Slave Cemetery Found at Jefferson's Monticello
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (Reuters) - A long-suspected
slave graveyard has been discovered in a stand of
trees at Monticello, the Virginia plantation of
Thomas Jefferson, the third U.S. president and
author of the Declaration of Independence, estate
caretakers said.
Crews in the past few months have excavated
20 of an
estimated 40 to 110 graves after
identifying
rectangular depressions lying in distinctive rows
facing toward the east -- a
Christian custom of the
time -- along with several
headstones and
footstones.
For about the past 10 years, archeologists working
for the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, which
owns and
operates the plantation, have suspected the area
under examination was a slave burial ground.
Excavation began in February as part of an extensive
archeological survey of the entire 2,000-acre
plantation.
The cemetery lies on a small, wooded patch about
2,000 feet from the Monticello plantation house in
what was once a secluded area of
the plantation now
surrounded by a paved parking lot
used by the
500,000 tourists who visit the
grounds every year.
Crews uncovered the distinct
pattern of the graves
by digging down between 9 inches
and 5 feet, but do
not plan to disturb the graves
further or recover
any remains from the acidic clay soil.
'SACRED TRUST'
"We didn't feel that there would
be enough of the
remains left to justify the
invasion," said Daniel
Jordan, president of the
foundation. "We treat this
as a sacred trust."
In the excavation, archeologists
identified the
burial sites of 10 adults, eight
children and two
others that could not be determined.
The foundation will hold a
dedication at the site
and will determine later how to
incorporate it into
historical tours of the plantation.
During Jefferson's life, about 130
slaves worked the
plantation, raising crops, tending
livestock, and
making nails, barrels, cloth and
carriages. Slaves
also built the neoclassical home
overlooking the
University of Virginia, which
Jefferson founded in
Charlottesville.
Foundation historians estimate
that up to 114 slaves
died at Monticello during
Jefferson's lifetime. But
only 55 of the slaves' deaths were
recorded, and
maps that Jefferson drew of his
plantation did not
include any references to slave
cemeteries on the
grounds.
"There are lots of things that
Jefferson did not
list, probably because they were
not significant to
him," said Dianne Swann-Wright a
foundation
historian.
The burial ground on maps of the
plantation was
referred to as "The Park" and was
used as a dumping
ground for stones pulled from
adjacent plowed
fields, a place for deer to graze
and at one time as
part of a project to grow tobacco.
It was located
next to a road leading to a
neighboring plantation.
SLAVE DESCENDANTS PRESS CLAIM
Discovery of the cemetery came as
descendants of one
of Jefferson's slaves, Sally
Hemings, press their
campaign for rights to be buried
in the Jefferson
family cemetery. Genetic tests in
1998 confirmed
that at least one of Hemings'
children was likely
fathered by Jefferson.
Jefferson, who died at Monticello
on July 4, 1826,
in his will freed two of Hemings'
sons, Eston and
Madison. According to an 1833
census, their mother
lived with them on a 1-acre
homesite they bought
near what is now the University of
Virginia medical
school.
Because freed slaves could not
hold community
property for building schools,
churches or
cemeteries, Hemings was likely
buried in the
backyard of that home, which now
lies under a motel
parking lot about 5 miles from
Monticello.
The Thomas Jefferson Foundation,
which incorporates
slave life into tours of the
plantation, concluded
last year that Jefferson was
likely the father of
"one, and perhaps all" of Hemings'
children.
But the Monticello Association,
which consists of
Jefferson's white descendants, has
resisted granting
Hemings' descendants membership
rights -- which
include the right to be buried in
the half-acre
Monticello cemetery near Jefferson.
A committee set up to study the
issue was expected
at the annual family reunion next
month to release a
final report on whether to
recognize the Hemings'
descendants as cousins.
To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions
at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
|
