Stop 3: 7th and Market Streets (best viewed from the north side of Market St. at 7th St.)Fourteen-year-old enslaved servant Robert Hemmings lived and worked in a home on this site while attending to Thomas Jefferson in the summer of 1776.Jefferson and Hemmings stayed in rented rooms in the home of Jacob and Maria Graff from May 23 until September 3, 1776. Here Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence while Hemmings would have helped Jefferson dress, provided tea or a light meal, and coordinated Jefferson's barber's visits. It's likely that Hemmings slept in the garret, a habitable attic or storage space at the top of the house. Thomas Jefferson and Robert Hemmings in Philadelphia The Declaration House Through Time FIND: Look up to the windows on the second and third floors and imagine Robert Hemmings peering out to view Philadelphia city life around 7th and Market Streets in 1776. |
Last updated: December 6, 2024