This is Barger's analysis of the Hartwell letters listed in the TJMF
Monticello Study and in Jon Kukla's post. 
 
 

    REBUTTAL OF THE JOHN HARTWELL COCKE LETTERS              


                       TJMF REPORT, September 11, 2000


 

                  Assessed by Jefferson Family Historian, Herbert
Barger, 


                                Dr. E.A. Foster's DNA Study Assistant

 
 
Much emphasis has been placed upon the two John Hartwell Cocke letters
on pages 13 and 14 of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation Report.
Proponents of the Thomas Jefferson-Sally Hemings liaison  are always
quick to point out that even Mr. Jefferson's great friend and one of the
founding officials of the University of Virginia, Mr. Cocke, also
accused Mr. Jefferson of fathering children by Sally Hemings. It must be
remembered that Mr. Cocke never charged Mr. Jefferson with Callender's
rumors and Campaign Lies while Jefferson was alive but he wished to make
sure Mr. Jefferson was not around.  
 
In the case of these two letters, one written 27 years after Mr.
Jefferson's death and the other 33 years after his death, are general
statements originally discussing the overall "institution " of fathering
illegitimate slave children and cited some instances.
 
1853: The January 26, 1853 letter (pg. 13), tells of Rev. Lemuel Hatch
informing him of two wealthy friends of Virginia sending away from their
premises a slave woman who had a number of illegitimate children of the
"INSTITUTION", defined in the dictionary as "an established practice."
We might ask, is this not in reference to the "institution of slavery",
not a reference and indictment of any one individual .  He further
states, "A "SAMPLE" of the moral and social blessing of the
"INSTITUTION" (institution of slavery). NOTE: As a preacher he is
against this "institution" and may possibly be anti-Jefferson as were
many of the clergy of that era, because of his insistence on the
separation of state and religion.  He next says, "I can enumerate a
score of such cases in our beloved Ant. Dominion (Virginia) that have
come in my way thro' life, they would be found by hundreds-nor is it to
be wondered at, (NOW LET'S ADD A NAME WE ALL KNOW FOR EFFECT), when Mr.
Jefferson's notorious "EXAMPLE" is considered".  PLEASE NOTE: Yes, the
mulattos can be found everywhere, BUT does he (the Rev. Hatch),
actually KNOW who fathered them OR was it just a result of the
"INSTITUTION" and generally accepted,  expected and YES sometimes
rumored in the press and especially of someone in the limelight and
politically connected?   He goes on to say it was sustained by other
such dignitaries of the Republic. While the monstrous doctrine, finds
men in other respects respectable, who assert that slavery is a moral,
social, and political blessing. 
 
As we can see, a preacher is giving John Hartwell Cocke, who wrote it in
his journal, his opinion of slavery and cites instances of what are the
results of "this institution of slavery". In NO way did the Reverend
Hatch state that Thomas Jefferson (himself) fathered a Hemings child, he
was merely speaking of "the institution of slavery". Many in the year
1853 remembered the charges spread by James T. Callender's article of
September 1802 naming Thomas Jefferson the father of Sally's child, Tom
"Hemings" Woodson.
We all now know that Callender was "lying" because DNA testing
eliminated (on two separate tests), any connection of the Woodson
descendants and Jefferson descendants DNA. 
 
