Thomas Jefferson Descendant Speaks at PVCC for Constitution Day - NBC29 WVIR Charlottesville, VA News, Sports and Weather

On Monday, 225 years after our Founding Fathers signed the Constitution, Piedmont Virginia Community College welcomed a very special guest with some personal ties to the landmark document.

Students met a man who can trace his lineage back to Founding Father Thomas Jefferson, but Rob Coles is not just a descendant.  He also impersonates his famous ancestor.

Coles talked to students as Jefferson, touching on politics and life at Monticello.  He says the message he conveys as his fifth great-grandfather is to be involved in government and vote.

"Thomas Jefferson definitely - he and the men and women of his generation - they really believed in public service," Coles said.

Event staff registered voters and handed out free copies of the Constitution after Coles' performance.

Jefferson was actually in France when the Constitution was signed, but Coles says he corresponded from afar and still made his opinion known.