Norm Ledgin's Blog
July 30, 2014
Conclusions in Diagnosing JeffersonAre Partially Confirme...
Conclusions in Diagnosing JeffersonAre Partially Confirmed by New Data
When the book Diagnosing Jefferson first appeared in 2000, a few skeptics criticized the author’s conclusions. Norm Ledgin maintained Thomas Jefferson’s many eccentricities were consistent with genetically based Asperger’s Syndrome. A few Jefferson scholars disputed that but offered no clear alternate hypothesis for Jefferson’s wealth of idiosyncrasies. Asperger’s is on the high end of the autism spectrum, and that bothered a few historical biographers. Now comes word from Jefferson’s first cousin seven times removed. Vaughn Whitney of Colorado contacted Ledgin and informed him of likely Asperger’s among family members, including himself. Mr. Whitney is middle-aged and was diagnosed with the condition approximately a year ago. The traceable line, according to Mr. Whitney’s findings, begins with Thomas Jefferson’s uncle, John Jefferson (1671-1748). His son Luke Jefferson (1732-89) was contemporary with first cousin (and not yet President) Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826). Luke had a son, William (1768-1820), and William had a son also named William (1800-48). The second William’s son was Isaac Jefferson (1824-97), who had a son, Andrew (1867-1923). Andrew had a son, Roy Jefferson (1895-1987), whose daughter, Carol Whitney (1932-1986), was Vaughn Whitney’s mother.What rounds out the family tree information is the preponderance of career interest in technical subjects. They include computer science, electrical and civil engineering, physics, and radiology. Many family members are at the doctoral and master’s levels educationally.Although a lawyer, planter, musician, horticulturist, inventor, political theorist, and writer, Thomas Jefferson considered himself a scientist.Ledgin shared Mr. Vaughn’s initial email with Dr. Temple Grandin, autistic animal scientist. She replied July 27, 2014 with the observation, “I think half of Silicon Valley has Asperger’s.” Dr. Grandin wrote comments that are included in Ledgin’s book, Diagnosing Jefferson.
Mr. Whitney is exploring other possible family and Asperger’s connections through President Jefferson’s younger brother, Randolph. He plans to attend a family gathering the week of August 17, 2014 and will seek more information.
When the book Diagnosing Jefferson first appeared in 2000, a few skeptics criticized the author’s conclusions. Norm Ledgin maintained Thomas Jefferson’s many eccentricities were consistent with genetically based Asperger’s Syndrome. A few Jefferson scholars disputed that but offered no clear alternate hypothesis for Jefferson’s wealth of idiosyncrasies. Asperger’s is on the high end of the autism spectrum, and that bothered a few historical biographers. Now comes word from Jefferson’s first cousin seven times removed. Vaughn Whitney of Colorado contacted Ledgin and informed him of likely Asperger’s among family members, including himself. Mr. Whitney is middle-aged and was diagnosed with the condition approximately a year ago. The traceable line, according to Mr. Whitney’s findings, begins with Thomas Jefferson’s uncle, John Jefferson (1671-1748). His son Luke Jefferson (1732-89) was contemporary with first cousin (and not yet President) Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826). Luke had a son, William (1768-1820), and William had a son also named William (1800-48). The second William’s son was Isaac Jefferson (1824-97), who had a son, Andrew (1867-1923). Andrew had a son, Roy Jefferson (1895-1987), whose daughter, Carol Whitney (1932-1986), was Vaughn Whitney’s mother.What rounds out the family tree information is the preponderance of career interest in technical subjects. They include computer science, electrical and civil engineering, physics, and radiology. Many family members are at the doctoral and master’s levels educationally.Although a lawyer, planter, musician, horticulturist, inventor, political theorist, and writer, Thomas Jefferson considered himself a scientist.Ledgin shared Mr. Vaughn’s initial email with Dr. Temple Grandin, autistic animal scientist. She replied July 27, 2014 with the observation, “I think half of Silicon Valley has Asperger’s.” Dr. Grandin wrote comments that are included in Ledgin’s book, Diagnosing Jefferson.
Mr. Whitney is exploring other possible family and Asperger’s connections through President Jefferson’s younger brother, Randolph. He plans to attend a family gathering the week of August 17, 2014 and will seek more information.
July 12, 2014
As of today, July 12, 2014 this blog will undergo revisio...
As of today, July 12, 2014 this blog will undergo revision of content and a temporary suspension.
Dedication to the life, loves, achievements, and principles of Thomas Jefferson will continue to be the focus of “Pursuit of Happiness.”
Watch for a return to periodic changes in text covering Jefferson-related topics later this summer.
Thank you.
Norm Ledgin
Dedication to the life, loves, achievements, and principles of Thomas Jefferson will continue to be the focus of “Pursuit of Happiness.”
Watch for a return to periodic changes in text covering Jefferson-related topics later this summer.
Thank you.
Norm Ledgin
July 5, 2014
A proposed debate: Did Thomas Jefferson father Sally Hemi...
A proposed debate:
Did Thomas Jefferson father Sally Hemings’s children?
A University of Virginia law professor has challenged Norm to a debate centered on whether Thomas Jefferson was, in fact, the father of Sally Hemings’s children. Norm has accepted and will support the affirmative, as has the Thomas Jefferson Foundation following an independent study beyond DNA testing.He and the skeptical challenger—Dr. Robert F. Turner—are trying to find a mutually agreeable date and place in the Kansas City area.Dr. Turner is accommodating Norm’s wish not to travel to Charlottesville, so they are also trying to arrange for a second appearance in the Kansas City area by the law professor. In that way, the sponsoring school or institution would pay Dr. Turner’s travel costs.The 2014-15 academic year is now the estimated time when the debate will take place. The original challenge was issued and accepted in mid-November, 2013.
Did Thomas Jefferson father Sally Hemings’s children?
A University of Virginia law professor has challenged Norm to a debate centered on whether Thomas Jefferson was, in fact, the father of Sally Hemings’s children. Norm has accepted and will support the affirmative, as has the Thomas Jefferson Foundation following an independent study beyond DNA testing.He and the skeptical challenger—Dr. Robert F. Turner—are trying to find a mutually agreeable date and place in the Kansas City area.Dr. Turner is accommodating Norm’s wish not to travel to Charlottesville, so they are also trying to arrange for a second appearance in the Kansas City area by the law professor. In that way, the sponsoring school or institution would pay Dr. Turner’s travel costs.The 2014-15 academic year is now the estimated time when the debate will take place. The original challenge was issued and accepted in mid-November, 2013.
June 28, 2014
Status of the proposed debateon Thomas Jefferson’s patern...
Status of the proposed debate
on Thomas Jefferson’s paternity
of Sally Hemings’s children
As readers of this blog may be aware, a University of Virginia law professor has challenged Norm to a debate centered on whether Thomas Jefferson was, in fact, the father of Sally Hemings’s children. Norm has accepted, and he and the challenger—Dr. Robert F. Turner—are attempting to find a mutually agreeable date and place in the Kansas City area.Because Dr. Turner is accommodating Norm’s wish not to travel to Charlottesville, both he and Norm are also trying to arrange for a second appearance in this area by the law professor. In that way, the sponsoring school or institution would pick up the tab on Dr. Turner’s travel costs.The 2014-15 academic year beginning late summer is now the broadly estimated tme during which the debate will take place. The original challenge was issued last mid-November, 2013.Norm is eager to meet this challenge, as he has not only based a novel on the premise of Jefferson’s paternity—Sally of Monticello: Founding Mother—but he has also accepted the research findings of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation confirming the liaison.Dr. Turner disputes those findings as well as a DNA test that he claims was flawed and not truly conclusive.
Correction of last week’s Appendix One: Timelineto Sally of Monticello: Founding Mother
The main text for January 18, 1805should have read as follows and was corrected in a later edition of the book:Sally gives birth to a son, Madison, so named for the Secretary of State at the suggestion of Dolley Madison , who had visited Monticello in September.
The correction addresses the timing of Dolley’s visit.
As readers of this blog may be aware, a University of Virginia law professor has challenged Norm to a debate centered on whether Thomas Jefferson was, in fact, the father of Sally Hemings’s children. Norm has accepted, and he and the challenger—Dr. Robert F. Turner—are attempting to find a mutually agreeable date and place in the Kansas City area.Because Dr. Turner is accommodating Norm’s wish not to travel to Charlottesville, both he and Norm are also trying to arrange for a second appearance in this area by the law professor. In that way, the sponsoring school or institution would pick up the tab on Dr. Turner’s travel costs.The 2014-15 academic year beginning late summer is now the broadly estimated tme during which the debate will take place. The original challenge was issued last mid-November, 2013.Norm is eager to meet this challenge, as he has not only based a novel on the premise of Jefferson’s paternity—Sally of Monticello: Founding Mother—but he has also accepted the research findings of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation confirming the liaison.Dr. Turner disputes those findings as well as a DNA test that he claims was flawed and not truly conclusive.
Correction of last week’s Appendix One: Timelineto Sally of Monticello: Founding Mother
The main text for January 18, 1805should have read as follows and was corrected in a later edition of the book:Sally gives birth to a son, Madison, so named for the Secretary of State at the suggestion of Dolley Madison , who had visited Monticello in September.
The correction addresses the timing of Dolley’s visit.
June 21, 2014
Sally of Monticello: Founding MotherEpilogueSally Hemings...
Sally of Monticello: Founding Mother
Epilogue
Sally Hemings died in Charlottesville in 1835, age sixty-two.The cause of death and date are uncertain. One account has it that shelived past the May 8 birth to Julia Ann and Eston Hemings of JohnWayles Hemings, the family later taking the surname Jefferson. Thatchild became a Union Army Colonel, wounded in the Civil War.After Sally died, sons Madison and Eston and their familiesmoved to Ohio. Researchers believe Sally’s remains lie beneath theparking lot of the Hampton Inn on West Main Street in Charlottesville.Descendants of Sally Hemings’s children joined Jefferson familygatherings at Monticello in 1999, the year after DNA testing eraseddoubts of a Thomas-Sally liaison. While the Thomas JeffersonFoundation has accepted the relationship on the evidence, descendantsof Martha Randolph and Maria Eppes are not in full agreement.Jefferson Randolph spent the greater part of his life paying offdebts as executor of his grandfather’s will. Retirement of the debtsbecame final in 1878—three years after Jefferson died from injuries ina carriage accident.All dates in the text correspond with true events or actualexchanges depicted within those chapters, except for the Rivannascene. All named people—and animals—lived and were present forthe described episodes (with the Rivanna exception). The author’sreasoned speculation furnished dialogue, sentiments, and conclusions.
