Dr Jon Kukla,
Thank you for the Wm. Warner article on his death. Just as Mr. Warner
loved and wrote of his beautiful Chesapeake Bay I also have a favorite
topic of which I have spent ten years researching, writing about and
informing the public that various agendas hinder the public's knowledge
of the truth of the Jefferson-Hemings controversy.
You have participated in this controversy by assigning twenty-seven
pages (Chap. 6, Sally Hemings), out of your book, "Mr. Jefferson's
Women." Your second paragraph is dedicated to Callender's Campaign Lies
article of September 1802 in which he charges Jefferson with fathering
Thomas Woodson. Several fictional film and TV productions have come out
in the last few years which stress this "long love involvement."
One would think that you, a distinguished historian and author of note,
would do some serious "nuts and bolts" research to "back up" your
conclusions mentioned on pages 115, 125, 137, 141 and elsewhere.
Speaking of James Callender and the long standing claims he made, you
state, "Nevertheless, the available evidence now suggests that Callender
was essentially correct about Jefferson's relationship with Sally
Hemings. Thomas Jefferson fathered six children born to his slave Sally
Hemings between 1795 and 1808."
Now Dr. Kukla, isn't it time for you to remind your readers and in your
book signings and TV appearances that this is totally INCORRECT? If you
truly know the DNA findings you know that the DNA test completely
ELEMINATED Tom Woodson from the test.....there was NO match between
Jefferson/Woodson, thus you should have concluded that Callender was a
"liar" NOT that he was essentially correct as you conclude.
Let us address further your statement that Thomas Jefferson fathered six
of Sally's children. Where did you gather this information from? Even
the Monticello Studies where you are reported to have spent some time
gathering facts for your book, would NEVER conclude this. The Monticello
Study was a biased and muddled study and one which I have called upon
Dr. Dan Jordan to form a new study group for correction and study ALL
appropriate research. That study was careful to not "flat out" state the
charges you made on page 115. They only state that the best evidence
available suggests the strong likelihood that Thomas Jefferson and Sally
Hemings had a relationship over time that led to the birth of one, and
perhaps all, of the known children of Sally Hemings. Of course the bias
is showing here like a beacon, from a study that was Chaired by an oral
slave family researcher, the Minority Report was hid from the public and
by reading carefully we find that ONLY ONE Hemings was DNA tested. Dr.
Jordan knows of another son of Madison Hemings whose DNA would add
greatly to our research but he refuses to encourage the Hemings to
gather the valuable science.
On page 125 you make a statement, "Callender and others were probably
wrong about "Tom", and wrong, too, about the timing of Sally Heming's
relationship with Jefferson." Is this not in direct contrast to the page
115 charges? You and no one else have been able to explain the almost
six years of NO births after returning from France by Sally when her
first recorded child, Harriet I, was born on Oct 5, 1795.
Of course you add some other equally bewildering and inaccurate
insinuations such as: "Sally Hemings was Thomas Jefferson's perfect
remedy for wholesome sexual release"......REALLY?? "Jefferson's children
by Sally Hemings---." (page 137)."We know nothing about the emotional
character of the relationship between the master of Monticello and his
"concubine." (Pg. 141).
Please read the several other posts which give more details on this
study. May we have your comments on the above?
Herb Barger
Jefferson Family Historian
William W. Warner, Chesapeake Bay Author, Dies at 88
Source: NYT (4-30-08)
William W. Warner, a former administrator at the Smithsonian Institution
and
the author of "Beautiful Swimmers," a study of crabs and watermen in the
Chesapeake Bay, which won the Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction in 1977,
died on
April 18 at his home in Washington. He was 88.
The cause was complications of Alzheimer's disease, said his daughter
Alexandra Nash.
A weekend sailor and lifelong nature enthusiast, Mr. Warner spent
endless
hours on what he called the "benign and beautiful" waters of the
Chesapeake
Bay, which teemed with Atlantic blue crabs and supported 9,000 full-time
watermen when he wrote "Beautiful Swimmers," a blend of history, ecology
and
anthropology.
Despite its somewhat rarefied subject, the book captivated critics and
readers.
===========
A wonderful book!
--
Jon Kukla
www.JonKukla.com
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