Eppington

Eppington, about two miles south of here, was built ca. 1770 for Francis Eppes and his wife, Elizabeth Wayles, half-sister of Martha Wayles Jefferson. Two wings were added to the wood-frame house about 1790. More than 100 enslaved African Americans worked on the 4,000-acre plantation. Two of Thomas Jefferson's daughters, Lucy and Mary (later known as Maria), lived here while he served as minister to France. Lucy died here at age two. Maria married John Wayles Eppes, son of Francis and Elizabeth, in 1797 and made Eppington her home. During a visit to Eppington in 1789, Thomas Jefferson received word from Pres. George Washington of his nomination as secretary of state.