Appendix One: TimelineA Thomas Jefferson/Sally Hemings Timeline(including the times of Sally’s conceptions and births)
April 13, 1743 (New Style calendar) – Thomas Jefferson is born atShadwell in the County of Goochland, later Albemarle County,Virginia, third of ten children of Peter and Jane Randolph Jefferson, ofwhom eight reach adulthood.
January 1, 1772 – At 28 TJ weds widow Martha Wayles Skelton, 23,daughter of John and the late Martha Eppes Wayles, at The Forestplantation, Charles City County.
Spring, 1773, date unknown – Sarah (Sally) Hemings is born at TheForest, youngest of six children of John Wayles (by then three times awidower) and Elizabeth (Betty) Hemings, his mulatto slave.
May 28, 1773 – John Wayles, Sally’s and Martha Wayles Jefferson’sfather, dies in Charles City County. TJ and Martha inherit land, slavesincluding the Hemingses, and a large share of Wayles’s debts.
April 19, 1775 – Start of the American Revolution.
July 4, 1776 – The Continental Congress in Philadelphia accepts theTJ-authored Declaration of Independence, first of three achievementshe chooses later to include on his gravestone.
June 1, 1779 – June 4, 1781 – TJ serves two one-year terms asVirginia’s Governor, part of that time marked by Britons’ invadingVirginia and their unsuccessful search for him.
September 6, 1782 – Before dying at Monticello from childbirtheffects—and with family members present including half-sisterSally—Martha Wayles Jefferson exacts a promise from TJ never toremarry.
September 3, 1783 – Signing of the Treaty of Paris concludes theAmerican Revolution.
July 5, 1784 – With daughter Martha (nicknamed Patsy), then goingon 12, and with slave (and half-brother-in-law) James Hemings, 19, TJsails from Boston for Europe to join Benjamin Franklin and JohnAdams as a foreign commissioner.
January 26, 1785 – In Paris TJ learns from the Marquis de Lafayetteof the death of daughter Lucy, 2½, of whooping cough at Virginia’sEppington plantation the previous October 13.
May 2, 1785 – TJ receives notice Congress has elected him Ministerto the Court of Louis XVI of France, succeeding Franklin.
May 10, 1785 – TJ publishes his book, Notes on the State of Virginia.It carries strongly negative views of Negroes.
January 16, 1786 – James Madison rallies the Virginia Assembly toenact the Statute for Religious Freedom TJ authored in 1777, secondof three achievements TJ selects later for his gravestone.
October 12, 1786 – TJ writes a dialogue to the married artist MariaCosway, “My Head and My Heart,” in which he chooses reason overemotion to resolve their short-lived romance.
July 15, 1787 – Daughter Mary (nicknamed Polly), two weeks shy of9, arrives with her slave and aunt, Sally Hemings, 14, at the AmericanMinistry in Paris.
April 24, 1788 – Likeliest date for start of intimacy between TJ andhalf-sister-in-law Sally, on his return from travel in the Netherlandsand Rhine valley. The affair continues through their stay in Franceand will last 38 years till his death.
March 4, 1789 – The ratified Constitution of the United States takeseffect. Addition of the Bill of Rights by amendment is under way.President George Washington will take the oath of office April 30.
April 20, 1789 – TJ withdraws daughters Martha and Mary fromconvent school, Abbaye Royale de Panthémont, after Martha declaresshe will turn Catholic and become a nun.
July 14, 1789 – The French Revolution takes its most significant turnwhen Parisians storm the Bastille, an event James Hemings witnesses.
October 8, 1789 – The Jeffersons, with James Hemings and apregnant Sally Hemings aboard, embark first from Le Havre on theAnna for England, then October 22 on the Clermont from Yarmouthfor Norfolk, Virginia.
December 23, 1789 – The returning party arrives at Monticello afterTJ receives news at Eppington that President Washington has offeredhim the position of Secretary of State.
January, 1790 – Sally gives birth to a son, Thomas, at Monticello.(First child.)
February 23, 1790 – Daughter Martha weds Thomas Mann Randolph,Jr.
March 21, 1790 – TJ reports to the capital at New York to beginservice as Secretary of State. His work in this capacity is the mostintense of his public career. James Hemings accompanies him asservant. For much of this time away he takes teen daughter Mary, nowcalling herself Maria. In the nearly four years of TJ’s Secretaryship hespends an accumulated total of only six months at home, September19-November 8, 1790, September 12-October 12, 1791, July 22-September 27, 1792, and circa September 25-October 25, 1793.
January 16, 1794 – TJ retires to Monticello after declining a secondterm in Washington’s cabinet. He will stay at home or in the regionuntil 1797.
December 24, 1794 – TJ frees Sally’s older brother Robert Hemings,who has completed paid service in Richmond to purchase his freedom.
October 5, 1795 – Sally gives birth to a daughter, Harriet. (Secondchild.)
February, 1796 – TJ begins reconstruction of the house at Monticello.
February 5, 1796 – TJ frees James Hemings on completion of a threeyearagreement outlining indentured service.
September 29, 1796 – James Madison launches promotion of TJ’scandidacy for President.
circa September, 1796 – Sally gives birth to daughter Edy, whodies in infancy. (Third.)
December 31, 1796 – Madison advises TJ to prepare to assume theVice Presidency, as electors are certain to choose John Adams asPresident.
March 4, 1797 – TJ is inaugurated as Vice President in the capital atPhiladelphia, returning to Monticello March 20.
May 5, 1797 – A special session of Congress draws TJ toPhiladelphia. He returns to Monticello July 11.
October 13, 1797 – Daughter Maria weds her first cousin, JohnWayles Eppes.
December 4, 1797 – TJ leaves for Philadelphia. The house is largelydismantled for reconstruction and will remain empty for the winter.
December 7, 1797 – Sally’s daughter Harriet, 2, dies of an unknowncause.
April 1, 1798 – Sally gives birth to a son, William Beverly. (Fourth.)
July 4, 1798 – TJ returns to Monticello to stay most of the remainderof the year. By letters he opposes the Federalists’ Alien and SeditionActs and expands his leadership of the Democratic-Republicans.
December 18, 1798 – TJ leaves for Philadelphia and returns homeMarch 8, 1799.
December 7, 1799 – Sally gives birth to a daughter, Thenia, whodies in infancy. (Fifth.)
December 21, 1799 – One week after the death of GeorgeWashington, TJ leaves Monticello for Philadelphia, returning homeMay 29, 1800.
November 24, 1800 – After a six-month stay at Monticello, TJleaves for the new capital at Washington City to await state electors’decision for President and Vice President among candidates TJ, AaronBurr, Adams, and Charles Pinckney.
February 17, 1801 – The 36th ballot by the House of Representativesis a tie-breaker, electing TJ President (with grudging support byAlexander Hamilton) over Burr. TJ will take the oath of office March4.
April 4, 1801 – TJ arrives at Monticello. He leaves again forWashington City April 26.
May 22, 1801 – Sally gives birth to a daughter, naming her for theHarriet she’d lost in 1797. (Sixth.)
August 2, 1801 – TJ returns to Monticello and remains untilSeptember 27, first of customary two-month summer stays at homeduring his Presidency.
c. October, 1801 – James Hemings commits suicide.
May 8, 1802 – TJ is home again until May 27, when he returns to thePresident’s House in the capital.
July 25, 1802 – TJ begins summer stay at Monticello.
September 1, 1802 – A series of articles by James Callender begins inthe Richmond Recorder exposing TJ’s affair with Sally and citing thepresence at Monticello of their son, Thomas, then 12. The onlymention of the boy in Jefferson literature after this period is in an 1873interview with Madison Hemings, who said his mother, Sally, had toldhim the child died shortly after being born.
October 1, 1802 – TJ leaves Monticello for Washington.
November 21, 1802 – Daughters Martha and Maria arrive in thecapital for a stay in the President’s House until January 5, 1803,presumably for a show of family unity in response to public scandal.
March 11, 1803 – TJ is back at Monticello, where he stays untilMarch 31 before leaving again for the capital.
July 4, 1803 – The National Intelligencer releases news of theLouisiana Purchase, the most significant achievement of TJ’sPresidency in company with the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
July 22, 1803 – TJ arrives at Monticello. He leaves September 22 forWashington, where he will stay through a severe winter.
April 4, 1804 – TJ arrives home and is present when daughter Mariadies April 17 from effects of childbirth. He stays at Monticello untilMay 11.
July 11, 1804 – Vice President Burr kills Hamilton in a pistol duel onthe New Jersey Palisades.
July 26, 1804 – TJ arrives at Monticello and remains until September27.
January 18, 1805 – Sally gives birth to a son, Madison, so namedfor the Secretary of State at the suggestion of Dolley Madison, who ispresent at Monticello. (Seventh.)
March 4, 1805 – TJ takes the oath as President at his secondinauguration.
c. March 17, 1805 – TJ returns to Monticello and leaves for thecapital again April 14.
c. June 18, 1805 – TJ comes home for the summer, a stay marked by abrief visit to Poplar Forest. He sets out again for the capital September29.
c. November 25, 1805 – Daughter Martha and her children arewintering in the President’s House, where she gives birth January 17,1806 to James Madison Randolph, first child born in what was latercalled the White House.
May 9, 1806 – TJ arrives at Monticello, remaining until June 4.
July 24, 1806 – TJ begins summer stay at home, visiting Poplar Forestin late August and remaining at Monticello until October 1.
October 24, 1806 – TJ learns of the Lewis and Clark party’s return toSt. Louis from its expedition to the Pacific.
Winter, 1806-07 – Supporters urge TJ to accept a third term asPresident, which he declines.
March 2, 1807 – Congress approves an act prohibiting importation ofslaves after January 1, 1808.
c. April 11, 1807 – TJ arrives at Monticello and stays until May 13,when he returns to Washington.
August 5, 1807 – TJ is home again until October 1, then he returnsto the capital.
January 23, 1808 – A Democratic-Republican Congressional caucusnominates James Madison for President, George Clinton for VicePresident.
May 11, 1808 – TJ returns to Monticello.
May 21, 1808 – Sally gives birth to a son, Eston. (Eighth.) On June 8TJ leaves to return to the capital.
July 23, 1808 – TJ arrives at Monticello to stay until September 28.On the return trip to Washington his grandson Thomas JeffersonRandolph, 16, accompanies him and will attend school in Philadelphia.
November 21, 1808 – Electors assure selection of Madison to succeedTJ.
February 25, 1809 – TJ’s letter to Henry Grégoire, French priest andabolitionist, recants negative references to Negroes TJ had made inNotes on the State of Virginia.
