as told by
Herbert Barger, Jefferson Family Historian
February 12, 1999
I would like to address the issue of the Thomas Jefferson DNA Study and give my first hand account regarding the misleading headline in the Nature dated November 5, 1998. It has had a very negative impact on the legacy of Thomas Jefferson and has raised many concerns regarding the rights of some Jefferson/Hemings’ descendants.
I would also like to state up front that I had no reason whatsoever in assisting Dr. Foster with his study other than to perhaps help shed some light on the alleged Jefferson/Hemings relationship. I had no political agenda, would not benefit financially or in any other way except to perhaps be acknowledged in any article that I contributed my efforts. This is not and never has been an issue of race or slavery to me. This is only the truth as I see it.
I am a Jefferson Family Historian of 25 years. I became interested in family genealogy shortly after I retired after 27 years of military service. I discovered after much research, that my wife, Evelyn, is a first cousin, six generations removed, from Thomas Jefferson. She descends from the line of Field Jefferson, Thomas’ uncle, whose descendants donated blood to be used in the study. Because of my vast research on the Jeffersons, much of which I donated to the Monticello Association, the Monticello Foundation and other libraries, my name was provided by the Monticello Foundation to Dr. Foster, who requested that I assist him with his study.
Dr. Foster along with Mrs. Winifred Bennett, whose idea it was for the study, collected blood from Carr, Woodson, Jefferson, Hemings and some controlled donors, delivered it to Oxford, England on December 13, 1997 and received the results back June 18, 1998.
During this period, in February of 1998, I made Dr. Foster aware of Thomas’ younger brother, Randolph Jefferson, who lived about 20 miles away, and his five sons. One of these sons, Isham, was “reared” by Jefferson according to the History of Todd Co., Ky. He responded by saying “Thanks very much for the information about Isham and Randolph Jefferson. This is exactly the kind of information that will have to be considered if it turns out that there is Jefferson Y-chromosomal DNA in Hemings descendants. The DNA evidence in itself can’t be conclusive for a variety of reasons. I look forward to the details you are sending.” I further suggested a meeting, when the results were returned, in order to issue historical information to explain the DNA findings. Dr. Foster did not mention Randolph and sons to Nature nor did he have the meeting that I had suggested. These two actions are the direct cause of the inaccurate and misleading headline that appeared in Nature.
Dr. Foster and Nature negotiated (yes negotiated) for a headline to the simple DNA findings and finally, the all damning and misleading headline in Nature on November 5, 1998, “Jefferson Fathered Slave’s Last Child” appeared. These are mighty powerful words to place on the name of President Thomas Jefferson and especially with no conclusive proof to back them up. Dr. Foster had also informed me at an earlier time, that “Since I (Dr. Foster) am not a professional historian I don’t have the training and skills needed to evaluate one item of historical evidence in the context of other evidence. So, I will continue to leave that to the historian and will read their opinions and conclusions with interest.” Why then, in the original Nature article headline, did he conclude, based on the DNA analysis, that Thomas Jefferson was the biological father of Eston Hemings? He knew for a fact that the DNA analysis alone could not conclusively prove that it was Thomas and knew of the existence of a number of other male Jeffersons that should have been considered.
The simple fact is that the DNA eliminated a long held belief in the oral history of the Woodson Family that they were grandchildren of Thomas Jefferson by having NO match between Jefferson and Woodson. The Carr brothers were also eliminated by NO match. Now, there was “SOME” Jefferson/Eston Hemings match, (just “SOME” NOT Thomas), so in the absence of NO other Jefferson to suspect, guess who is left to blame...TOM.
Let me demonstrate the simple DNA process and you and the rest of the world can decide if that title: “Jefferson Fathers His Slave’s Last Child” is appropriate. Place five glasses on the table labeled DNA Results; Carr; Woodson; Hemings and Jefferson. Push aside the Carr and Woodson glasses (remember the DNA eliminated them and those two long held theories in our history). We now concentrate on pouring blood (let’s use water) from Hemings and Jefferson’s glasses into the DNA Results glass, let’s mix it up...based upon what we have done, if I were to ask what that concoction is in that glass, what would you, or could you, truthfully say is in that glass? You and I and all the millions of confused members of society out there would reply: “It includes the blood from a descendant of Eston Hemings and the blood from descendants of Field Jefferson (uncle of Thomas Jefferson). That is all we can say, right?
