Thomas Jefferson loved spending money, wine, books, the latest scientific gadgets, and of course Monticello. When he died in 1826 he left a huge mountain of debt to his daughter, who had to sell everything he owned to try to pay it off.
But nobody wanted to buy Monticello. Too big, too much, and in the middle of nowhere at the time. So it was going to end up an ignored ruin.
Rewind to 1786. At that time America was a Confederacy, the Constitution did not exist. In Virginia up to then you went to the State sanctioned Church or you went to jail. No staying home on Sunday.
So in response Jefferson wrote the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom and got it passed. This basically allowed you to practice your religion (or lack of) as you wished.
People of all faiths that didn’t conform to the State sanctioned religion were extremely thankful.
Fast forward to 1836. Uriah Levy, a Jew, was so grateful to Jefferson he spent his fortune to purchase Monticello in order to save it.
The rest is history.
