Anne,
I made a project out of this false claim, in my opinion, by Madison
Hemings. The Madison Papers reveal that the Madison never traveled to
Va. from Wash. during winter. She and James Madison were never apart in
that time except for a short period when she had to go to Phila. for a
knee problem. We must remember she was busily occupied assisting her
busy husband and Mr Jefferson as his White House Hostess. She would
never have left on a three day journey, each way, to name a MALE slave
for her husband.........it was a Samuel Wetmore ploy, in my opinion, to
"bad mouth TJ and Dolley because she is made out as "gift promising",
not fulfilling her promise, as all WHITE people did.
You propose that possibly Madison's mother told him of this. SHE didn't
even tell HIM of the claim that he and his siblings were fathered by TJ
and he did not say SHE told him.
Like you, I am not considered an authority on Madison, however I have
studied many details of the family and spoken with even an ex mayor of
Waverly, Ohio who informed me of the opposition newspaper there.
I am very familiar with the Judy Justus, book, Down from the Mountain,
Oral History of the Hemings family and have many times spoken with and
corresponded with her. In your further study may I please suggest you
not only read the Pike Co. Wetmore article but also the Waverly Watchman
article which is VERY revealing. This excellent article can be found in
Virginius Dabney book. Just one line from the lengthy Watchman article
pretty well sums up the article, "The fact that Hemings claims to be the
natural son of Jefferson does not convince the world of it's
truthfulness." And I assume the great rebuttal to these claims by
Pulitzer Prize winner, Virginius Dabney, when he wrote, The Jefferson
Scandals, A Rebuttal, when he read "everything." May I please recommend
Mr. Dabney's book to all readers interested in this controversy.
Herb Barger
-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Anne Pemberton
Sent: Monday, May 05, 2008 8:59 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] DNA TEST and genealogy
Herb,
First of all, it is possible that Dolley was present when Madison was
born,
perhaps on a private visit to Monticello that never appeared anywhere.
It is
also possible, since Madison would not have been exactly cognizant at
that
point in his life, it was something told to him either by his mother, or
by
someone else at Monticello.
I cannot say I am an expert on Madison Hemings - in fact I know only a
little - but one thing that stood out was the fact that people who knew
him
respected him for his honesty and integrity. If these were his hallmarks
or
trademarks, why would he deliberately throw them away for a moment of
glory
in a newspaper story? It just is not logical.
With that statement of the events of his birth squared away, let's look
at
what else he shared with that newspaperman that was published at the
time
when it was not history.
I guess I will have to go look up that newspaper story and read it for
myself. If I was inclined to throw out the baby with the bath water, I
could
never have been successful as a teacher!
Anne
Anne Pemberton
[log in to unmask]
http://www.erols.com/apembert
http://www.educationalsynthesis.org
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