William Jefferson Blythe Jr. lost control of his 1942 Buick on U.S. Route 60 outside of Sikeston, Missouri, after one of his car's tires blew out. He survived the accident after being thrown from the car, but drowned in a drainage ditch as he tried to pull his way out of the three feet (1 meter) of water in the ditch. Three months later, Blythe's widow, Virginia, gave birth to their son, whom she named William Jefferson Blythe III in honor of his father and grandfather. In 1950, Blythe's widow married Roger Clinton Sr.; 12 years later, Blythe's posthumous son legally adopted his stepfather's
Peter Jefferson County when his son Thomas was 14 years old. Peter Jefferson Peter Jefferson (February 29, 1708 – August 17, 1757) was the father of US President Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826). A surveyor and cartographer, his "Fry-Jefferson Map" of 1751—created in collaboration with Joshua Fry—accurately depicted the Allegheny Mountains for the first time and showed the route of "The Great Road from the Yadkin River through Virginia to Philadelphia distant 455 Miles"—what would later come to be known as the Great Wagon Road. Jefferson was born in what is now Chesterfield County, Virginia and was the son of Captain Thomas Jefferson and