Eston Hemings

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name = Eston Hemings Jefferson


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birth_date = 1808
birth_place = Monticello, Virginia
death_date = 1856
death_place = Madison, Wisconsin
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nationality = American
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occupation = Carpenter, musician
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children = John Wayles Jefferson, Beverly Jefferson, Anna Wayles Jefferson
parents = Sally Hemings, a man of Thomas Jefferson's family
relatives = Harriet Hemings, Beverly Hemings, Madison Hemings, James Hemings, Frederick Madison Roberts, Mary Hemings, John Hemings, Betty Hemings, Walter Beverly Pearson


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Eston Hemings Jefferson (1808–1856) was born a slave at Monticello, the youngest child of Sally Hemings, a slave in the household of Thomas Jefferson.cite web|url=http://www.monticello.org/plantation/hemingscontro/hemings-jefferson_contro.html|title=Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: A Brief Account|publisher=Monticello Foundation|accessdate=2008-07-27] Family tradition and oral history hold that he was the son of President Thomas Jefferson. Evidence from a 1998 DNA test shows that Eston's descendants are indeed descendants of the male Jefferson line, but the tests cannot show conclusively whether they are descended from Thomas Jefferson himself. [cite web|url=http://www.monticello.org/plantation/hemingscontro/reportstatement.html|title=Statement on the TJF Research Committee Report on Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings|author = Jordan, Daniel P.|publisher=Monticello Foundation|accessdate=2008-07-27] cite web|url=http://www.monticello.org/plantation/hemingscontro/appendixh.html#eston|title=Appendix H: Sally Hemings and Her Children: Information from Documentary Sources |publisher=Monticello Foundation|author= Stanton, Lucia|accessdate=2008-07-27]

Based on other historical and genealogical evidence, some historians believe it is more likely than not that Jefferson was his father. Former skeptics, such as Jefferson biographers Andrew Burstein and Joseph Ellis, and the Monticello Foundation, which owns Monticello and employs a team of historians, have changed their views. Burstein, for example, in his 1995 biography "Thomas Jefferson: Portrait of a Greiving Optimist" wrote that "as to actual evidence... nothing really satisfies." Since then he has come to unambiguously believe the opposite. Ellis similarly reassessed his earlier view. [cite web|url=http://hnn.us/articles/13102.html|title=The Unknown Jefferson: An Interview with Andrew Burstein|accessdate=2008-04-27|publisher=History News Network] Burstein, Andrew, "Thomas Jefferson: Portrait of a Greiving Optimist" University Press of Virginia, 1995, p. 230] [cite web|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/25/us/25foster.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print|title=Eugene A. Foster, 81, Dies; Linked Jefferson to Slave|accessdate=2008-07-27|publisher=New York Times|author=Wade, Nicholas|date=July 25, 2008] Other historians continue to dispute the conclusion.

Early life

What is known of Eston's life is derived from his brother Madison's 1873 memoir, a few entries in Thomas Jefferson's Farm book, a handful of newspaper accounts, various census and land/tax records, and the stories of his descendants.Leary, Helen "Sally Hemings's Children: A Genealogical Analysis of the Evidence" National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Vol. 89, No. 3, September 2001, p. 172 -173]

Eston's family was at the top of the slave hierarchy at Monticello. According to the account of his brother Madison, Eston and his siblings "were permitted to stay about the 'great house,' and only required to do such light work as going on errands." At age 14 they began their training in carpentry, under tutelage of their uncle John Hemings. Eston and his brother Madison were manumitted at the age of 21, in accordance with President Jefferson’s will. Additionally, Jefferson had ensured that they had permission from the legislature to stay in Virginia after being freed.Gordon-Reed, Annette. "Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy". University of Virginia Press (April 1997). p. 39- 43. ISBN 0813916984.] cite web | title = Jeffersons Will | url = http://wiki.monticello.org/mediawiki/index.php/Jefferson%27s_Will | publisher = Thomas Jefferson Foundation|accessdate=2008-07-27 ] In his 1873 memoir, Madison stated that this was due to an agreement made between Jefferson and Sally Hemings prior to their return to the United States from France in 1789.cite web | title = Memoirs of Madison Hemings | url = http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/jefferson/cron/1873march.html | publisher = Public Broadcasting Service|accessdate=2008-07-27 ]

Post-Slavery Life

Upon gaining freedom, Eston initially pursued a career in woodworking and carpentry in Charlottesville, Virginia. In 1830, he purchased property and built a house on Main Street, where his mother lived with him until her death in 1835. In 1832, he married a free woman of color, Julia Ann Isaacs (1814-1889), daughter of Jewish merchant David Isaacs and Ann (Nancy) West, a former slave. Justus, Judith, "Down from the Mountain: The Oral History of the Hemings Family" Lesher Printers, Inc., 1999, p. 89 - 96]

Eston and Julia Ann Isaacs Hemings had three children: John Wayles Jefferson (1835-1892), Anne Wayles Jefferson (1836-1866), and Beverly Frederick Jefferson (1838-1908), the first two born in Charlottesville. About 1837 Hemings moved with his family to Chillicothe, Ohio. There he became a professional musician, playing the violin and leading a successful dance band.

In a 1902 newspaper article, an observer wrote that while Eston lived in Ohio in the 1840s, it was widely rumored that he was the son of Jefferson. The correspondent also recollected: “Eston Hemings, being a master of the violin, and an accomplished "caller" of dances, always officiated at the "swell" entertainments of Chillicothe.” [cite web|url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/jefferson/cron/1902sprig.html|title=A Sprig of Jefferson was Eston Hemings|publisher=Public Broadcasting Service|accessdate=2008-04-27|work=Jefferson's Blood]

In 1852, the family moved to Madison, Wisconsin, where they changed their surname to Jefferson and lived as part of the white community. Their eldest son John Wayles Jefferson served as an officer in the United States Army during the American Civil War. John W. Jefferson led the Wisconsin 8th Infantry. He was wounded twice in battle, and ultimately promoted to colonel in 1864. The entire Eston Hemings/Jefferson family is buried in Forest Hill Cemetery, Madison, Wisconsin. [cite web|url=http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/odd/archives/001068.asp|title=Jefferson's Black Descendents in Wisconsin|publisher=Wisconsin Historical Society|accessdate=2008-07-27]

Descendants

In the 1970s, two of Eston Jefferson's descendants, unaware of their connection to the Hemings family, encountered Fawn Brodie's book "Jefferson: An Intimate Portrait". They recognized Eston's name in the book. With Brodie's help, they soon started putting the pieces of their family history back together, discovering that in the 1940s, the family had decided not to share the Jefferson-Hemings story any further with their children out of fear of racial discrimination. This new knowledge eventually allowed researchers to locate a male descendant of Eston, John Weeks Jefferson, for DNA testing in 1998. [cite web|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/03/nyregion/03JEFF.html|title="A Founding Father and his Family Ties"|publisher=The New York Times|first=Madison J.|last=Gray|date=2003-03-01|accessdate=2008-04-27]

Footnotes and citations

External links

* [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/jefferson/cron/1902octoroon.html "Beautiful Octoroon: Miss Anna Heming"] , originally in "Scioto Gazette", 7 Aug 1902; "PBS Frontline"
* [http://www.monticello.org/gettingword/passing.html "Passing: Renouncing the Past"] , Monticello Website
* [http://www.monticello.org/gettingword/elizabethhemings3b.html "Getting the Word"] , photos of Jefferson descendants, Monticello Website