March 4, 1809 – Madison takes the oath of office as President.
March 15, 1809 – TJ returns to Monticello in final retirement, fromthis day forward confining travel to places in Virginia.
June 18, 1812 – United States declares war on Great Britain. Treaty ofGhent ends the war December 24, 1814, but British defeat at NewOrleans January 8, 1815 gives U.S. decisive victory.
c. April 18, 1815 – TJ sells and ships his personal library toWashington to replace that of the Library of Congress, which theBritish burned while invading the capital.
May 5, 1817 – The Board of Visitors of Central College,Charlottesville, VA, holds its first meeting. TJ’s involvement willculminate in founding of the University of Virginia.
August 5, 1819 – TJ learns of the financial failure of Wilson CaryNicholas, for whom he had cosigned a loan.
1822, before October 15 – Twice TJ goes into $50 debt to overseerEdmund Bacon, first to give that amount to his son William BeverlyHemings, 24, to help him “run away” to freedom, then to help hisdaughter, Harriet Hemings, 21, do the same.
November 5, 1824 – The unfinished Rotunda of the University ofVirginia is the scene of a dinner honoring the Marquis de Lafayetteupon his visit and reunion with TJ.
March 7, 1825 – The University of Virginia opens, third achievement(as “father”) TJ specifies for gravestone inscription.
March 17, 1826 – In his will TJ frees sons Madison and EstonHemings as well as Joseph Fossett, Burwell Colbert, and JohnHemings. He arranges informal emancipation for Sally and forWormley Hughes and arranges to let all remain in Virginia.
July 4, 1826 – TJ dies at Monticello on the 50th anniversary ofpresentation (some historians record it as “adoption”) of theDeclaration of Independence. Adams dies the same day inMassachusetts.
Late spring, 1835, date unknown – Freed after TJ’s death, Sally diesin Charlottesville. She had lived with sons Madison and Eston andtended TJ’s grave on the mountain.
Appendix Two: Family ConnectionsJohn Wayles (1715-73) – (1) Martha Eppes (1721-48) (2) Tabitha Cocke (1724-60) (3) Elizabeth Lomax (?-1761) (4) Elizabeth Hemings (1735-1807)Children of John Wayles and Martha Eppes Martha* (1748-82) and twins who did not surviveChildren of John Wayles and Tabitha Cocke Elizabeth (1752-?)** and three other daughtersNo children were born to John Wayles and Elizabeth LomaxChildren of John Wayles and Elizabeth Hemings Sally (1773-1835), two other daughters, and three sons
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) – (1) Martha Wayles (2) Sally HemingsChildren of Thomas Jefferson and Martha Wayles Martha*** (nicknamed Patsy) – (1772-1836) Jane (1774-75) Unnamed son (1777-77) Mary**** (nicknamed Polly, and later renamed herself Maria) – (1778-1804) Lucy (1780-81) Lucy (1782-84)Children of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings Thomas (1790 – whereabouts unknown after 1802) Harriet (1795-97) Edy (1796-96) William Beverly (1798-?) Thenia (1799-1800) Harriet (1801-?) James Madison (1805-77) Thomas Eston (1808-56)*At the time she wed Jefferson in 1772 Martha Wayles was the widow of BathurstSkelton and had lost a son by that union. (Sally Hemings, born 1773, was MarthaWayles’s half-sister.)**Elizabeth Wayles wed first cousin Francis Eppes. They had two sons, JohnWayles Eppes and his brother Richard. (Sally Hemings was Elizabeth Wayles’s halfsisteras well.)***Martha Jefferson wed Thomas Mann Randolph, Jr. in 1790. They had 12children, 11 reaching adulthood. (Martha Jefferson Randolph was the niece of SallyHemings.)****Mary Jefferson wed first cousin John Wayles Eppes in 1797 and had threechildren, only one reaching adulthood. (At this wedding Sally Hemings was aunt toeach the bride and groom.)
Epilogue
Sally Hemings died in Charlottesville in 1835, age sixty-two.The cause of death and date are uncertain. One account has it that shelived past the May 8 birth to Julia Ann and Eston Hemings of JohnWayles Hemings, the family later taking the surname Jefferson. Thatchild became a Union Army Colonel, wounded in the Civil War.After Sally died, sons Madison and Eston and their familiesmoved to Ohio. Researchers believe Sally’s remains lie beneath theparking lot of the Hampton Inn on West Main Street in Charlottesville.Descendants of Sally Hemings’s children joined Jefferson familygatherings at Monticello in 1999, the year after DNA testing eraseddoubts of a Thomas-Sally liaison. While the Thomas JeffersonFoundation has accepted the relationship on the evidence, descendantsof Martha Randolph and Maria Eppes are not in full agreement.Jefferson Randolph spent the greater part of his life paying offdebts as executor of his grandfather’s will. Retirement of the debtsbecame final in 1878—three years after Jefferson died from injuries ina carriage accident.All dates in the text correspond with true events or actualexchanges depicted within those chapters, except for the Rivannascene. All named people—and animals—lived and were present forthe described episodes (with the Rivanna exception). The author’sreasoned speculation furnished dialogue, sentiments, and conclusions.
Appendix One: TimelineA Thomas Jefferson/Sally Hemings Timeline(including the times of Sally’s conceptions and births)
April 13, 1743 (New Style calendar) – Thomas Jefferson is born atShadwell in the County of Goochland, later Albemarle County,Virginia, third of ten children of Peter and Jane Randolph Jefferson, ofwhom eight reach adulthood.
January 1, 1772 – At 28 TJ weds widow Martha Wayles Skelton, 23,daughter of John and the late Martha Eppes Wayles, at The Forestplantation, Charles City County.
Spring, 1773, date unknown – Sarah (Sally) Hemings is born at TheForest, youngest of six children of John Wayles (by then three times awidower) and Elizabeth (Betty) Hemings, his mulatto slave.
May 28, 1773 – John Wayles, Sally’s and Martha Wayles Jefferson’sfather, dies in Charles City County. TJ and Martha inherit land, slavesincluding the Hemingses, and a large share of Wayles’s debts.
April 19, 1775 – Start of the American Revolution.
July 4, 1776 – The Continental Congress in Philadelphia accepts theTJ-authored Declaration of Independence, first of three achievementshe chooses later to include on his gravestone.
June 1, 1779 – June 4, 1781 – TJ serves two one-year terms asVirginia’s Governor, part of that time marked by Britons’ invadingVirginia and their unsuccessful search for him.
September 6, 1782 – Before dying at Monticello from childbirtheffects—and with family members present including half-sisterSally—Martha Wayles Jefferson exacts a promise from TJ never toremarry.
September 3, 1783 – Signing of the Treaty of Paris concludes theAmerican Revolution.
July 5, 1784 – With daughter Martha (nicknamed Patsy), then goingon 12, and with slave (and half-brother-in-law) James Hemings, 19, TJsails from Boston for Europe to join Benjamin Franklin and JohnAdams as a foreign commissioner.
January 26, 1785 – In Paris TJ learns from the Marquis de Lafayetteof the death of daughter Lucy, 2½, of whooping cough at Virginia’sEppington plantation the previous October 13.
May 2, 1785 – TJ receives notice Congress has elected him Ministerto the Court of Louis XVI of France, succeeding Franklin.
May 10, 1785 – TJ publishes his book, Notes on the State of Virginia.It carries strongly negative views of Negroes.
January 16, 1786 – James Madison rallies the Virginia Assembly toenact the Statute for Religious Freedom TJ authored in 1777, secondof three achievements TJ selects later for his gravestone.
October 12, 1786 – TJ writes a dialogue to the married artist MariaCosway, “My Head and My Heart,” in which he chooses reason overemotion to resolve their short-lived romance.
July 15, 1787 – Daughter Mary (nicknamed Polly), two weeks shy of9, arrives with her slave and aunt, Sally Hemings, 14, at the AmericanMinistry in Paris.
April 24, 1788 – Likeliest date for start of intimacy between TJ andhalf-sister-in-law Sally, on his return from travel in the Netherlandsand Rhine valley. The affair continues through their stay in Franceand will last 38 years till his death.
March 4, 1789 – The ratified Constitution of the United States takeseffect. Addition of the Bill of Rights by amendment is under way.President George Washington will take the oath of office April 30.
April 20, 1789 – TJ withdraws daughters Martha and Mary fromconvent school, Abbaye Royale de Panthémont, after Martha declaresshe will turn Catholic and become a nun.
July 14, 1789 – The French Revolution takes its most significant turnwhen Parisians storm the Bastille, an event James Hemings witnesses.
October 8, 1789 – The Jeffersons, with James Hemings and apregnant Sally Hemings aboard, embark first from Le Havre on theAnna for England, then October 22 on the Clermont from Yarmouthfor Norfolk, Virginia.
December 23, 1789 – The returning party arrives at Monticello afterTJ receives news at Eppington that President Washington has offeredhim the position of Secretary of State.
January, 1790 – Sally gives birth to a son, Thomas, at Monticello.(First child.)
February 23, 1790 – Daughter Martha weds Thomas Mann Randolph,Jr.
March 21, 1790 – TJ reports to the capital at New York to beginservice as Secretary of State. His work in this capacity is the mostintense of his public career. James Hemings accompanies him asservant. For much of this time away he takes teen daughter Mary, nowcalling herself Maria. In the nearly four years of TJ’s Secretaryship hespends an accumulated total of only six months at home, September19-November 8, 1790, September 12-October 12, 1791, July 22-September 27, 1792, and circa September 25-October 25, 1793.
January 16, 1794 – TJ retires to Monticello after declining a secondterm in Washington’s cabinet. He will stay at home or in the regionuntil 1797.
December 24, 1794 – TJ frees Sally’s older brother Robert Hemings,who has completed paid service in Richmond to purchase his freedom.
October 5, 1795 – Sally gives birth to a daughter, Harriet. (Secondchild.)
February, 1796 – TJ begins reconstruction of the house at Monticello.
February 5, 1796 – TJ frees James Hemings on completion of a threeyearagreement outlining indentured service.
September 29, 1796 – James Madison launches promotion of TJ’scandidacy for President.
circa September, 1796 – Sally gives birth to daughter Edy, whodies in infancy. (Third.)
December 31, 1796 – Madison advises TJ to prepare to assume theVice Presidency, as electors are certain to choose John Adams asPresident.
March 4, 1797 – TJ is inaugurated as Vice President in the capital atPhiladelphia, returning to Monticello March 20.
May 5, 1797 – A special session of Congress draws TJ toPhiladelphia. He returns to Monticello July 11.
October 13, 1797 – Daughter Maria weds her first cousin, JohnWayles Eppes.
