John Wayles Jefferson

Infobox Person
name = John Wayles Jefferson


image_size =
caption =
birth_name =
birth_date = May 8, 1835
birth_place = Charlottesville, Virginia
death_date = July 12, 1892
death_place =
death_cause =
resting_place =
resting_place_coordinates =
residence =
nationality = American
other_names =
known_for =
education =
alma_mater =
employer =
occupation = Soldier, Hotelier, Cotton Broker, Journalist
home_town =
title =
salary =
networth =
height =
weight =
term =
predecessor =
successor =
party =
boards =
religion =
spouse =
children =
parents = Eston Hemings, Julia Ann Isaacs
relatives = Betty Hemings, Madison Hemings, Frederick Madison Roberts, Sally Hemings, John Hemings, Mary Hemings, James Hemings, Martha Jefferson


website =
footnotes =

John Wayles Jefferson (May 8, 1835 - July 12, 1892) was born in Charlottesville, Virginia. His birth name was John Wayles Hemings. The eldest son of Eston Hemings (1808-1856) and Julia Ann Isaacs Hemings (1814-1889), he was the grandson of Sarah (Sally) Hemings, a slave owned by Thomas Jefferson. DNA tests in 1998 confirmed that a male descendant of John's brother, Beverly, was descended from the Jefferson family, which has lent credence to the family's claim of descent from Thomas Jefferson. On that basis, John Wayles Jefferson is believed to have been a grandson of Thomas Jefferson. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9906E3DA123FF932A35752C1A96E958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print "DNA Test Finds Evidence Of Jefferson Child by Slave"] ]

Jefferson's father-in-law, John Wayles, is also believed to have been John's great-grandfather: most historians credit the rumor that Wayles was the father of both Sally Hemings and Jefferson's wife, Martha.

Early life and family

John's father Eston Hemings was born a slave at Monticello in 1808, the youngest of Sally Hemings’ six children. Eston was freed in 1829 at the age of 21, as provided for in President Jefferson’s will. The following year, Eston purchased property in Charlottesville, on which he and his brother Madison built a house. Their mother Sally lived with them until her death in 1835. John Jefferson's grandmother died in Charlottesville the year he was born.

Eston Hemings moved his family to Ohio, then to Wisconsin. In Wisconsin he changed his name to Eston H. Jefferson, his children adopted the new surname, and the family passed as white.

Military Service

John W. Jefferson entered the United States Army on August 26, 1861, at Madison, Wisconsin. He took command of the Wisconsin 8th Infantry during the American Civil War. On September 28, 1861 he was promoted to Major; to Lieutenant Colonel on April 23, 1863; and to Colonel on June 16, 1864. He fought in significant battles of the war and was wounded at Vicksburg and during the Siege of Corinth. He was mustered out of service on October 11, 1864 at Madison, Wisconsin. His brother, William Beverly Hemings, and his cousins James Madison Hemings and Thomas Eston Hemings also served in the civil war.

According to his service records, John had red hair and gray eyes.Justus, Judith, "Down from the Mountain: The Oral History of the Hemings Family" Lesher Printers, Inc., 1999, p. 91] His troops did not suspect his African heritage. In 1902, a former neighbor recalled:

...and I saw and talked with one of the sons, during the Civil War, who was then wearing the silver leaves of a lieutenant colonel, and in command of a fine regiment of white men from a north-western state. He begged me not to tell the fact that he had colored blood in his veins, which he said was not suspected by any of his command; and of course I did not. [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/jefferson/cron/1902sprig.html "Jefferson's Blood", PBS Frontline] ]

John was a newspaper correspondent during and after the war. He later moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where he became a prominent businessman, buying and selling cotton as the owner of the Continental Cotton Company. Prior to entering military service, he and his younger brother Beverly had successfully managed the American House hotel in Madison, Wisconsin.

Jefferson died on June 12, 1892 and was interred in Madison, Wisconsin, in a family plot at Forest Hill Cemetery. He never married.

References

External links

* [http://content.cdlib.org/view?docId=kt6n39p700&doc.view=entire_text&brand=oac "Jefferson Family Papers", UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections]

* [http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/odd/archives/002089.asp "Thomas Jefferson's Madison Descendants?"] Wisconsin Historical Society
* [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/jefferson/cron/1902sprig.html Thomas Jefferson, PBS Frontline]