Indie Scribe Magazine December 2013 | Page 54

Famous Last Words: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson

As the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence dawned on July 4, 1826, only three of fifty-six signatories of the noble document still lived: John Adams, Thomas Jefferson (the third President of the U.S.), and Charles Carroll of Carrollton. By the end of the day, only Carroll remained.

Thomas Jefferson

(portrait by Rembrandt Peale, 1800)

Jefferson, whose health had been deteriorating since July the previous year, was confined to his bed at Monticello in June 1826, felled by a combination of kidney failure and penumonia. In the evening on July 3, he spoke his last words: "Is it the fourth yet?" His grandson and his doctor assured him the fourth was only hours away. Seventeen hours later, at 1 p.m. July 4, 1826, Jefferson passed away at the age of 83.

Kathleen Rice Adams

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