December 4, 1797 – TJ leaves for Philadelphia. The house is largelydismantled for reconstruction and will remain empty for the winter.
December 7, 1797 – Sally’s daughter Harriet, 2, dies of an unknowncause.
April 1, 1798 – Sally gives birth to a son, William Beverly. (Fourth.)
July 4, 1798 – TJ returns to Monticello to stay most of the remainderof the year. By letters he opposes the Federalists’ Alien and SeditionActs and expands his leadership of the Democratic-Republicans.
December 18, 1798 – TJ leaves for Philadelphia and returns homeMarch 8, 1799.
December 7, 1799 – Sally gives birth to a daughter, Thenia, whodies in infancy. (Fifth.)
December 21, 1799 – One week after the death of GeorgeWashington, TJ leaves Monticello for Philadelphia, returning homeMay 29, 1800.
November 24, 1800 – After a six-month stay at Monticello, TJleaves for the new capital at Washington City to await state electors’decision for President and Vice President among candidates TJ, AaronBurr, Adams, and Charles Pinckney.
February 17, 1801 – The 36th ballot by the House of Representativesis a tie-breaker, electing TJ President (with grudging support byAlexander Hamilton) over Burr. TJ will take the oath of office March4.
April 4, 1801 – TJ arrives at Monticello. He leaves again forWashington City April 26.
May 22, 1801 – Sally gives birth to a daughter, naming her for theHarriet she’d lost in 1797. (Sixth.)
August 2, 1801 – TJ returns to Monticello and remains untilSeptember 27, first of customary two-month summer stays at homeduring his Presidency.
c. October, 1801 – James Hemings commits suicide.
May 8, 1802 – TJ is home again until May 27, when he returns to thePresident’s House in the capital.
July 25, 1802 – TJ begins summer stay at Monticello.
September 1, 1802 – A series of articles by James Callender begins inthe Richmond Recorder exposing TJ’s affair with Sally and citing thepresence at Monticello of their son, Thomas, then 12. The onlymention of the boy in Jefferson literature after this period is in an 1873interview with Madison Hemings, who said his mother, Sally, had toldhim the child died shortly after being born.
October 1, 1802 – TJ leaves Monticello for Washington.
November 21, 1802 – Daughters Martha and Maria arrive in thecapital for a stay in the President’s House until January 5, 1803,presumably for a show of family unity in response to public scandal.
March 11, 1803 – TJ is back at Monticello, where he stays untilMarch 31 before leaving again for the capital.
July 4, 1803 – The National Intelligencer releases news of theLouisiana Purchase, the most significant achievement of TJ’sPresidency in company with the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
July 22, 1803 – TJ arrives at Monticello. He leaves September 22 forWashington, where he will stay through a severe winter.
April 4, 1804 – TJ arrives home and is present when daughter Mariadies April 17 from effects of childbirth. He stays at Monticello untilMay 11.
July 11, 1804 – Vice President Burr kills Hamilton in a pistol duel onthe New Jersey Palisades.
July 26, 1804 – TJ arrives at Monticello and remains until September27.
January 18, 1805 – Sally gives birth to a son, Madison, so namedfor the Secretary of State at the suggestion of Dolley Madison, who ispresent at Monticello. (Seventh.)
March 4, 1805 – TJ takes the oath as President at his secondinauguration.
c. March 17, 1805 – TJ returns to Monticello and leaves for thecapital again April 14.
c. June 18, 1805 – TJ comes home for the summer, a stay marked by abrief visit to Poplar Forest. He sets out again for the capital September29.
c. November 25, 1805 – Daughter Martha and her children arewintering in the President’s House, where she gives birth January 17,1806 to James Madison Randolph, first child born in what was latercalled the White House.
May 9, 1806 – TJ arrives at Monticello, remaining until June 4.
July 24, 1806 – TJ begins summer stay at home, visiting Poplar Forestin late August and remaining at Monticello until October 1.
October 24, 1806 – TJ learns of the Lewis and Clark party’s return toSt. Louis from its expedition to the Pacific.
Winter, 1806-07 – Supporters urge TJ to accept a third term asPresident, which he declines.
March 2, 1807 – Congress approves an act prohibiting importation ofslaves after January 1, 1808.
c. April 11, 1807 – TJ arrives at Monticello and stays until May 13,when he returns to Washington.
August 5, 1807 – TJ is home again until October 1, then he returnsto the capital.
January 23, 1808 – A Democratic-Republican Congressional caucusnominates James Madison for President, George Clinton for VicePresident.
May 11, 1808 – TJ returns to Monticello.
May 21, 1808 – Sally gives birth to a son, Eston. (Eighth.) On June 8TJ leaves to return to the capital.
July 23, 1808 – TJ arrives at Monticello to stay until September 28.On the return trip to Washington his grandson Thomas JeffersonRandolph, 16, accompanies him and will attend school in Philadelphia.
November 21, 1808 – Electors assure selection of Madison to succeedTJ.
February 25, 1809 – TJ’s letter to Henry Grégoire, French priest andabolitionist, recants negative references to Negroes TJ had made inNotes on the State of Virginia.
March 4, 1809 – Madison takes the oath of office as President.
March 15, 1809 – TJ returns to Monticello in final retirement, fromthis day forward confining travel to places in Virginia.
June 18, 1812 – United States declares war on Great Britain. Treaty ofGhent ends the war December 24, 1814, but British defeat at NewOrleans January 8, 1815 gives U.S. decisive victory.
c. April 18, 1815 – TJ sells and ships his personal library toWashington to replace that of the Library of Congress, which theBritish burned while invading the capital.
May 5, 1817 – The Board of Visitors of Central College,Charlottesville, VA, holds its first meeting. TJ’s involvement willculminate in founding of the University of Virginia.
August 5, 1819 – TJ learns of the financial failure of Wilson CaryNicholas, for whom he had cosigned a loan.
1822, before October 15 – Twice TJ goes into $50 debt to overseerEdmund Bacon, first to give that amount to his son William BeverlyHemings, 24, to help him “run away” to freedom, then to help hisdaughter, Harriet Hemings, 21, do the same.
November 5, 1824 – The unfinished Rotunda of the University ofVirginia is the scene of a dinner honoring the Marquis de Lafayetteupon his visit and reunion with TJ.
March 7, 1825 – The University of Virginia opens, third achievement(as “father”) TJ specifies for gravestone inscription.
March 17, 1826 – In his will TJ frees sons Madison and EstonHemings as well as Joseph Fossett, Burwell Colbert, and JohnHemings. He arranges informal emancipation for Sally and forWormley Hughes and arranges to let all remain in Virginia.
July 4, 1826 – TJ dies at Monticello on the 50th anniversary ofpresentation (some historians record it as “adoption”) of theDeclaration of Independence. Adams dies the same day inMassachusetts.
Late spring, 1835, date unknown – Freed after TJ’s death, Sally diesin Charlottesville. She had lived with sons Madison and Eston andtended TJ’s grave on the mountain.
Appendix Two: Family ConnectionsJohn Wayles (1715-73) – (1) Martha Eppes (1721-48) (2) Tabitha Cocke (1724-60) (3) Elizabeth Lomax (?-1761) (4) Elizabeth Hemings (1735-1807)Children of John Wayles and Martha Eppes Martha* (1748-82) and twins who did not surviveChildren of John Wayles and Tabitha Cocke Elizabeth (1752-?)** and three other daughtersNo children were born to John Wayles and Elizabeth LomaxChildren of John Wayles and Elizabeth Hemings Sally (1773-1835), two other daughters, and three sons
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) – (1) Martha Wayles (2) Sally HemingsChildren of Thomas Jefferson and Martha Wayles Martha*** (nicknamed Patsy) – (1772-1836) Jane (1774-75) Unnamed son (1777-77) Mary**** (nicknamed Polly, and later renamed herself Maria) – (1778-1804) Lucy (1780-81) Lucy (1782-84)Children of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings Thomas (1790 – whereabouts unknown after 1802) Harriet (1795-97) Edy (1796-96) William Beverly (1798-?) Thenia (1799-1800) Harriet (1801-?) James Madison (1805-77) Thomas Eston (1808-56)*At the time she wed Jefferson in 1772 Martha Wayles was the widow of BathurstSkelton and had lost a son by that union. (Sally Hemings, born 1773, was MarthaWayles’s half-sister.)**Elizabeth Wayles wed first cousin Francis Eppes. They had two sons, JohnWayles Eppes and his brother Richard. (Sally Hemings was Elizabeth Wayles’s halfsisteras well.)***Martha Jefferson wed Thomas Mann Randolph, Jr. in 1790. They had 12children, 11 reaching adulthood. (Martha Jefferson Randolph was the niece of SallyHemings.)****Mary Jefferson wed first cousin John Wayles Eppes in 1797 and had threechildren, only one reaching adulthood. (At this wedding Sally Hemings was aunt toeach the bride and groom.)
June 14, 2014
Sally of Monticello: Founding MotherThe story ends. (Epil...
Sally of Monticello: Founding Mother
The story ends. (Epilogue and appendices to follow.)
