Source of Wealth: inheritance, plantations
Jefferson is a tough case because, while he was born rich--and lived extremely well--he died broke. Jefferson was born into one of the Virginia colony's most distinguished families--only one man in Albemarle County, where he lived at Monticello, owned more slaves than he did. As a young lawyer, his clients included some of the leading families in the colony. On the other hand, "His plantations were rarely profitable and his income as a lawyer in the 1770s fluctuated between $1,000 and $1,800 a year," says Lucia Stanton, a historian at the Jefferson Home at Monticello. He was considered one of the 100 richest men in Virginia (a 1954 William and Mary Quarterly article placed him "about" 28), though not in George Washington's league. As to his nagging debts, Pessen says: "These...were the debts of a hugely rich man."
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