So, in order to arrive at some possible conclusion we must consider whatever historical evidence is available. Additional information ( Randolph and five sons) was made available to Dr. Foster in February 1998. Remember, Dr. Foster remarked that “this is exactly the kind of information that will have to be considered if it turns out that there is Jefferson Y-chromosomal DNA in Hemings descendants.” At this point in the study he can see the need for this crucial type of information and without it we could guess all day and never have a conclusion. When he was writing his article, why did he not consider this important information? We can assume that Nature may be asking the same question.
Dr. Foster tells me that Nature suggested that headline to him and Nature tells Mr. Reed Irvine of Accuracy In Media (AIM), Washington, D C., that Dr. Foster approved it. All involved admit that it was a misleading statement. Dr. Jane Rees of Nature admitted to me, in a letter mentioning two papers in the January 7, 1999 issue (there were in fact three letters in that issue, by Drs. Foster, Abbott and Davis), that highlighted the ambiguity about paternity and that Dr. Foster’s reply clearly states that the leader title could be misinterpreted.
And now let us add an accompanying article in Nature by Drs. Eric Lander and Joseph Ellis who further add their all inclusive statement: “Now, DNA analysis confirms that Jefferson was indeed the father of at least one of Hemings’ children.” How about the choice of such strong words as “CONFIRMS” and “INDEED”? The public can be easily confused with this new DNA thing and will actually believe the scientists and an award-winning historian, who had previously believed Thomas innocent of these charges.
Remember there was NO Jefferson/Woodson (alleged first child) match, thus, no long running “love affair”. Even Professor Ellis, writing in The New Republic, December 31, 1998, said there was no evidence whatsoever that the Jefferson/Hemings liaison was a romance. He further makes reference to an article written by Professor Sean Wilentz (who had recruited Professor Ellis to sign the full page article of historians in the New York Times of October 30, 1998), in which he says that Professor Wilentz’s “`Jefferson-Hemings’ romance’ strikes me as fairy-tale stuff of the sappiest sort” and he further states, “Spinning the story that way plays to the popular craving for a miniseries version of history...etc.”
It should be noted that Professor Ellis didn’t mention Randolph and sons in his Jefferson book and told me by phone on November 14, 1998, after the article had been published, that he knew NOTHING of Randolph and sons. Annette Gordon-Reed, author of “Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy”, did NOT mention Randolph and sons in her book either. Fawn Brodie, author of “Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History”, mentioned Randolph as a ten year old and once as an adult and did not name any other children. She even said Randolph was “less than mediocre in talent and native intelligence.”
I have to wonder whether these historians really knew of Randolph and his sons or not. It has been asserted that no one offered Randolph and his sons as an alternative to Thomas until after the DNA study results were published and that they are now being offered as a desperate attempt to defend Thomas. WRONG! I guess they were not aware of a Jefferson Family Historian having additional pertinent information that would have an effect on the final outcome of the study. One who did in fact provide this information well in advance of the published results to Dr. Foster. The very information that Dr. Foster said would be very important if there were to be a Jefferson/Hemings match.
Randolph seemed to be a private, non-political, fun-loving farmer who must have been well known by Jefferson’s slave, Isaac, because years later he recalls that “Old Master’s brother, Mass Randall was a mighty simple man: used to come out among black people, play the fiddle and dance half the night; hadn’t much more sense than Isaac.” “Jefferson At Monticello” by James A. Bear, Jr., University Press of Va.1967. It was probably Randolph that taught the Hemings men to play the fiddle, because Thomas was occupied in too many other pursuits for his country and at his two homes. He sometimes complained that he couldn’t get to sleep because of the fiddle playing and noise in the slave quarters. I don't suppose there would be any reason for Randolph to visit Monticello except when Thomas would come home.
