Today in American history…Thomas Jefferson, our third U.S. President (1801-1809) was born on April 13, 1743 in Shadwell, Virginia.

Along with being a U.S. President, he was one of our founding fathers and the primary author of The Declaration of Independence.

He was also the second Governor of Virginia (1779-1781), second U.S. Minister to France (1785-1789) first U.S. Secretary of State (1790-1793) and second Vice President (1797-1801).

Thomas Jefferson accomplished much in life as a statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, planter and philosopher but one of his greatest personal accomplishments was the founder of the University of Virginia.

He passed away on ironically on July 4, 1826 on the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Our second U.S. President, John Adams, passed away on the very same day.

Before he passed away, Thomas Jefferson wrote his own epitaph and was buried at his home at Monticello. His epitaph reads:

Here was buried Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for religious freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia.

One of the crops grown at Monticello were sweet potatoes – it was one of his personal favorites (along with pecans!) The recipe is from the National Constitution Center (NCC) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. According to the NCC, Thomas Jefferson’s biscuits were served at the very first meeting of the First Continental Congress in 1774.

Thomas Jefferson’s Sweet Potato Biscuits

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup butter, cut in small pieces

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 cup of milk

3/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup sweet potato, mashed (about 1 large Virginia Sweet Potato)

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/2 cup pecans, chopped (I omitted the pecans)

Directions

Preheat oven to 450°F

Combine the dry ingredients. Add butter with fork, food processor or pastry cutter until the texture is small crumbs.

Combine milk and sweet potatoes. Add to flour mixture. Add pecans.

Knead dough with your hands until it is a smooth mass. Roll out on a floured surface to 1/2″ thickness and cut with a 2″ biscuit cutter.

Place on a greased baking sheet 2″ apart.

Bake for about 10-15 minutes, or until lightly browned.