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Beyond Jefferson: The Hemingses, the Randolphs, and the Making of Nineteenth-Century America
A global history of how Thomas Jefferson’s descendants navigated the legacy of the Declaration of Independence on both sides of the color line
The Declaration of Independence identified two core principles—independence and equality—that defined the American Revolution and the nation forged in 1776. Jefferson believed that each new generation of Americans would have to look to the “experience of the present” rather than the “wisdom” of the past to interpret and apply these principles in new and progressive ways.
Historian Christa Dierksheide examines the lives and experiences of a rising generation of Jefferson’s descendants, Black and white, illuminating how they redefined equality and independence in a world that was half a century removed from the American Revolution. The Hemingses and Randolphs moved beyond Jefferson and his eighteenth-century world, leveraging their own ideas and experiences in nineteenth-century Britain, China, Cuba, Mexico, and the American West to claim independence and equal rights in an imperial and slaveholding republic.
The Declaration of Independence identified two core principles—independence and equality—that defined the American Revolution and the nation forged in 1776. Jefferson believed that each new generation of Americans would have to look to the “experience of the present” rather than the “wisdom” of the past to interpret and apply these principles in new and progressive ways.
Historian Christa Dierksheide examines the lives and experiences of a rising generation of Jefferson’s descendants, Black and white, illuminating how they redefined equality and independence in a world that was half a century removed from the American Revolution. The Hemingses and Randolphs moved beyond Jefferson and his eighteenth-century world, leveraging their own ideas and experiences in nineteenth-century Britain, China, Cuba, Mexico, and the American West to claim independence and equal rights in an imperial and slaveholding republic.
232 pages, Hardcover
Published October 29, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 18, 2025
I remember way back in the late 1970s or early 1980s watching a Phil Donahue show where he had as guests various descendants of Thomas Jefferson. The topic was whether or not the descendants of his illegitimate offspring should be included in the official records at Monticello. It was an interesting exchange at the time before DNA analysis was widely available and some of it stuck in my memory all these years later. It was one of the things that prompted me to request Beyond Jefferson: The Hemingses, the Randolphs, and the Making of Nineteenth-Century America as an advanced reader copy.
Christa Dierksheide researched what became of Thomas Jefferson’s descendants in the years following his death. The path of his legitimate grandchildren versus the illegitimate ones was quite different. After reading this book, I’d posit that the illegitimate ones actually fared better in the long run. Although two of them turned their back on their African-American heritage and passed themselves off as white, they did service to their country as equal citizens.
I learned quite a bit about the Opium Wars in China in the 19th century. Jefferson’s granddaughter, Ellen Randolph married a merchant involved in the opium trade between England, India, and China. His dealings were shady, to say the least. The same is true for two of her brothers, Jeff and Lewis, who tried to buy up federal land in Arkansas territory, anticipating that since it became a state they could make a windfall. They even tried to build a working cotton plantation, figuring they could demonstrate that the crop was viable and flip the plantation at the same time. The only problem was that the area of Arkansas where they chose to do it was not a good place to grow cotton. They left behind a mountain of debt and some very angry co-investors.
When Thomas Jefferson died, he freed Eston and Madison Hemings in his will. For a time, they lived nearby in Charlottesville, Virginia. Their mother, Sally, lived with them as well although she was not officially “free.” After she passed, they moved to Ohio, likely trying to escape the reprisals from Nat Turner’s Rebellion. One of Eston’s sons left behind his African-American identity and moved to Wisconsin, where they passed for white. He served in the Union Army during the Civil War, becoming a decorated colonel.
To read my full review, please go to Beyond Jefferson by Christa Dierksheide – Race, Identity, and History
Christa Dierksheide researched what became of Thomas Jefferson’s descendants in the years following his death. The path of his legitimate grandchildren versus the illegitimate ones was quite different. After reading this book, I’d posit that the illegitimate ones actually fared better in the long run. Although two of them turned their back on their African-American heritage and passed themselves off as white, they did service to their country as equal citizens.