I have provided this information on Randolph and also have additional information on Thomas’s first cousin, once removed, George Jefferson, Jr., educated by Thomas, his agent and manager in Richmond and who must have come to Monticello to discuss business when Thomas came home. Could this possibly explain why Sally became pregnant only when Thomas was at Monticello. Yet, some refuse to acknowledge the importance of all the above information. I feel this information is as plausible as any other oral or documented evidence presented. I’ll admit it does “muddy the water” a bit to know of seven other Jeffersons, any one of which could have fathered Eston Hemings.
I am just asking that it be written in history books for our future generations to learn, that “A” Jefferson fathered Easton Hemings. It cannot be PROVEN CONCLUSIVELY that Thomas is the father. With all the “circumstantial evidence” that supports numerous possibilities of who fathered Sally’s children, I do not know how anyone can feel so adamant that Thomas has to be the father.
The American scientific journal, Science, came forward January 8, 1999 in an excellent article stating that, “But now the authors of the report say the evidence for that is less than conclusive.” They make it abundantly clear that Dr. Foster says that the data establishes only that Thomas Jefferson was one of several candidates for the paternity of Eston Hemings. Science says that the Jefferson data has taken on a political spin and that Mr. Irvine, (AIM), claims that the news media purposefully distorted the results of Dr. Foster's study.
My study indicates to me that Thomas Jefferson was NOT the father of Eston or any other Hemings child. The study indicates that Randolph is possibly the father of Eston and the others. Randolph, named for his maternal Randolph family, was a widower and between wives when shortly after his wife’s death, Sally became pregnant with her first child, Harriet I. It had been almost six years since arriving at Monticello from Paris, thus, we can see that there was no “long term love affair” between Thomas and Sally. She continued having children until 1808 when Eston was born. Randolph Jefferson would marry his second wife the next year, 1809, and would have a child, John, born about 1810. Three of Sally Hemings’ children, Harriet, Beverly and Eston (the latter two not common names), were given names of the Randolph family who had earlier owned Randolph’s plantation, “Snowden”, and who had received it as his inheritance.
Randolph was invited by Thomas to come to Monticello to visit him and Randolph’s twin sister, who had arrived one day earlier. This was in August 1807, exactly nine months prior to Eston’s birth. Randolph was also present at Monticello on May 27, 1808, exactly six days after Eston’s birth on May 21, 1808. He had probably come to see his son, Eston. Thomas even drafted Randolph’s will on that date.
Elizabeth Langhorne in her excellent book, “Monticello: A Family Story” (1987, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill) has used some hitherto unpublished family letters which further add insight into Sally Hemings after the birth of Eston in 1808. Sally became the property of Ellen Randolph (Mr. Jefferson’s granddaughter) in 1810. She remained in that capacity for 15 years until Ellen’s marriage to Joseph Coolidge of Boston.
Ellen, while on her honeymoon with Mr. Coolidge, wrote her mother, Martha Randolph, that their lawyer, Mr. Bullfinch, was drawing up a power of attorney to permit Ellen’s brother, Thomas Jefferson Randolph, to dispose of Sally and to protect her. She did not wish any violence to be done to her feelings and wished that if Sally wishes to be sold she could choose her own master.
Just a few months prior to Ellen’s marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Key had arrived from England to assume the position of professor of mathematics at the new university (now the University of Virginia). Shortly after receiving Ellen’s power of attorney, her brother, Jeff, “hired out” Sally to the Key family. In a letter dated April 1826 (just three months prior to Mr. Jefferson’s death), Mary Randolph (Mrs. Nicholas Trist) writes from Monticello to Ellen, “Your maid Sally was here lately with Mrs. Key, begged me also to deliver a message of love to her mistress and to say how much she wanted to see you and the baby both. She thinks of you with much affection and I always have a long chat with her on your account as often as she comes here”.
