Thomas Jefferson’s Original Gravestone

The story behind Thomas Jefferson’s original gravestone is an incredibly interesting little-known piece of history. You would think it’s at his home, Monticello, in Virginia. You would be wrong. It’s actually 875 miles away, due west on the University of Missouri’s campus. 

Before Jefferson passed, he left very specific instructions for a tombstone. He went so far as to leave a note with a drawing detailing that he would prefer any “monuments or remembrances … on the grave a plain die or cube 3 feet without any moldings, surmounted by an obelisk of 6 feet height, each a single stone: on the faces of the obelisk the following inscription and not a word more …”

Here was buried

Thomas Jefferson

Author of the Declaration of American Independence

of the statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom

and Father of the University of Virginia

Born April 2, 1743 O.S.

Died July 4, 1826

Jefferson wrote the accomplishments he was most proud of and desired to be remembered. 

The Founding Father deliberately omitted many other notable accomplishments, such as being the 3rd President of the United States, Vice President, the Louisiana Purchase, Governor of Virginia, and more. The original tombstone would be dedicated at Monticello in 1833. Visitors soon began chipping off small pieces of the grave as souvenirs. Fearing the original would be destroyed, Jefferson’s descendants allowed the federal government to place a larger replica at his gravesite.  

Why the University of Missouri

Once the new tombstone was in place, Jefferson’s grandchildren started getting requests for the original.  The exact reason they chose the University of Missouri is lost to history. It’s easy to assume what a few reasons could have been. Missouri is located within the original Louisiana Purchase. The University of Missouri was the first university west of the Mississippi. Jefferson, of course, being the founder of the University of Virginia, greatly valued higher education. The fact that the capital of Missouri is “Jefferson City” may have also helped. It was unveiled on July 4, 1885, 59 years after Thomas Jefferson died.

Visiting Thomas Jefferson’s Original Gravestone

Today, people can still visit the original tombstone on the Columbia, Missouri, campus.  It is protected from the elements and vandalism by a large plastic case. When I visited on an early summer morning, it felt like I was the only person on campus.  Having visited Monticello several times in the past, it was never mentioned by the tour guides that his tombstone is a replica. I spent a half hour or so in the quad next to the grave, thinking about Jefferson and appreciating this obscure piece of American History.