93My grumpy son Madison has consented to let us celebrate histhirtieth birthday. We were at the Isaacs home on Sunday, 18th day ofJanuary, 1835.I sat between two daughters-in-law whose bellies swelled withgrandchildren due to enter the world this year.Madison’s wife, the former Mary McCoy, promised that if herswas a girl she would name her Sarah, after me, and if a boy she wouldcall him Thomas.Eston had beat Madison to the altar by a couple of years. He’dmarried Julia Ann Isaacs. She was expecting in May and would nameher son after my father, John Wayles. If a girl, the baby would getGrandmama Nancy West’s other name, Ann.The only person present who wasn’t of mixed race wasGrandpapa David Isaacs, but he was adding to the mix because thegrandchild by Julia Ann would be a quarter Jewish.As for things Jewish, the talk of Charlottesville was what washappening on the mountain. Navy Lieutenant Uriah P. Levy, a veteranof Barbary Wars and the War of 1812, was negotiating to buyMonticello.The original buyer was James T. Barclay, a pharmacist here intown whose overall aims for using the property have remained unclear.Levy’s meeting the Marquis de Lafayette before the French herodied last spring had ignited his interest in the place. Word was that theLevy family hoped to take possession soon from Barclay with an eyenot to farm but to preserve the estate in Thomas’s memory.Because David’s sons enjoyed telling the story, we learned theLieutenant was also a war hero. He was a sailing master on the USSArgus that seized more than twenty British vessels in the EnglishChannel. His ship was finally captured, its Captain killed, and the crewincluding Levy imprisoned more than a year.The newspapers have described Levy as a great admirer ofThomas and an officer destined to rise in the Navy.Madison has remained unadmiring, because Thomas had failedto bestow the fatherly warmth our son craved. I’d tried to explain, hisfather was often aloof toward Martha and Maria as well, except inletters. But Madison has stayed resentful.Another piece of good news and cause for optimism was theoutcome of grand jury charges against David and Nancy, presentmentsborn of business competitors’ jealousies. While legal proceedingswould drag to a slow conclusion, the criminal charges have beenthrown out.And the two dears have now partnered forty-seven years.In a quiet moment I shared with Nancy a lovely letter DolleyMadison wrote at the start of the New Year. The sentiments itcontained warmed my heart.We all discussed Jefferson Randolph’s working hard to retire hisgrandfather’s and father’s debts. At his current pace it would take himdecades to accomplish, for the funds owed at the time of Thomas’sdeath were in excess of a hundred thousand dollars. KnowingThomas’s grandson, however, I’ve predicted he would achieve hisgoal.And now, though I wasn’t certain whether this was good news orbad, I was officially a white person. That’s been by notation of thecensus taker a few years ago, and I’ve so enjoyed telling friendswhenever we needed a good laugh.I’d moved in with Madison and Eston when the census officialcame to call, and he marked us all down as white. As a woman andlifelong Virginian, I was still trying to figure out what that designationmight entitle me to.Though I’d begun easing in my resentment of Martha Randolph,I was confident symbolic whiteness hadn’t driven that mellowing.Instead I credited what Thomas taught me—to put my mind more inthe future, to consider and act upon all we might do to make life’sburdens easier on generations to come.The more of Thomas’s optimism I’d absorbed, the easier it wasto smile, even to take up pleasant humming.Sitting among family and friends, enjoying the hospitality ofNancy and David, looking forward to grandchildren, I’d been runninga story through my head.The story had to do with John Adams as he lay dying. With noready knowledge of what was occurring at Monticello—that Thomaswas on his deathbed as well—Mr. Adams uttered as his last words,“Thomas Jefferson survives.”Through Thomas’s many creations and through his progeny byMartha and Maria, the world might now attach a different meaning tothat, a symbolic one.But I, between Julia Ann and Mary, have placed a hand on eachof their bellies, inducing their giggles and a flutter of wings in myheart—and a mockingbird’s song in my greying head:“Thomas, my love, survives.”
93My grumpy son Madison has consented to let us celebrate histhirtieth birthday. We were at the Isaacs home on Sunday, 18th day ofJanuary, 1835.I sat between two daughters-in-law whose bellies swelled withgrandchildren due to enter the world this year.Madison’s wife, the former Mary McCoy, promised that if herswas a girl she would name her Sarah, after me, and if a boy she wouldcall him Thomas.Eston had beat Madison to the altar by a couple of years. He’dmarried Julia Ann Isaacs. She was expecting in May and would nameher son after my father, John Wayles. If a girl, the baby would getGrandmama Nancy West’s other name, Ann.The only person present who wasn’t of mixed race wasGrandpapa David Isaacs, but he was adding to the mix because thegrandchild by Julia Ann would be a quarter Jewish.As for things Jewish, the talk of Charlottesville was what washappening on the mountain. Navy Lieutenant Uriah P. Levy, a veteranof Barbary Wars and the War of 1812, was negotiating to buyMonticello.The original buyer was James T. Barclay, a pharmacist here intown whose overall aims for using the property have remained unclear.Levy’s meeting the Marquis de Lafayette before the French herodied last spring had ignited his interest in the place. Word was that theLevy family hoped to take possession soon from Barclay with an eyenot to farm but to preserve the estate in Thomas’s memory.Because David’s sons enjoyed telling the story, we learned theLieutenant was also a war hero. He was a sailing master on the USSArgus that seized more than twenty British vessels in the EnglishChannel. His ship was finally captured, its Captain killed, and the crewincluding Levy imprisoned more than a year.The newspapers have described Levy as a great admirer ofThomas and an officer destined to rise in the Navy.Madison has remained unadmiring, because Thomas had failedto bestow the fatherly warmth our son craved. I’d tried to explain, hisfather was often aloof toward Martha and Maria as well, except inletters. But Madison has stayed resentful.Another piece of good news and cause for optimism was theoutcome of grand jury charges against David and Nancy, presentmentsborn of business competitors’ jealousies. While legal proceedingswould drag to a slow conclusion, the criminal charges have beenthrown out.And the two dears have now partnered forty-seven years.In a quiet moment I shared with Nancy a lovely letter DolleyMadison wrote at the start of the New Year. The sentiments itcontained warmed my heart.We all discussed Jefferson Randolph’s working hard to retire hisgrandfather’s and father’s debts. At his current pace it would take himdecades to accomplish, for the funds owed at the time of Thomas’sdeath were in excess of a hundred thousand dollars. KnowingThomas’s grandson, however, I’ve predicted he would achieve hisgoal.And now, though I wasn’t certain whether this was good news orbad, I was officially a white person. That’s been by notation of thecensus taker a few years ago, and I’ve so enjoyed telling friendswhenever we needed a good laugh.I’d moved in with Madison and Eston when the census officialcame to call, and he marked us all down as white. As a woman andlifelong Virginian, I was still trying to figure out what that designationmight entitle me to.Though I’d begun easing in my resentment of Martha Randolph,I was confident symbolic whiteness hadn’t driven that mellowing.Instead I credited what Thomas taught me—to put my mind more inthe future, to consider and act upon all we might do to make life’sburdens easier on generations to come.The more of Thomas’s optimism I’d absorbed, the easier it wasto smile, even to take up pleasant humming.Sitting among family and friends, enjoying the hospitality ofNancy and David, looking forward to grandchildren, I’d been runninga story through my head.The story had to do with John Adams as he lay dying. With noready knowledge of what was occurring at Monticello—that Thomaswas on his deathbed as well—Mr. Adams uttered as his last words,“Thomas Jefferson survives.”Through Thomas’s many creations and through his progeny byMartha and Maria, the world might now attach a different meaning tothat, a symbolic one.But I, between Julia Ann and Mary, have placed a hand on eachof their bellies, inducing their giggles and a flutter of wings in myheart—and a mockingbird’s song in my greying head:“Thomas, my love, survives.”
June 7, 2014
Sally of Monticello: Founding Motherthe story continues.....
Sally of Monticello: Founding Mother
the story continues...
92
Burwell restrained me a few days ago, or I might have been putin the Albemarle County jail. Or worse.I was glad, however, not to have violence on my conscience,especially in light of today’s tragic event, which followed quickly onthe heels of another family loss.Aunt Marks—Anna Scott Jefferson Marks—a sweet old fixturehere the past seventeen years, died today, Tuesday, the 8th of July,1828. She was the last of Thomas’s siblings. She was seventy-two andchildless.And here on the 20th day of June, Martha’s husband, Mr.Randolph, died at age sixty in the north pavilion. That’s where he’deither chosen to live or she’d exiled him, I couldn’t be certain which.Two years back when Thomas died, Mr. Randolph hadapparently considered himself liberated from the gravitational force ofthe great man, so he—a former Governor of Virginia—ran off to workalong the Florida border as a cartographer.For all his life Martha’s husband was intemperate in hisbehavior, whether toward his son Jefferson, toward employees andslaves, or in the management of his plantations. Though he followedThomas’s political philosophy, he found it exasperating to be secondto Thomas in Martha’s affections.Nevertheless, Mr. Randolph—to show dominion over her,perhaps, or from a romantic ardor I couldn’t imagine comfortably—managed to impregnate that rangy broodmare twelve times.I credited her as a devoted mother, an intelligent and reasonablypatient mother. And a good sister to poor Maria. In many ways also agood daughter, but entirely too cloying in that role.However, I despised the woman for lying about my children’spaternity, for stealing from me and trying to destroy my reputation, forbehaving maliciously toward me ever since our time in Paris.Her displays of bereavement over loss of her husband werelikely more affectation than genuine remorse, considering the tensionsbetween the couple we’ve all witnessed in this house.Martha has followed Thomas’s instructions and declared me freein a manner avoiding the rigmarole of legal manumission—as customwent for elderly slaves, “giving me my time” and handing mescribbled confirmation. But oh, how she poisoned that moment, as I’llexplain presently.With arrangements for dear Aunt Marks’s burial almost settled, Ireturned to the Mulberry Row cabin to finish packing.I wished I’d found the jar from Paris containing a folded paperof my firstborn Thomas’s whereabouts. But it was gone forever, andThomas’s tracing was unsuccessful. I was divided in my emotions.The Callender revelations while Thomas was President had promptedour decision to send Little Thomas where he would be contented,useful, and free from public gawking. But he was my son regardless,and I treasured memories of him and mumbled soft wishes for hishappiness.To avoid a pointless and possibly dangerous search for the oldestsibling they’d never seen, I’ve told Madison and Eston that the baby Icarried in my womb from France died shortly after I gave birth.Beverly might remember Little Thomas—not Harriet. But whitesociety has undoubtedly swallowed those two dears so completely thatwe must avoid contact so as not to disturb their transformation.My two youngest sons have rented a small place between hereand Charlottesville. They’ve asked me to join them and tend house,and that’s what I’ve decided to do.Though they’d been more formally freed than I because ofThomas’s will, there would have been ambiguity about their remaininglegitimately in Virginia. But Thomas had also arranged legaldispensation for that. They now worked throughout the area ascarpenters and picked up extra money as musicians.Except for tending Thomas’s grave—weeding, raking, washingmold off the obelisk base, clearing away bird droppings—there was noreason for me to stay on the mountain. I planned to return, however,and continue that labor of love as necessary.Wormley Hughes helped me and still tended the gardens.Otherwise all house slaves were preparing for the auctions. The lotteryeffort had been an utter failure.Burwell followed Martha’s whims faithfully as to what shall beboxed for her to take away and what shall be left for the sale. IsraelGillett assisted as best he could by keeping the house tidy. He wasvery sentimental and has told me he’ll change his surname toJefferson. Poor Davy Bowles must say goodbye to the animals in hischarge. He was taking that hard.The slaves could never resign themselves to the prospect offamilies dividing as the result of sale. They also feared that the nextplace they served would have a harsh Master and overseer, unlikeMonticello and other plantations of Thomas’s.I’ve tucked things into my modest wardrobe now folded into twocarrying bags—tokens Thomas purchased for me in Paris, New York,or Philadelphia. And the bell Martha Wayles gave me when I was alittle girl.And I still wore my locket. Lord, what a happy time, the day hebought me the locket. I thought my heart would escape my girlishbosom.Now, as I packed, wails and shouts rose from nearby cabins,sounds of impending doom. I ached for my people. The happy tears ofmy recollections mixed with sobs for their uncertain futures.Oh, Thomas. I miss you so.My brother John was among the few freed in Thomas’s will, andhe would find easy employment as a cabinetmaker. Burwell had atrade as a painter and a glazier and would also leave. And theblacksmith and ironworker, Joe Fossett, a nephew of mine, wassimilarly favored.It was Burwell’s timely use of his strong hand a few days agothat allowed me to leave this place in peace. I had just finishedspeaking with Martha in the parlor and received my precious paper offreedom from her unlovely hand.She couldn’t resist telling me I’d grown old and slow these lastfew years. I tried to ignore that. She was a few months older, so shewasn’t so bright-eyed and rosy-cheeked herself.I had turned to leave when I heard her add, “Between your beinga used-up Nigra and your infamy, Sally Hemings, you couldn’t bringfifty dollars at auction.”All her stories about my sleeping with Thomas’s nephews andothers returned in sharp focus.I wheeled about, bared my teeth, drew my right arm back, andswung to slap her with all my strength.But Burwell, behind me, grabbed my arm and stopped the swingthat I was sure would have knocked her to the floor. “No, Aunt Sally,”he said. “No.”Martha and I stared at each other, both breathing deeply withnostrils flaring.I drew satisfaction from the look of fear in her grey eyes.She brought that under control and, raising her chin as thoughtriumphant, turned and walked away, heels clip-clopping on theparquet floor till I heard a door slam.Burwell whispered, “It’s enough that Miss Martha lost Edgehilland now this place.”“No,” I said. “It’s not enough. That woman’s been stealing fromme for years. Cheapening something more precious than gold.”“You and the Master?”“And never anyone else for either of us. It was love, Burwell. Aman like him? He could have enjoyed the affections of any woman inthe world. But he chose me.”