Due to other information in these private letters, it can be seen that Sally worked for the Keys from 1825 until July 1827. She was later employed from July 1827 to about 1834 or later by another professor at the university, Dr. John Patton Emmet, after the Keys returned to England. Much discussion of Sally’s purchase went on between Sally, the Keys, Emmet and Nicholas Trist (representing Ellen and Virginia Randolph’s husband). Finally Sally, a fond and trusted friend of the family, was not sold, but according to her son, Madison, she lived out her later years in the home of her sons, Madison and Eston, in Charlottesville and died in 1835.
Why do I tell you all these details of family affairs and just why are they so important to my research? If Sally had been his “long time lover” and had actually been a mother of Mr. Jefferson’s children, do you suppose he would have permitted her to be “hired out” to others and especially in his last years? Of course not. These truths must get out before the public in order to counteract all the media coverage that Thomas Jefferson was guilty of fathering Eston Hemings, based upon the original misleading Nature article headline.
I participated in a media conference in Washington on January 6, 1999 to announce the correction of the misleading article in Nature. Several media outlets were there and was video taped by the Associated Press. Professor Willard S. Randall, author of, “Thomas Jefferson: A Life” participated in the program with me, as did Mr. Jim Manship, Founder of God and Country Foundation of Mt. Vernon, Virginia. I was interviewed, by phone, by NBC Today and Professor Randall and Ms. Gordon-Reed, were interviewed live. Many media outlets ran stories and continue to do so. U.S. News & World Report, January 18, 1999 carried my story in contrast to their November 9, 1998 story based upon the misleading headline in Nature. Other stories based upon our conference were published in the Washington Post, Washington Times, USA Today, New York Times, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Scripps-Howard, Associated Press, etc. Other serious minded TV programs, such as "60 Minutes" also approached me for a possible future story.
Let it also be known, that President Jefferson admitted to his Attorney General and his Secretary of the Navy, that in his youth he visited a neighbor lady, Mrs. Walker, in an inappropriate manner and admitted it’s incorrectness; however, that was the only charge against him founded in truth. This is a blanket statement of innocence of any other charges made against him.
I encourage the media to come forth and gather the facts and present them to a most deserving public. I will be happy to provide more information if desired. I am sure “Old Tom” would thank you and I know I would. Our children’s history must not be tarnished with inaccurate, misleading and incomplete information. Thomas Jefferson must not be branded a hypocrite and called other derogatory names just because all the information was not considered in a scientific study.
Sincerely,
ORGANIZATIONS
The Monticello Association
The Jefferson-Hemings DNA Testing: An Online Resource (Monticello Foundation)
The Jefferson Legacy Foundation
POINTS OF VIEW
Statement of Rebecca Lee McMurry
Jefferson's DNA and Sally Hemings
Jefferson-Hemings Circumstantial Evidence
Jefferson-Hemings Circumstantial Evidence (Cont'd)
Thomas Jefferson: A Defense of His Character
Media Convict Thomas Jefferson on DNA Evidence
The Hemings-Jefferson Story
Jefferson's Affair by Mark Davis
MEDIA
Summary of Editorial in The Washington Post
naturalSCIENCE Editorial
naturalSCIENCE Letter
naturalSCIENCE - May 1999
It Was A Jefferson, But It Wasn't Tom (Wall Street Journal)
Jefferson Falsely Fingered - Scroll down to Jan. 6, 1999 & click (AIM)
Correcting the Jefferson Record (AIM)
Different Standards for Clinton & Jefferson (AIM)
Deseret News - Genetic Eyewitness
The Presidential Election of 1800 (The Atlantic Monthly)
Scientists Leap Beyond Data (The Kansas City Star)
JEFFERSON GENEALOGY
Pettistree - Jeaffreson/Jefferson ancestral hometown - click on Family History
City of Hereford - This is the famous Hereford Cathedral where Bishop Theophilus Field is buried in a tomb there. He is the ancestor of Mary Field married to Thomas Jefferson II and is the great, great, great grandfather of President Thomas Jefferson. His bust is most prominent there.
OTHER LINKS
Institute for American Liberty