Albemarle County was named for William Anne Keppel, second earl of Albemarle and governor of the Virginia colony from 1737 to 1754. It was formed from Goochland County in 1744, and part of Louisa County and certain islands in the Fluvanna River, now called the James, were added later.
Thomas Jefferson was born 13 April 1743 in Goochland County, Virginia (now part of Albemarle County, Virginia). He graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1762. A member of the Virginia House of Burgesses from 1769 to 1775, Jefferson represented Virginia in the Continental Congress in 1775 and 1776. He wrote the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Jefferson served as governor of Virginia from 1779 to 1781. After serving another term in Congress from 1783 to 1784, he was appointed minister to France and served from 1784 to 1788. Jefferson served as Secretary of State under President George Washington from 1789 to 1793, and as Vice President under President John Adams from 1797 to 1801. Jefferson succeeded Adams as president, serving from 1801 to 1809. Upon his retirement, Jefferson returned to his home, Monticello, in Albemarle County. He founded the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. Jefferson died 4 July 1826 and was buried at Monticello.
All order books except the first and many loose papers between 1748 and 1781 were destroyed by British general Banastre Tarleton's raid on Charlottesville in 1781 during the Revolutionary War.
From the guide to the Albemarle County (Va.) Land Grant to George Dudley, Junior, 1780 Jul. 14, (The Library of Virginia)
