Eleonora Wayles Coolidge

Eleonora 'Ellen' Wayles Coolidge (Randolph)

Find A Grave Memorial ID # 38620307

Ellen was the fourth child born to Governor Thomas Mann and Martha Jefferson Randolph. An accomplished scholar, particularly in languages, and a favorite with her grandfather, Ellen often accompanied Jefferson on trips to Poplar Forest, his home in Bedford County.

She was considered the belle of the family and remained the eldest unmarried daughter for many years. Ellen traveled to Richmond, Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Philadelphia, where she was popular with her grandfather’s old friends, as well as young gentlemen.

On May 27, 1825, in the parlor at Monticello, Ellen married wealthy Boston merchant Joseph Coolidge, whom she had met when Coolidge visited Virginia in 1824. After their marriage, Ellen and Joseph maintained close ties with the Monticello family from their home in Boston, Massachusetts.

Ellen gave birth to six children in five years, including twin boys. Joseph’s business interests took him to China for long periods, leaving Ellen to single-handedly manage the family. Ellen met him in London, in 1838, for an extended visit and described her activities and impressions of the country in a journal still extant. After Joseph left China in 1844, he rejoined Ellen and his family in Switzerland and they spent some years in Europe before returning to Boston.

Ellen died in 1876 and was buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Letter from Ellen Wayles Randolph Coolidge to Joseph Coolidge, October 24, 1858,

In this letter to her husband, Joseph Coolidge, dated October 24, 1858, Ellen Wayles Randolph Coolidge denies the possibility that her grandfather, Thomas Jefferson, could have fathered children by the slave Sally Hemings. She also reports on speculation that Jefferson’s nephews, Peter and Samuel Carr, may have been responsible. The correspondence appears in Ellen Coolidge’s letterbook, which contains copies of letters in her hand, but not the letters she actually mailed.