Historedia
AmericasEvent

Jefferson and Adams die on 4 July 1826

When
1826
Where
Monticello; Peacefield
Episodes
2

Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson died at Monticello, while Adams died at Peacefield in Quincy, Massachusetts. Adams's last words mistakenly acknowledged Jefferson as surviving, unaware that Jefferson had died earlier that day.

Episodes

  1. 1826-07-04 · MonticelloJefferson's Death

    Thomas Jefferson died at Monticello on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

  2. 1826-07-04 · PeacefieldAdams's Death

    John Adams died at Peacefield in Quincy, Massachusetts, on July 4, 1826, unaware that Jefferson had already died.

Background and detail

Deaths on the Anniversary. Jefferson died at 12:50 p.m. on July 4, 1826, at age 83. Adams died later that day at approximately 6:20 p.m. Adams's last words were "Thomas Jefferson survives," unaware that Jefferson had already died. This coincidence occurred on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

Post-Death Events. When Jefferson died in 1826, James Madison replaced him as rector. Jefferson's will freed five male Hemings slaves, and his estate, possessions, and slaves were sold at public auctions starting in 1827. Although not formally manumitted, Sally Hemings was allowed by Jefferson's daughter Martha to live in Charlottesville as a free woman with her two sons until her death in 1835.

People involved

  • Thomas Jefferson · Third President of the United States
  • John Adams · Second President of the United States
  • James Madison · Replaced Jefferson as rector upon his death in 1826
  • Sally Hemings · Enslaved woman connected to Jefferson's will; not formally manumitted but allowed to live in Charlottesville as a free woman

Sources

  1. Thomas Jefferson Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-03
  2. John Adams Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-27

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.