I have what I hope is a straightforward question for the list.  For my
book on GW and slavery I have made use of Prof. John Chester Miller's
"The Wolf By the Ears: TJ and Slavery."  Prof. Miller wrote forcefully
against the thesis that TJ fathered children with Hemings.  My question:
does anyone know if he stated a new position after the DNA announcement
or is he not persuaded by the DNA findings and historical evidence?  I
don't think he participated in the research and writings of the TJ
Heritage group, but I may be wrong.  I'm not asking for commentary on
his position and I don't want to re-open the rumpus on this.  If anyone
could point me to any recent writings by Prof. Miller I would be grateful.

I also ask the list's help on a related topic.  I am having trouble
tracking a GW-related Jefferson document that is supposedly in the
Library of Congress.  The editors of both the Jefferson Papers and the
Washington Papers have tried to help me with this and have come up
empty.  There is a widely quoted statement supposedly made by George
Washington to Edmund Randolph, and supposedly written down by Jefferson,
that if the Union ever broke up along northern and southern lines, "he
had made up his mind to move and be of the northern."  James Thomas
Flexner quotes this in his GW biography (vol 4, --_George Washington:
Anguish and Farewell_--p. 482), citing "Jefferson, Heads of Information
given me by E. Randolph, n.d., LC" Flexner further cites: "M, III,
297n."  The Jefferson experts tell me that "M" stands for the Dumas
Malone biography of Jefferson, but they checked Malone and find no such
statement.  So we are thrown back on the citation to the LC.  The people
at the TJ Papers and the GW Papers all ran computer searches on the
American Memory site and couldn't find any "Heads of Information" in the
undated material.  The specialists at LC Manuscripts have also come up
empty so far.  This is a widely quoted saying and yet the original
source seems elusive.  Any help will be very greatly appreciated.
Henry Wiencek
Charlottesville

To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions
at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html