1859: The April 23, 1859 letter (pg. 14), tells of a rich planter, Mr.
Nixon, a bachelor, building a splendid mansion and lived with a mulatto
girl.  The defenders of "THE INSTITUTION" (meaning slave-owners, one of
which was Jefferson as we all know), omit to look at the future, --that
all bachelors-or a large majority-at least-keep as a substitute for a
wife -some individual of their own slaves.  PLEASE NOTE: This is not
news and we know it went on, BUT how can Mr. Cocke say first, ALL then
change it to or a large majority (sounds like the headlines of today to
grab attention). NOW he proceeds to involve Mr. Jefferson by stating,
"In Virginia, this damnable practice prevails as much as anywhere-and
probably more-as Mr. Jefferson's example can be (    ) for its defence".
WHAT IS HE SAYING? He is merely saying that the practice of slavery is
probably more prevalent in Virginia and that "ALL or a LARGE MAJORITY of
bachelors engage in this practice. YES, we all know about the numerous
mulattos at Monticello of which he is referring to, HOWEVER, he has NOT
accused Thomas Jefferson of personally fathering a Sally Hemings child.
Remember that accusation goes back to James T. Callender's LYING article
of 1802, which has been proven by DNA to be a lie. Please read all the
revealing Callender articles compiled by Dr. & Mrs. James McMurry.
Callender was most unkind in his references to Sally Hemings and had
never seen or met her, she was just being slandered because he wished to
"get" Thomas Jefferson.
These Callender accusations, complete with the same misspelling of the
name, "Wales," which should be "Wayles," and other thoughts, are just
repeated in the article of Pike County, Ohio by Madison Hemings, son of
Sally Hemings, who NEVER stated that his mother TOLD HIM these
accusations. They were just stated in the reporter's words in the
article.
 
1840: Something even more revealing about General John Hartwell Cocke
comes to us from a book/manuscript by Lucius Manlius Sargent,
"Remininiscences of Lucius Manlius Sargent"., a leather-bound type
written , privately printed book. He wrote it sometime before his death
in 1867. Mr. Sargent describes his father, a staunch Federalist and his
grief at the death of George Washington. After describing the scene
(which took place in Boston), Mr. Sargent notes, "In the spring of 1840
(Barger notes: well before the 1853 and 1859 letters mentioned above),
when I related this anecdote to my friend, Gen. Cocke, in Richmond, Va.
he observed, that the people of the North cherished the memory of
Washington, much more gracefully, than those of the South; and added,
that no persons had done more to injure his reputation, than two
Virginians, Jefferson & Randolph." SO we can see that Gen. John Hartwell
Cocke, now political enemy and FORMER friend of Jefferson, had a reason
as early as 1840 to paint Mr. Jefferson in a bad light and proceeded to
do so in those two letters cited by TJMF as "proof of some kind of
truth." It was no more than a further assignation of Mr. Jefferson's
character, NOT first hand statements of fact that Jefferson fathered any
Hemings child.
 
Historian Andrew Burstein writing in his 2005 book, "Jefferson Secrets",
(five years after my above rebuttal of 2000), states that he (Cocke),
felt antagonistic toward Jefferson's undemanding Unitarianism, a feeling
that had built over decades. Even the week of Jefferson's death, brought
a suggestion from a friend, that they might want to lobby for a
replacement for Jefferson on the university's Board of Visitors who
better satisfied the "friends of Religion." And here comes the clincher,
Burstein states, "So we cannot, without pause, consider Cocke an
unimpeachable observer on the subject of Thomas Jefferson's private
conduct." Yes, in the earlier founding days of the University of
Virginia they were friends but "religion" changed all that we can see.
So now it was time for Cocke to throw in some old rumors that James
Callender had written as part of his Campaign Lies against Jefferson in
1802. As popular news commentator, Paul Harvey, would say....AND NOW FOR
THE REST OF THE STORY...Callender's lies were forever put to rest when
DNA indicated there was NO DNA match between Jefferson DNA and Woodson
DNA. This was where Mr. John Hartwell Cocke had gotten his rumors of a
Thomas-Sally liasion.  Mr Burstein then remarks, "Certainly he knew the
content of the Callender articles, as a young adult, out of college and
newly married when they were published." Mr. Burstein further states
that Cocke does not indicate how he knows firsthand of Jeffersons
complicity in race mixing....whether he even seen Sally or the Hemings
children. 
 
Herbert Barger
Jefferson Family Historian
Assisted Dr. Foster on the DNA Study    

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