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George Pyle: Stories. Like ‘Hamilton.’ They get the job done.

Related Topics: George E. Pyle

Thomas Jefferson had just pulled his wife off the balcony of his Philadelphia lodgings and back into bed. Much to the discomforted astonishment of John Adams, who was standing below with Benjamin Franklin.

Indeed they did. According to the official accounts that have come down to us, Martha Jefferson never visited her husband in Philadelphia during the Second Continental Congress. She was far too frail and sickly to make the journey and died at age 33 in 1781. The fact that she had six children in 10 years might not have helped.