the year of his mother's death, he leased the property from Jane Randolph Jefferson because she had a life estate for the property. Between 1765 and 1794, Thomas operated Shadwell as a tobacco plantation, led by overseer who was chosen to conduct work humanely and work performed in 1774 by six slaves. At that time, he had 18 slaves, but 12 of them were too old or too young to work. He also hired free men to work on the plantation. The estate included houses for slaves, tobacco barns, stables, mills, and gardens. In 1770, the Jeffersons' house at Shadwell was destroyed in a fire, Jane had a smaller house built as a replacement. Thomas lived at Shadwell until the fire, at which time he removed to Monticello. During the fire, Thomas lost almost all of his books and all of his papers. Although Thomas did not live at Shadwell after the fire, he continued to operate Shadwell as a farm, growing rotating crops of clover, corn, and wheat. In 1771, Virginia's "greatest flood" to that time, destroyed the gristmill. Thomas Jefferson returned to public service and leased the plantation and a large manufacturing mill he built until 1813, when he deeded the property to Thomas Jefferson Randolph, his grandson. The current main house, located about two miles from the original house, was built about 1849 by Caryanne Randolph Ruffin and Colonel Frank Ruffin, Jefferson's granddaughter and Thomas Jefferson Randolph's daughter and her husband. They called it Shadwell and raised a large family there. Manufacturing town Shadwell became a manufacturing town, with timber, tobacco, cotton-yard and flour being transported on the Rivanna River. A dam, mill, and half-mile mill race were built on the Rivanna River by Peter Jefferson about 1757. Canals and locks were used at Shadwell for transportation of goods on the Rivanna River from 1789 until the 1860s. Jefferson operated a grist mill, saw mill, and carding factory until 1826 (year of his death). By 1835, Shadwell was home to a large carding factory employing 100 workers, a large merchant mill, and a sawmill. It also had several general stores at Shadwell, shops, and private dwellings. The town prospered until 1850, when the factory burned and was shut down permanently. The town was a minor railroad center, but Shadwell also began to decline after Louisa Railroad, which paralleled Three Notch'd Road, came to the area in the