92
Burwell restrained me a few days ago, or I might have been putin the Albemarle County jail. Or worse.I was glad, however, not to have violence on my conscience,especially in light of today’s tragic event, which followed quickly onthe heels of another family loss.Aunt Marks—Anna Scott Jefferson Marks—a sweet old fixturehere the past seventeen years, died today, Tuesday, the 8th of July,1828. She was the last of Thomas’s siblings. She was seventy-two andchildless.And here on the 20th day of June, Martha’s husband, Mr.Randolph, died at age sixty in the north pavilion. That’s where he’deither chosen to live or she’d exiled him, I couldn’t be certain which.Two years back when Thomas died, Mr. Randolph hadapparently considered himself liberated from the gravitational force ofthe great man, so he—a former Governor of Virginia—ran off to workalong the Florida border as a cartographer.For all his life Martha’s husband was intemperate in hisbehavior, whether toward his son Jefferson, toward employees andslaves, or in the management of his plantations. Though he followedThomas’s political philosophy, he found it exasperating to be secondto Thomas in Martha’s affections.Nevertheless, Mr. Randolph—to show dominion over her,perhaps, or from a romantic ardor I couldn’t imagine comfortably—managed to impregnate that rangy broodmare twelve times.I credited her as a devoted mother, an intelligent and reasonablypatient mother. And a good sister to poor Maria. In many ways also agood daughter, but entirely too cloying in that role.However, I despised the woman for lying about my children’spaternity, for stealing from me and trying to destroy my reputation, forbehaving maliciously toward me ever since our time in Paris.Her displays of bereavement over loss of her husband werelikely more affectation than genuine remorse, considering the tensionsbetween the couple we’ve all witnessed in this house.Martha has followed Thomas’s instructions and declared me freein a manner avoiding the rigmarole of legal manumission—as customwent for elderly slaves, “giving me my time” and handing mescribbled confirmation. But oh, how she poisoned that moment, as I’llexplain presently.With arrangements for dear Aunt Marks’s burial almost settled, Ireturned to the Mulberry Row cabin to finish packing.I wished I’d found the jar from Paris containing a folded paperof my firstborn Thomas’s whereabouts. But it was gone forever, andThomas’s tracing was unsuccessful. I was divided in my emotions.The Callender revelations while Thomas was President had promptedour decision to send Little Thomas where he would be contented,useful, and free from public gawking. But he was my son regardless,and I treasured memories of him and mumbled soft wishes for hishappiness.To avoid a pointless and possibly dangerous search for the oldestsibling they’d never seen, I’ve told Madison and Eston that the baby Icarried in my womb from France died shortly after I gave birth.Beverly might remember Little Thomas—not Harriet. But whitesociety has undoubtedly swallowed those two dears so completely thatwe must avoid contact so as not to disturb their transformation.My two youngest sons have rented a small place between hereand Charlottesville. They’ve asked me to join them and tend house,and that’s what I’ve decided to do.Though they’d been more formally freed than I because ofThomas’s will, there would have been ambiguity about their remaininglegitimately in Virginia. But Thomas had also arranged legaldispensation for that. They now worked throughout the area ascarpenters and picked up extra money as musicians.Except for tending Thomas’s grave—weeding, raking, washingmold off the obelisk base, clearing away bird droppings—there was noreason for me to stay on the mountain. I planned to return, however,and continue that labor of love as necessary.Wormley Hughes helped me and still tended the gardens.Otherwise all house slaves were preparing for the auctions. The lotteryeffort had been an utter failure.Burwell followed Martha’s whims faithfully as to what shall beboxed for her to take away and what shall be left for the sale. IsraelGillett assisted as best he could by keeping the house tidy. He wasvery sentimental and has told me he’ll change his surname toJefferson. Poor Davy Bowles must say goodbye to the animals in hischarge. He was taking that hard.The slaves could never resign themselves to the prospect offamilies dividing as the result of sale. They also feared that the nextplace they served would have a harsh Master and overseer, unlikeMonticello and other plantations of Thomas’s.I’ve tucked things into my modest wardrobe now folded into twocarrying bags—tokens Thomas purchased for me in Paris, New York,or Philadelphia. And the bell Martha Wayles gave me when I was alittle girl.And I still wore my locket. Lord, what a happy time, the day hebought me the locket. I thought my heart would escape my girlishbosom.Now, as I packed, wails and shouts rose from nearby cabins,sounds of impending doom. I ached for my people. The happy tears ofmy recollections mixed with sobs for their uncertain futures.Oh, Thomas. I miss you so.My brother John was among the few freed in Thomas’s will, andhe would find easy employment as a cabinetmaker. Burwell had atrade as a painter and a glazier and would also leave. And theblacksmith and ironworker, Joe Fossett, a nephew of mine, wassimilarly favored.It was Burwell’s timely use of his strong hand a few days agothat allowed me to leave this place in peace. I had just finishedspeaking with Martha in the parlor and received my precious paper offreedom from her unlovely hand.She couldn’t resist telling me I’d grown old and slow these lastfew years. I tried to ignore that. She was a few months older, so shewasn’t so bright-eyed and rosy-cheeked herself.I had turned to leave when I heard her add, “Between your beinga used-up Nigra and your infamy, Sally Hemings, you couldn’t bringfifty dollars at auction.”All her stories about my sleeping with Thomas’s nephews andothers returned in sharp focus.I wheeled about, bared my teeth, drew my right arm back, andswung to slap her with all my strength.But Burwell, behind me, grabbed my arm and stopped the swingthat I was sure would have knocked her to the floor. “No, Aunt Sally,”he said. “No.”Martha and I stared at each other, both breathing deeply withnostrils flaring.I drew satisfaction from the look of fear in her grey eyes.She brought that under control and, raising her chin as thoughtriumphant, turned and walked away, heels clip-clopping on theparquet floor till I heard a door slam.Burwell whispered, “It’s enough that Miss Martha lost Edgehilland now this place.”“No,” I said. “It’s not enough. That woman’s been stealing fromme for years. Cheapening something more precious than gold.”“You and the Master?”“And never anyone else for either of us. It was love, Burwell. Aman like him? He could have enjoyed the affections of any woman inthe world. But he chose me.”
May 31, 2014
Sally of Monticello: Founding Motherthe story continues.....
Sally of Monticello: Founding Mother
the story continues...
91I brought an old blanket to sit on the ground at Thomas’s grave.I’ve come every day since Wormley Hughes, Burwell’s half-brother,began digging here right after Thomas breathed his last, eleven daysago. The site was now ready for his monument.This 15th of July, 1826, a pleasant Saturday that might havewarranted our picnicking, was to be an anniversary of sorts. It wasthirty-nine years ago that my adolescent heart beat wildly as I steppedfrom that barouche in Paris—and stole glances at the great, handsomeman I quickly grew determined to win.Word has reached us that Mr. Adams died the same day asThomas, on the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration’s adoption. Twogood men the same great day, rivals in many respects but friends at thelast. Mr. Adams was also in my heart.Lying on the alcove bed, Thomas went with part of me insidehim, for he licked my tears as they fell, copiously, on his lips. Heseemed to thirst for them.He suffered horribly in his last days while trying to stiflecomplaint. Every organ and muscle in my body ached in sympathy,seeing him struggle to make it to the special day, the celebrated Fourthof July. Then he resigned himself to our calming ministrations, finallyto his dying breath. He was such a brave man, such a gentle and givingman.I ran into the woods to yell my grief to what Thomas called“Nature’s God.” Startled creatures ran in every direction. Even hawkstook flight. I’d never felt so alone.After losing my voice, I collapsed at the foot of an oak and criedmyself to sleep. I rose at dusk from the forest floor, smelling of earthand decayed leaves, and returned to my quarters.A wail lifted into the evening on Mulberry Row, then another.Then voices in spirituals. Madison looked in on me. When he startedto leave, I said, “Leave the door open.”“But the mosquitoes—”“I don’t care. Tonight I want to hear.”So many white and colored came to the burial ground to saygoodbye as several men used ropes to lower his casket.The mountain was filled with people—his people.The world will never know another like him.And I? My thoughts kept going round and round that, yes, I washis slave. And, despite past protestations over such a condition orstation, I could say it now: Proud to be Thomas Jefferson’s love slaveand closest companion.And he was my true and faithful mate. And we’ve had childrenof combined races to carry proof of our love forward.My notes from Thomas? Other letters? Stolen from my roombefore he was in the ground, most likely by Martha—and most likelydestroyed. I screamed upon discovering that heartless larceny, thatexcruciating loss. Madison and Eston restrained me from confrontingher.Now, I feared the future without my man. All here were fearful,but for different reasons. What I feared most was not my uncertain fateat Martha’s hands but loneliness, the severing of a companionship thatwas the beat of my heart, the joy of my soul.With Thomas gone I cared little about myself except to help mysons, perhaps learn whether my “runaway” children had establishedfamilies and made me a grandmother.We awaited disposition of all properties, including the slaves butexcepting a favored few. Meanwhile, I resolved to keep the grave tidy.There’ll be an obelisk, as he’d wished. It will mention theDeclaration, the religious freedom statute of Virginia, and his fatheringof the university—the achievements of which he was proudest.I spread my blanket and stretched myself on his grave, facedown. I’ve settled into the habit of talking to my dear departed lover,my husband, my friend, my Thomas.“Thomas,” I whispered, “I know you had doubts about heaven,and so do I. Therefore, you’re still in your coffin—your body, yourbrain and heart, your spirit. And I’m here with you, as near as I can be.Wherever they put me, whatever they do to me, please know your
Sally is with you. Through eternity.”
