Somehow I don't feel Madison Hemings' story about how he received his
name to be particularly outrageous. He obviously had no memories of the
event himself (his earliest memory was of visiting his grandmother when
he was three, shortly before she died). The story sounds like something
he heard from his mother (who survived and lived with him until he was
30). He is repeating it as he understood it. Here is a quotation from
the published story:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/jefferson/cron/1873march.h
tml
"As to myself, I was named Madison by the wife of James Madison, who was
afterwards President of the United States. Mrs. Madison happened to be
at Monticello at the time of my birth, and begged the privilege of
naming me, promising my mother a fine present for the honor. She
consented, and Mrs. Madison dubbed me by the name I now acknowledge, but
like many promises of white folks to the slaves she never gave my mother
anything. I was born at my father's seat of Monticello, in Albemarle
county, Va., near Charlottesville, on the 18th day of January, 1805."
The book _Madison and Jefferson_ by Andrew Burstein and Nancy Isenberg
(Random House, 2010) studies the close relationship between James
Madison and Thomas Jefferson in much detail. "Given Jefferson's widower
status, the convivial Dolley Madison occasionally took up duties as
hostess at official gatherings in the President's House." ..."Jefferson
almost never missed a stopover at Montpelier when he rode to and from
Washington City, and the Madisons typically visited Monticello every
summer. In September 1804, a slow time in national politics with
Jefferson's reelection widely assumed, the Madisons came to stay with
him. House servant Sally Hemings was pregnant. The following January
she gave birth to a son, who was given the name James Madison Hemings.
... It was Mrs. Madison who suggested the name, as Madison Hemings
informed a reporter late in life. Precisely one year later, in January
1806, Patsy [Thomas Jefferson's daughter] gave birth to a son at the
President's House ... That child too was named after James Madison." [p.
428]
This analysis indicates that the Hemings incident probably took place
when Sally was four or five months pregnant, not after she had given
birth. This makes more sense than having Dolley Madison visit Sally in
her birthing bed. "At the time of my birth" does not necessary mean on
the exact day Madison Hemings was born. The promise of a future gift
likewise suggests that the birth has not yet taken place.
The 1870 U.S. census indicates that Madison Hemings and his wife could
read and write. Whether he wrote a draft himself or dictated it to the
reporter the memoir appears to be in Hemings' own words. Whatever
editing the reporter did to the story, it would be anachronistic to call
him an abolitionist, since the article was written in 1873, long after
Emancipation.
Donald L. Wilson, Virginiana Librarian,
Ruth E. Lloyd Information Center
for Genealogy and Local History (RELIC),
Prince William Public Library System,
Bull Run Regional Library,
8051 Ashton Avenue, Manassas, VA 20110-2892
703-792-4540
www.pwcgov.org/government/dept/library/RELIC
-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Herbert Barger
Sent: Thursday, December 06, 2012 5:54 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: (VA-HIST] "The Monster of Monticello"
The Pike Co, Ohio newspaper referenced earlier and used by Monticello as
a factual research tool is defective in several ways. I did a deep
research into one major claim that was false. Madison Hemings claims
that he was named for James Madison while Dolly Madison was visiting
Monticello on Madison's birth date, Jan 19, 1805. A little checking we
find that this an INCORRECT statement and if this one statement is
incorrect what can we believe about his other outrageous claims. The
history of the Madisons is that they never visited Virginia from
Washington during winter. To add insult to this lie he states that like
all white people, Dolley did not follow through with a promised gift.
This article was the work of an abolitionist writer. This is a trumped
up attempt to revise history, "setting aside questions of historical
accuracy", see pg 280, Jeffersonian Legacies, by Monticello sponsored
historian Prof. Peter Onuf for details.
Herbert Barger
Founder, Thomas Jefferson Heritage Society (www.tjheritage.org)
Assistant to Dr E.A. Foster on the Jefferson-Hemings DNA Study
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