I learned quite a bit about the Opium Wars in China in the 19th century. Jefferson’s granddaughter, Ellen Randolph married a merchant involved in the opium trade between England, India, and China. His dealings were shady, to say the least. The same is true for two of her brothers, Jeff and Lewis, who tried to buy up federal land in Arkansas territory, anticipating that since it became a state they could make a windfall. They even tried to build a working cotton plantation, figuring they could demonstrate that the crop was viable and flip the plantation at the same time. The only problem was that the area of Arkansas where they chose to do it was not a good place to grow cotton. They left behind a mountain of debt and some very angry co-investors.
When Thomas Jefferson died, he freed Eston and Madison Hemings in his will. For a time, they lived nearby in Charlottesville, Virginia. Their mother, Sally, lived with them as well although she was not officially “free.” After she passed, they moved to Ohio, likely trying to escape the reprisals from Nat Turner’s Rebellion. One of Eston’s sons left behind his African-American identity and moved to Wisconsin, where they passed for white. He served in the Union Army during the Civil War, becoming a decorated colonel.
To read my full review, please go to Beyond Jefferson by Christa Dierksheide – Race, Identity, and History
November 18, 2024
Most books about Jefferson and/or Sally Hemings don't provide a lot of information about what happened next. Some will say where the Hemings children ended up, if we know, and leave it at that. Dierksheide, who is affiliated with Monticello, takes up the story after Jefferson's death, following a few of his grandchildren through their lives and focusing on how they did, or didn't, deal with the subject of race in America.
Jefferson's children with Hemings were almost a different generation than his two daughters with his wife Martha (Hemings' half sister). Ellen Randolph, his granddaughter, married a Boston merchant and found herself in China where American mercantile interests assisted the British in forcing China to allow them to import and sell opium there, despite the country's attempts to prevent its deleterious effects on their population. Ellen's brothers Jeff and Lewis tried to monetize their Jefferson ancestry but ended up building their success on the use of slave labor in the expansion of the railroads. The children of Eston and Madison Hemings left Virginia for the free states of Wisconsin and Ohio, where they found the same violent racism that was pervasive in the south, and chose different approaches to making their way in spite of it.
At first I was not enthralled with the narrative, maybe because I don't have much background in the history of China or the railroads. I found the story of the Hemings descendants most interesting, especially J.W. Jefferson (Eston's children took the name Jefferson instead of Hemings when they moved to Wisconsin), who passed as white and was a successful officer in a Wisconsin regiment in the civil war, and Frederick Roberts, Madison's grandson, who moved to Los Angeles and started a black newspaper in response to the rise of racism there as more descendants of enslaved people searched for a place they could live without fear.
One interesting little piece of information Dierksheide tosses out in passing is that when the railroads were being built in the 1830s and 1840s in central and western Virginia, the work (blasting tunnels through mountains) was so hazardous that slave owners did not want to lease their human property to build tunnels for fear they would be injured and lose their value, so the most dangerous work went to the impoverished Irish immigrants in the Shenandoah valley, who had no one to be concerned about them even at that selfish level.
This short book is an interesting look at a period in American history that is seldom studied closely, through the lens of a few specific individuals.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this.
Jefferson's children with Hemings were almost a different generation than his two daughters with his wife Martha (Hemings' half sister). Ellen Randolph, his granddaughter, married a Boston merchant and found herself in China where American mercantile interests assisted the British in forcing China to allow them to import and sell opium there, despite the country's attempts to prevent its deleterious effects on their population. Ellen's brothers Jeff and Lewis tried to monetize their Jefferson ancestry but ended up building their success on the use of slave labor in the expansion of the railroads. The children of Eston and Madison Hemings left Virginia for the free states of Wisconsin and Ohio, where they found the same violent racism that was pervasive in the south, and chose different approaches to making their way in spite of it.
At first I was not enthralled with the narrative, maybe because I don't have much background in the history of China or the railroads. I found the story of the Hemings descendants most interesting, especially J.W. Jefferson (Eston's children took the name Jefferson instead of Hemings when they moved to Wisconsin), who passed as white and was a successful officer in a Wisconsin regiment in the civil war, and Frederick Roberts, Madison's grandson, who moved to Los Angeles and started a black newspaper in response to the rise of racism there as more descendants of enslaved people searched for a place they could live without fear.