91I brought an old blanket to sit on the ground at Thomas’s grave.I’ve come every day since Wormley Hughes, Burwell’s half-brother,began digging here right after Thomas breathed his last, eleven daysago. The site was now ready for his monument.This 15th of July, 1826, a pleasant Saturday that might havewarranted our picnicking, was to be an anniversary of sorts. It wasthirty-nine years ago that my adolescent heart beat wildly as I steppedfrom that barouche in Paris—and stole glances at the great, handsomeman I quickly grew determined to win.Word has reached us that Mr. Adams died the same day asThomas, on the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration’s adoption. Twogood men the same great day, rivals in many respects but friends at thelast. Mr. Adams was also in my heart.Lying on the alcove bed, Thomas went with part of me insidehim, for he licked my tears as they fell, copiously, on his lips. Heseemed to thirst for them.He suffered horribly in his last days while trying to stiflecomplaint. Every organ and muscle in my body ached in sympathy,seeing him struggle to make it to the special day, the celebrated Fourthof July. Then he resigned himself to our calming ministrations, finallyto his dying breath. He was such a brave man, such a gentle and givingman.I ran into the woods to yell my grief to what Thomas called“Nature’s God.” Startled creatures ran in every direction. Even hawkstook flight. I’d never felt so alone.After losing my voice, I collapsed at the foot of an oak and criedmyself to sleep. I rose at dusk from the forest floor, smelling of earthand decayed leaves, and returned to my quarters.A wail lifted into the evening on Mulberry Row, then another.Then voices in spirituals. Madison looked in on me. When he startedto leave, I said, “Leave the door open.”“But the mosquitoes—”“I don’t care. Tonight I want to hear.”So many white and colored came to the burial ground to saygoodbye as several men used ropes to lower his casket.The mountain was filled with people—his people.The world will never know another like him.And I? My thoughts kept going round and round that, yes, I washis slave. And, despite past protestations over such a condition orstation, I could say it now: Proud to be Thomas Jefferson’s love slaveand closest companion.And he was my true and faithful mate. And we’ve had childrenof combined races to carry proof of our love forward.My notes from Thomas? Other letters? Stolen from my roombefore he was in the ground, most likely by Martha—and most likelydestroyed. I screamed upon discovering that heartless larceny, thatexcruciating loss. Madison and Eston restrained me from confrontingher.Now, I feared the future without my man. All here were fearful,but for different reasons. What I feared most was not my uncertain fateat Martha’s hands but loneliness, the severing of a companionship thatwas the beat of my heart, the joy of my soul.With Thomas gone I cared little about myself except to help mysons, perhaps learn whether my “runaway” children had establishedfamilies and made me a grandmother.We awaited disposition of all properties, including the slaves butexcepting a favored few. Meanwhile, I resolved to keep the grave tidy.There’ll be an obelisk, as he’d wished. It will mention theDeclaration, the religious freedom statute of Virginia, and his fatheringof the university—the achievements of which he was proudest.I spread my blanket and stretched myself on his grave, facedown. I’ve settled into the habit of talking to my dear departed lover,my husband, my friend, my Thomas.“Thomas,” I whispered, “I know you had doubts about heaven,and so do I. Therefore, you’re still in your coffin—your body, yourbrain and heart, your spirit. And I’m here with you, as near as I can be.Wherever they put me, whatever they do to me, please know your
Sally is with you. Through eternity.”
May 24, 2014
Sally of Monticello: Founding Motherthe story continues.....
Sally of Monticello: Founding Mother
the story continues...
90A grieving Jefferson Randolph was trying to console everyoneover the death at Carlton of his sister, Anne Cary Bankhead, Thomas’sfirst grandchild. All assembled at Monticello after the news came onthis Saturday, 11th of February, 1826.We were uniformly bitter over how her husband Charles hadtreated her, and we wished the drunken fool had received thepunishment he deserved. People said he has reformed since knifingyoung Jefferson in Charlottesville, but none had persuaded me.Anne had delivered a baby boy prematurely two weeks ago andhad worsened since. The child, William Stuart, survived and joinedthree siblings.Thomas had been too weak to visit Anne, and when finally hewas able, she was unconscious. Today he was devastated at herpassing, but manifesting grief differently from his terrifying collapsewhen Martha Wayles died. I feared sorrow would eat his insides like ahuge parasite and finish him.Privately he mumbled against God for taking those he neverexpected would predecease him, as happened to daughter Maria attwenty-five and more recently to son-in-law Jack Eppes, who wasfifty. Anne was thirty-five.Martha, of course, was beside herself, as was the increasinglyeccentric Mr. Randolph. Both received support from Anne’s siblings,who nonetheless mourned loudly.For me Anne’s death was not only the loss of a lovely and muchput-upon grandniece, but the witnessing of accelerated deterioration bymy dear mate of thirty-eight years. He feared further bad news fromRichmond, but grandson Jefferson was not so pessimistic. How thatbegan—Misfortune descended upon Thomas Mann Randolph to anextent requiring Thomas to assume his son-in-law’s debts—on top ofhis own. Grandson Jefferson tried to sell tracts of the family’s land tocover obligations. Unfortunately, bidders were few and prices werelow.Thomas hadn’t stopped borrowing, but the prospect of burdeningMartha and his grandchildren with gargantuan debt worried himintensely. “Leaving one’s family destitute,” he said, “is pain andhumiliation compounded. Worse yet, it’s inescapable by death.”One sleepless night early last month Thomas thrashed in bed tillan idea came that caused him to summon Jefferson first thing in themorning. Though Thomas and the Democratic-Republicans have longthought lotteries exploited common folks with little cash to gamble, hewould put his lands into a lottery. Tickets would be offered throughoutall states at reasonable denominations, raising money that Thomas andhis grandson would use to pay debts. Lottery winners would receiveselected properties.The Virginia legislature would have to consent to such a plan.Thomas drafted details and sent them with Jefferson to State SenatorJoseph C. Cabell, who was chief fund-raiser for the University ofVirginia. Thomas argued that he was entitled to special considerationfor past public service.In Richmond Jefferson met resistance at first, then acceptance byCabell and others with a proviso—that the lands be appraised so thattotal funds from ticket purchases would not exceed the lands’ nowdepressed value. They may as well have said “no” right then and there.“I’m appalled,” Thomas told me before news of Anne’s deathreached us, “that Richmond is throwing obstacles in the path of mylottery plan, that so many there have forgotten my sacrifices.”Now, in this time of bereavement, I hugged my poor mate andcooed pleasantries and affectionate sentiments. The word “love” roseeasily now for both of us. For a few moments he seemed to cling to mefor dear life.I whispered, “We’ve had years of happiness, Thomas. There’snot another example of devotion quite like ours anywhere in thiscorner of the world.” I almost choked on my next statement. “If you godown, you must take me with you. But you won’t,” I hastened to add.“None of this will defeat you.”The mood at Monticello hadn’t been this dark for years. Servantsnow tip-toed where once they’d moved swiftly. Gathered familymembers alternately wept in one another’s arms over Anne or satbrooding quietly. Someone had put a cover on the harpsichord.Grandson Jefferson labored to keep all together at great sacrificeto his own happiness. While he was negotiating in Richmond for thelottery, his wife Jane had a baby girl at nearby Tufton.Thomas said, as I helped him to a chair in his bedchamber,“Jefferson is the same age I was when I wrote the Declaration. Thirtythree.But the effort he’s making to save us all is a harder task than theone entrusted to me.”I removed his shoes and put slippers on his stockinged feet.“My grandson,” he said, “is a godsend. An absolute godsend.”I resisted arguing contradictions involving the Deity.“I almost forgot,” he said, letting me help him to his feet.“Forgot what?”“To tell you Madison and Eston are provided for in my will.Madison will go free now that he’s twenty-one. Eston will follow inthree years. We’ll secure it with regular paperwork this time, and I canarrange their remaining in Virginia, if that’s their wish.” He tried tosmile and added, “Meanwhile, they and I have been doing a fairbusiness in the cabbages they raise.”“Would you like me to put you to bed, Thomas? You looktired.”“No, no. I’ll do a little writing.”“To President John Quincy’s proud father, Mr. Adams?”“Not this time, no.” He stared at the ceiling and mumbledsomething, as though trying to recapture a thought. He said, “Go dowhat you need to and come back, Sally. Yes, please come back.”He started slowly for his study, his voice trailing as he added,“Old and broken as I am, you’re still my life’s companion, SarahHemings. My heart’s delight. Do come back, yes.”My heart raced at his words and nearly broke at the sight of hisdecline.I feared little time remained.
