Herbert Barger has no way of establishing that James Callender was lying,
only that he said something that was untrue. Even after having it pointed
out to him that not all untrue statements are lies, Barger continues to say
that Callender lied -- without any ground whatsoever to conclude that
Callender intentionally stated an untruth with the intention of having
someone believe him. Barger seems, then, to be an untrustworthy evaluator
of Callender's account.
Kevin Gutzman
Nancy,
You have a great handle on the issue and you state it well. The
Jefferson-Hemings issue started as a James Callender Campaign Lie that
was proved just that by DNA.....NO match between TJ and Tom Woodson.
Fawn Brodie came along with her weird analysis and told the Eston
relatives that why should they cling to the long held belief that their
ancestor was "a Jefferson uncle", meaning Randolph Jefferson WHEN they
could claim THOMAS himself and since then this is what we have. They
even threw Fawn Brodie out of her LDS Church for degrading and painting
their founder in a bad light.........just as a similar approach of TJ.
But in the Jefferson case we have people WILLING to receive the UPGRADE
in brothers to enhance their image, in my opinion.
Your portrayal of Mr. Jefferson as "SCUM" pretty well enlightens your
readers as to your thoughts and beliefs.
Herb Barger
Jefferson Family Historian
-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Sunshine49
Sent: Sunday, May 04, 2008 10:02 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] Jefferson's Overseer
there were also white/ black marriages, or relationships, look at
some of the runaway ads in the Virginia Gazette, a mixed couple
thought to be passing as husband and wife, or a man and woman of each
race ran off together. These weren't rapes. In Nov.1797 William
Cardwell, who was white, married "Betty Brown, colored, of lawful
age, Kitty Brown her mother" in Henrico County. So there would be
some white genes in their descendants that were not the result of
plantation rape. They got married, presumably they cared for each
other, to defy convention of the times like they did. Is it some sort
of "outrage identity" to think all white- black sex was the result of
rape by masters on their slaves? It was a very complex subject; rent
or buy "African Americans Lives" 1 & 2 and you'll see how complex it
was.
I'm wondering if this Mobius Strip of a topic will ever end, future
historians reading these posts will wonder at all the time and brain
cells put into arguing what are basically points of view. Mr.
Jefferson was great, Mr. Jefferson was scum. He seems to be used here
as a means of validating one's view of Colonial life. And since there
is so little that is CONCRETE about this particular issue, it is easy
to do, and the debate can continue forever. Personally, I feel that
DNA shows that one of Ms. Hemmings' children was sired by "A"
Jefferson male. The family says it was T. Jefferson's uncle. But we
can discount DNA and family stories because some smear -mongering
newspaperman and one census entry say otherwise. Mr. Jefferson owned
slaves, therefore he had to have raped at least one of them.
Repeatedly. That's nothing but surmise. It would not hold up in
history or in court. I suspect for a lot of the Jefferson defenders,
the surmise aspect of it is what rankles the most. People are passing
very harsh judgement on a man and trashing him, with almost nothing
in the way of proof.
My 2 cents.
Nancy
-------
I was never lost, but I was bewildered once for three days.
--Daniel Boone
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