n 1752, Jefferson began attending a local school run by a local Scottish Presbyterian minister. At the age of nine, Jefferson began studying Latin, Greek, and French; he learned to ride, and began to appreciate the study of nature. In 1757, when he was 14 years old, his father died. Jefferson inherited about 5,000 acres (20 km²) of land and dozens of slaves. He built his home there, which eventually became known as Monticello. After his father's death, he was taught at the school of the learned minister James Maury from 1758 to 1760. The school was in Fredericksville Parish near Gordonsville, Virginia, twelve miles (19 km) from Shadwell, and Jefferson boarded with Maury's family. There he received a classical education and studied history and science.[14]
In 1760, at the age of 16, Jefferson entered the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg. For two years he studied mathematics, metaphysics, and philosophy under Professor William Small, who introduced the enthusiastic Jefferson to the writings of the British Empiricists, including John Locke, Francis Bacon, and Isaac N
ewton (Jefferson called them the "three greatest men the world had ever produced").[15] He also perfected his French, carried his Greek grammar book wherever he went, practiced the violin, a
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