One interesting little piece of information Dierksheide tosses out in passing is that when the railroads were being built in the 1830s and 1840s in central and western Virginia, the work (blasting tunnels through mountains) was so hazardous that slave owners did not want to lease their human property to build tunnels for fear they would be injured and lose their value, so the most dangerous work went to the impoverished Irish immigrants in the Shenandoah valley, who had no one to be concerned about them even at that selfish level.
This short book is an interesting look at a period in American history that is seldom studied closely, through the lens of a few specific individuals.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this.
October 4, 2024
"Beyond Jefferson" is an academic monograph focusing on the descendants of the third president of the U.S., Thomas Jefferson, who had children both with his wife Martha and later with her half-sister Sally Hemings who was an enslaved woman in his household. It is difficult to warm to Jefferson, who "openly acknowledged Beverly, Harriet, Madison, and Eston [his children with Sally] as his property, but never as his family."
My first impression of this book was its elegance: in writing style, structure and appearance. The author, historian Christa Dierksheide, highlights how Jefferson used the phrase "equal & independent" twice in a working draft of the Declaration of Independence, and the book explores the shifting meanings of these terms for his descendants during the long 19th century. Her intention is to use this complex, multi-generational family history to illuminate broader historical themes, and to argue that "the American Revolution did not end in 1783 - it remained a contested and protracted struggle that lasted well into the nineteenth century."
While this is a scholarly work, in tone and ambition, it was the storytelling and the micro-level of family history - the portraits, anecdotes, telling details and idiosyncratic life paths - which I found most absorbing. For example, after Jefferson's death, his grandson-in-law, Nicolas Trist, "shelled out about $16 for odds and ends, including a writing table and a 'shower bath'" from his estate. This quote by Jefferson's son Madison Hemings also stood out: "I learned to read by inducing the white children to teach me the letters and something more."
Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy.
My first impression of this book was its elegance: in writing style, structure and appearance. The author, historian Christa Dierksheide, highlights how Jefferson used the phrase "equal & independent" twice in a working draft of the Declaration of Independence, and the book explores the shifting meanings of these terms for his descendants during the long 19th century. Her intention is to use this complex, multi-generational family history to illuminate broader historical themes, and to argue that "the American Revolution did not end in 1783 - it remained a contested and protracted struggle that lasted well into the nineteenth century."
While this is a scholarly work, in tone and ambition, it was the storytelling and the micro-level of family history - the portraits, anecdotes, telling details and idiosyncratic life paths - which I found most absorbing. For example, after Jefferson's death, his grandson-in-law, Nicolas Trist, "shelled out about $16 for odds and ends, including a writing table and a 'shower bath'" from his estate. This quote by Jefferson's son Madison Hemings also stood out: "I learned to read by inducing the white children to teach me the letters and something more."
Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy.
March 11, 2025
“Beyond Jefferson: The Hemingses, the Randolphs, and the Making of Nineteenth-Century America,” by Christa Dierksheide (eBook: 9780300280302), Publication Date: 29 October 2024, earns three stars
I am passionate about Jefferson and the other founders…their origins, how they educated themselves, how they conceived of and established our republic, and the ups and downs of their lives. Just as it said it takes a village to raise someone, it likewise takes many people to understand any given individual…Thomas Jefferson and his progeny, for example.
The book seems more like an anthology, but instead of being the compiled works of many, it is more a series of article authored and compiled by the same person. So, instead of benefiting from the multiple perspective of multiple authors, we get one perspective in each vignette from the same person. This is a structural issue that deserves an explanatory preface…or some adjustment. That said, I did like the vignette approach; it was a nice way to bookend things. However, that approach really highlights the need for the reader to know something of Jefferson, et.al., before the first page is turned. Nonetheless, is was an interesting read, which illustrates just how earlier generations can plot the opportunities and boundaries applied to subsequent generations.
Sincere thanks to the author and Yale University Press for granting the reader the opportunity to read this Advance Reader Copy (ARC), and thanks to NetGalley for helping to make that possible.
I am passionate about Jefferson and the other founders…their origins, how they educated themselves, how they conceived of and established our republic, and the ups and downs of their lives. Just as it said it takes a village to raise someone, it likewise takes many people to understand any given individual…Thomas Jefferson and his progeny, for example.