90A grieving Jefferson Randolph was trying to console everyoneover the death at Carlton of his sister, Anne Cary Bankhead, Thomas’sfirst grandchild. All assembled at Monticello after the news came onthis Saturday, 11th of February, 1826.We were uniformly bitter over how her husband Charles hadtreated her, and we wished the drunken fool had received thepunishment he deserved. People said he has reformed since knifingyoung Jefferson in Charlottesville, but none had persuaded me.Anne had delivered a baby boy prematurely two weeks ago andhad worsened since. The child, William Stuart, survived and joinedthree siblings.Thomas had been too weak to visit Anne, and when finally hewas able, she was unconscious. Today he was devastated at herpassing, but manifesting grief differently from his terrifying collapsewhen Martha Wayles died. I feared sorrow would eat his insides like ahuge parasite and finish him.Privately he mumbled against God for taking those he neverexpected would predecease him, as happened to daughter Maria attwenty-five and more recently to son-in-law Jack Eppes, who wasfifty. Anne was thirty-five.Martha, of course, was beside herself, as was the increasinglyeccentric Mr. Randolph. Both received support from Anne’s siblings,who nonetheless mourned loudly.For me Anne’s death was not only the loss of a lovely and muchput-upon grandniece, but the witnessing of accelerated deterioration bymy dear mate of thirty-eight years. He feared further bad news fromRichmond, but grandson Jefferson was not so pessimistic. How thatbegan—Misfortune descended upon Thomas Mann Randolph to anextent requiring Thomas to assume his son-in-law’s debts—on top ofhis own. Grandson Jefferson tried to sell tracts of the family’s land tocover obligations. Unfortunately, bidders were few and prices werelow.Thomas hadn’t stopped borrowing, but the prospect of burdeningMartha and his grandchildren with gargantuan debt worried himintensely. “Leaving one’s family destitute,” he said, “is pain andhumiliation compounded. Worse yet, it’s inescapable by death.”One sleepless night early last month Thomas thrashed in bed tillan idea came that caused him to summon Jefferson first thing in themorning. Though Thomas and the Democratic-Republicans have longthought lotteries exploited common folks with little cash to gamble, hewould put his lands into a lottery. Tickets would be offered throughoutall states at reasonable denominations, raising money that Thomas andhis grandson would use to pay debts. Lottery winners would receiveselected properties.The Virginia legislature would have to consent to such a plan.Thomas drafted details and sent them with Jefferson to State SenatorJoseph C. Cabell, who was chief fund-raiser for the University ofVirginia. Thomas argued that he was entitled to special considerationfor past public service.In Richmond Jefferson met resistance at first, then acceptance byCabell and others with a proviso—that the lands be appraised so thattotal funds from ticket purchases would not exceed the lands’ nowdepressed value. They may as well have said “no” right then and there.“I’m appalled,” Thomas told me before news of Anne’s deathreached us, “that Richmond is throwing obstacles in the path of mylottery plan, that so many there have forgotten my sacrifices.”Now, in this time of bereavement, I hugged my poor mate andcooed pleasantries and affectionate sentiments. The word “love” roseeasily now for both of us. For a few moments he seemed to cling to mefor dear life.I whispered, “We’ve had years of happiness, Thomas. There’snot another example of devotion quite like ours anywhere in thiscorner of the world.” I almost choked on my next statement. “If you godown, you must take me with you. But you won’t,” I hastened to add.“None of this will defeat you.”The mood at Monticello hadn’t been this dark for years. Servantsnow tip-toed where once they’d moved swiftly. Gathered familymembers alternately wept in one another’s arms over Anne or satbrooding quietly. Someone had put a cover on the harpsichord.Grandson Jefferson labored to keep all together at great sacrificeto his own happiness. While he was negotiating in Richmond for thelottery, his wife Jane had a baby girl at nearby Tufton.Thomas said, as I helped him to a chair in his bedchamber,“Jefferson is the same age I was when I wrote the Declaration. Thirtythree.But the effort he’s making to save us all is a harder task than theone entrusted to me.”I removed his shoes and put slippers on his stockinged feet.“My grandson,” he said, “is a godsend. An absolute godsend.”I resisted arguing contradictions involving the Deity.“I almost forgot,” he said, letting me help him to his feet.“Forgot what?”“To tell you Madison and Eston are provided for in my will.Madison will go free now that he’s twenty-one. Eston will follow inthree years. We’ll secure it with regular paperwork this time, and I canarrange their remaining in Virginia, if that’s their wish.” He tried tosmile and added, “Meanwhile, they and I have been doing a fairbusiness in the cabbages they raise.”“Would you like me to put you to bed, Thomas? You looktired.”“No, no. I’ll do a little writing.”“To President John Quincy’s proud father, Mr. Adams?”“Not this time, no.” He stared at the ceiling and mumbledsomething, as though trying to recapture a thought. He said, “Go dowhat you need to and come back, Sally. Yes, please come back.”He started slowly for his study, his voice trailing as he added,“Old and broken as I am, you’re still my life’s companion, SarahHemings. My heart’s delight. Do come back, yes.”My heart raced at his words and nearly broke at the sight of hisdecline.I feared little time remained.
May 17, 2014
Sally of Monticello: Founding Motherthe story continues.....
Sally of Monticello: Founding Mother
the story continues...
89Poor Thomas. The opening of the University of Virginia thisyear, 1825, has been fraught with problems. More than once he quotedRobert Burns about “the best-laid schemes of mice and men.”I insisted on accompanying him today—Tuesday, the 4th ofOctober—for another meeting of the Board of Visitors at theuniversity. Thomas got so overcome with emotions there he couldn’tspeak.Davy Bowles and Burwell Colbert stationed themselves by theentrance, waiting for me to cry out in case Thomas collapsed. I wasbeside the open door of the meeting room, trying to lookinconspicuous and reading quietly. If anyone confronted me, I wouldsay I was Thomas’s medical nurse.Beyond early problems with getting instructors situated, therefollowed a to-do over so many pupils’ lacking preparation foruniversity-level studies. Then there were difficulties about explainingand enforcing rules for student behavior. More recently there’ve beennoisy parties and consumption of liquor in the dormitories.Capping all, today’s meeting would probe new studentdisturbances. A young man had thrown a bottle through a professor’swindow Friday night. Several students had cursed and threatenedteachers.On Saturday night fourteen masked students had caused acommotion and forcibly resisted faculty members who’d tried torestrain them. Since then sixty-five students signed a petition againstthe faculty, prompting two teachers to submit their resignations.Thomas waved off much of that. “They were having fun.” Fewothers regarded the weekend disturbances so generously.The entire student body numbering nearly a hundred gatheredfor today’s expected resolution. Their adherence to a code of honorthat would block testifying against one another slowed the inquiry.Emotions ran high in the meeting room, so I was able to hear most ofthe proceedings.When there finally came a hush from inside, I rose from my seatand peered in. Thomas had risen to break the impasse and wasaddressing the students. Soon, whether from emotion or age or shynessabout speaking to a large audience, he gave up and reseated himself.Not so much sat in his chair as fell into it, as old men did when theirjoints no longer worked well. He looked defeated. I readied to go in,setting my book on a chair.A local attorney, Chapman Johnson, took up where Thomas leftoff. My dear one looked satisfied, nodding and listening intently.Happily, the masked offenders voluntarily confessed their role inSaturday night’s events. Board members consulted the faculty,whereupon three of the young men were expelled and the other elevengiven lesser punishment. One of those expelled I recognized as WilsonCary, a nephew of Martha’s husband, Mr. Randolph.Thomas emerged from the meeting exhausted. He said the twofaculty resignations would not be accepted because the professorswere under contract. Board proceedings for the remainder of the weekwould focus on promulgating realistic rules and disciplinary standards.Though he was relieved over the outcome, he was downheartedthat the community and all Virginia might show disappointment bywithholding popular support.“It’s not that serious,” I assured him, propping him on one sidefor the walk out to our carriage.Burwell and Davy tried to take over supporting him physicallywhen we were outdoors, but Thomas waved them off. “I’m all right.”He wasn’t all right. He was growing deaf and starting to forgetthings. His other health problems haven’t subsided. Martha hasrecently insisted on increasing his daily dose of laudanum.Thomas had a new condition called dysuria, pain and difficultywhile trying to urinate, in addition to his continuing diarrhea. I’ve beenanguishing constantly over his discomforts.To me the most significant occurrence of the day was watchingThomas yield to Mr. Johnson and to seem satisfied in doing so.My living god appeared to be stepping down, making way forthe future generations he has served so magnificently.
89Poor Thomas. The opening of the University of Virginia thisyear, 1825, has been fraught with problems. More than once he quotedRobert Burns about “the best-laid schemes of mice and men.”I insisted on accompanying him today—Tuesday, the 4th ofOctober—for another meeting of the Board of Visitors at theuniversity. Thomas got so overcome with emotions there he couldn’tspeak.Davy Bowles and Burwell Colbert stationed themselves by theentrance, waiting for me to cry out in case Thomas collapsed. I wasbeside the open door of the meeting room, trying to lookinconspicuous and reading quietly. If anyone confronted me, I wouldsay I was Thomas’s medical nurse.Beyond early problems with getting instructors situated, therefollowed a to-do over so many pupils’ lacking preparation foruniversity-level studies. Then there were difficulties about explainingand enforcing rules for student behavior. More recently there’ve beennoisy parties and consumption of liquor in the dormitories.Capping all, today’s meeting would probe new studentdisturbances. A young man had thrown a bottle through a professor’swindow Friday night. Several students had cursed and threatenedteachers.On Saturday night fourteen masked students had caused acommotion and forcibly resisted faculty members who’d tried torestrain them. Since then sixty-five students signed a petition againstthe faculty, prompting two teachers to submit their resignations.Thomas waved off much of that. “They were having fun.” Fewothers regarded the weekend disturbances so generously.The entire student body numbering nearly a hundred gatheredfor today’s expected resolution. Their adherence to a code of honorthat would block testifying against one another slowed the inquiry.Emotions ran high in the meeting room, so I was able to hear most ofthe proceedings.When there finally came a hush from inside, I rose from my seatand peered in. Thomas had risen to break the impasse and wasaddressing the students. Soon, whether from emotion or age or shynessabout speaking to a large audience, he gave up and reseated himself.Not so much sat in his chair as fell into it, as old men did when theirjoints no longer worked well. He looked defeated. I readied to go in,setting my book on a chair.A local attorney, Chapman Johnson, took up where Thomas leftoff. My dear one looked satisfied, nodding and listening intently.Happily, the masked offenders voluntarily confessed their role inSaturday night’s events. Board members consulted the faculty,whereupon three of the young men were expelled and the other elevengiven lesser punishment. One of those expelled I recognized as WilsonCary, a nephew of Martha’s husband, Mr. Randolph.Thomas emerged from the meeting exhausted. He said the twofaculty resignations would not be accepted because the professorswere under contract. Board proceedings for the remainder of the weekwould focus on promulgating realistic rules and disciplinary standards.Though he was relieved over the outcome, he was downheartedthat the community and all Virginia might show disappointment bywithholding popular support.“It’s not that serious,” I assured him, propping him on one sidefor the walk out to our carriage.Burwell and Davy tried to take over supporting him physicallywhen we were outdoors, but Thomas waved them off. “I’m all right.”He wasn’t all right. He was growing deaf and starting to forgetthings. His other health problems haven’t subsided. Martha hasrecently insisted on increasing his daily dose of laudanum.Thomas had a new condition called dysuria, pain and difficultywhile trying to urinate, in addition to his continuing diarrhea. I’ve beenanguishing constantly over his discomforts.To me the most significant occurrence of the day was watchingThomas yield to Mr. Johnson and to seem satisfied in doing so.My living god appeared to be stepping down, making way forthe future generations he has served so magnificently.
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