Finally, in March 1825, the University of Virginia opened.

Jefferson's health had suffered during his years of work on the university. He was 82-years-old and feeling his age. He suffered from rheumatism and diabetes, and was so weak he could walk only short distances.

He knew he did not have much longer to live. He told a friend one day: "When I look back over the ranks of those with whom I have lived and loved, it is like looking over a field of battle. All fallen."

As his health grew worse, Jefferson turned his thoughts to death. He wrote how he wished to be buried. He wanted a simple grave on the mountainside below his house. He drew a picture of the kind of memorial he wanted put at his grave.

On this stone he wanted the statement: "Here was buried Thomas Jefferson — author of the Declaration of American Independence, of the Virginia Law for Religious Freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia."

Jefferson had been governor of Virginia, secretary of state and president. But historian Joseph Ellis says it makes sense that Jefferson would emphasize his contribution to the Declaration of Independence.

“Those are the magic words of American history. There’s 55 of them and they begin, ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident.’ At the time that he wrote them he didn’t fully understand how important they were going to be. But they end up becoming the creed, the American creed. And that’s his ticket to fame, the basis for his illustrious reputation.”