John Wayles Eppes

John Wayles Eppes (April 1772September 13, 1823) was an American lawyer and politician. He represented Virginia in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1803 to 1811 and again from 1813 to 1815. He also served in the U.S. Senate (1817–1819). His positions in Congress occurred after he served in the Virginia House of Delegates representing Chesterfield County (1801–1803). Early life and education Eppes was born in April 1772 at Eppington, in Chesterfield County in the Colony of Virginia, the sixth child and only son of Elizabeth (née Wayles) and Francis Eppes, who would serve one term in the House of Delegates a decade later. A member of the First Families of Virginia, he was related through both his parents to Martha Jefferson, his mother's half-sister and the wife of Thomas Jefferson, with whom Eppes was close. After being taught by tutors as was customary in his planter class, Eppes attended the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia, and graduated from Hampden–Sydney College in Virginia in 1786. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1794, commencing practice in the state capital, Richmond. Marriage and family Eppes married his first cousin Mary Jefferson (known as "Polly" in childhood and "Maria" as an adult) on October 13, 1797, at Monticello. They resided at Mont Blanco plantation in Chesterfield County, Virginia.