the First Meeting of the Original Members of the Monticello Graveyard Association" listed sixty members.
The new association began promptly to translate words into deeds, for the report of the Secretary to the next meeting held April 13, 1914 showed $108 paid for cutting eight trees and removing twelve loads of wood, $6 for cutting grass and clearing, and $115 for straightening and repairing gravestones. Plans were being made to locate and mark unmarked graves as far as this could be done, and to prepare an accurate plat of all known graves. Among the unmarked graves were those of Governor Nicholas; Governor Randolph; Capt. Lewis M. Randolph, his wife and son; Mrs. George Wythe Randolph; Eliza and Cary Ruffin; and other descendants of Col. T.J. Randolph. The grave of Governor Nicholas was located and marked during this year.
The matter of family records began to receive attention, too, and the President reported that his compilation of an index of the descendants of Thomas Jefferson, though incomplete, had reached a total of 297 names.
An Historian of the Association was provided by the constitution, who during those early years, was Mrs. Alex. B. Randall. She began the accumulation of archives, and the publication in the Annual Reports of valuable historical notes which have been ably continued by succeeding historians. The Annual Report for 1916 carried an account of a document from the Edgehill Papers in the handwriting of Thomas Jefferson Randolph, listing subscribers and contributions for the building of the wall erected around the graveyard in 1837; and in the 1917 Annual Report were published "Gleanings concerning the Jefferson family in Virginia" about early Jeffersons in the colony and their possible connections with Jeffersons in England and the West Indies.
It was early realized in the affairs of the Association that for reuniting and holding the interests of scattered members of the family to support this enterprise, the publishing of a well-written and interesting Annual Report would be invaluable. During the early meetings a paper was read by the historian as part of the order of business and was then published in the Annual Report. Although the reading of historical papers was not long continued due to lack of time at the meetings, the frequent printing of worthwhile historical articles in the reports has been continued, not only adding greatly to the interest of the Association's little publication, but also making it a valuable source of historical data.
For example, in 1916 was published the story of Edgehill, of the early frame house and the brick house built by Thomas Jefferson Randolph in 1828 and which had burned in 1916. The Annual Report for 1922 contained the story of the origin of the graveyard and the identifications of those buried there. This practice has been amplified and brought up-to-date in this present volume.
In 1939 was published the story of Chancellor Wythe; of the silver he bequeathed to Jefferson; of the silver cups Jefferson had made from it, which have come down to various members of the family; and of which a number have now been returned to Monticello. The 1941 Annual Report contained an article on "Thomas Jefferson and African Slavery" written in the course of studies by the Historian in connection with the wording of the panels of the "four freedoms" in the Jefferson Memorial in Washington.
Beginning in 1925 and continuing through 1933 the Historian published genealogical tables of all the known descendants of Thomas Jefferson; and in 1936 and 1937 two important articles on the Randolphs of Tuckahoe were written by Jefferson Randolph Anderson. With the passage of another generation this important work has been continued by the present Historian, and an up-to-date and authoritative genealogical table of Jefferson's descendants is included in this volume.