The book seems more like an anthology, but instead of being the compiled works of many, it is more a series of article authored and compiled by the same person. So, instead of benefiting from the multiple perspective of multiple authors, we get one perspective in each vignette from the same person. This is a structural issue that deserves an explanatory preface…or some adjustment. That said, I did like the vignette approach; it was a nice way to bookend things. However, that approach really highlights the need for the reader to know something of Jefferson, et.al., before the first page is turned. Nonetheless, is was an interesting read, which illustrates just how earlier generations can plot the opportunities and boundaries applied to subsequent generations.
Sincere thanks to the author and Yale University Press for granting the reader the opportunity to read this Advance Reader Copy (ARC), and thanks to NetGalley for helping to make that possible.
November 7, 2024
You can also see this review, along with others I have written, at my blog, Mr. Book's Book Reviews.
Thank you, Yale University Press, for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Mr. Book just finished Beyond Jefferson: The Hemingses, the Randolphs, and the Making of Nineteenth-Century America, by Christia Dierksheide.
The first two chapters were about Jefferson’s grandson-in-law and his personal secretary in the 1820s who then became the executor of his estate. Neither of their stories were that interesting.
The book got better when it moved to the issues of slavery and race. That’s where you could really see Jefferson’s influence. The two grandsons who were portrayed, Thomas Jefferson Randolph and Merriweather Lewis Randolph also turned out to be people of low character, just like grandpa. Then, the chapters on Jefferson and Sally Hemmings’s son, Madison, and their grandson, J.W. Jefferson, were the two most interesting chapters in the book.
I give this book a B+.
Goodreads and NetGalley require grades on a 1-5 star system. In my personal conversion system, a B+ equates to 4 stars. (A or A+: 5 stars, B+: 4 stars, B: 3 stars, C: 2 stars, D or F: 1 star).
This review has been posted at NetGalley, Goodreads and my blog, Mr. Book’s Book Reviews
Mr. Book finished reading this on November 7, 2024.
Thank you, Yale University Press, for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Mr. Book just finished Beyond Jefferson: The Hemingses, the Randolphs, and the Making of Nineteenth-Century America, by Christia Dierksheide.
The first two chapters were about Jefferson’s grandson-in-law and his personal secretary in the 1820s who then became the executor of his estate. Neither of their stories were that interesting.
The book got better when it moved to the issues of slavery and race. That’s where you could really see Jefferson’s influence. The two grandsons who were portrayed, Thomas Jefferson Randolph and Merriweather Lewis Randolph also turned out to be people of low character, just like grandpa. Then, the chapters on Jefferson and Sally Hemmings’s son, Madison, and their grandson, J.W. Jefferson, were the two most interesting chapters in the book.
I give this book a B+.
Goodreads and NetGalley require grades on a 1-5 star system. In my personal conversion system, a B+ equates to 4 stars. (A or A+: 5 stars, B+: 4 stars, B: 3 stars, C: 2 stars, D or F: 1 star).
This review has been posted at NetGalley, Goodreads and my blog, Mr. Book’s Book Reviews
Mr. Book finished reading this on November 7, 2024.
December 12, 2024
This comprehensive, well-researched and detailed biography follows the fortunes of some of Thomas Jefferson’s descendants, both black and white, and explores how the way they were influenced (or not) by their illustrious forbear and how they dealt with his legacy. Overall I found the book interesting, not least in relation to the Hemingses but I would have preferred the focus to be on fewer characters as afterwards I found it difficult to remember who was who. My inattention perhaps or maybe it would have been better to read each chapter with a longer break in between. It’s a scholarly text and didn’t really capture my imagination, although admittedly it’s well-written and accessible. I simply didn’t become invested in these descendants, although I learnt a lot and the book certainly broadened my knowledge of Jefferson and his legacy.
January 31, 2026
I have read snippets of the history of Thomas Jefferson’S family but not a thorough investigation of both White and Black descendants and this book covers a great deal. Well researched and well written. I was surprised by the desperation of the White Jefferson’s as they were left with debts and had to scrounge and scheme to keep up their status. And the Blacks were left in slavery and did not fare well when they were freed by buying their freedom and then moved to Ohio with another set of rules and more troubles. The Blacks did better than the white descendants as they were more down to earth and did not have the pressure to obtain wealth as the Whites wanted to maintain status and were expected to do well. I also learned a great deal about Ohio and Arkansas.
December 3, 2025
Really interesting and informative.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews