I hope I am not offending you as a professor that teaches about Thomas 
Jefferson,  as my being unreasonable; because of my opinion based not on 
feelings but on documented statistics, facts and primary records, and my 
conclusion that it is most unlikely Thomas Jefferson fathered any of Sally 
Heming's children. Also contributing to my opinion is my appreciation for 
his accomplishments, and respect for his intellect. I am sending you the 
following because I think your opinion that most reasonable people would 
conclude he is the father is baseless because of the following:



Martha Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson's wife and mother of his children, died 
in 1782. Sally Hemings had her first child Harriet in 1795. The following 
evidence is persuasive, convincing and leads to the opinion that Thomas 
Jefferson was NOT the father of any of Sally Heming's children. I got my 
information from the books THE JEFFERSON-HEMINGS MYTH, AN AMERICAN TRAVESTY, 
published 2001 by the Thomas Jefferson Heritage Society; and the book 
JEFFERSON VINDICATED by Cynthia H. Burton, copyright and publication 2005, 
Library of Congress control #2005902894. I recommend reading these books. 
They present chronology charts; DNA test results; observations of witnesses, 
families, and contemporaries at Monticello.



1) Sally lived at Monticello from childhood through many child bearing 
years, and didn't become pregnant until Sally was 22 years old, 13 years 
after Martha died.

2) Only Sally's last child's, Eston's, lineage has been tested in 1998 for 
DNA and shows he descended from Sally and A male Jefferson, not necessarily 
Thomas. Eston Heming's DNA was tested from John Weeks Jefferson, whose 
family had always claimed lineage from "a Jefferson uncle", meaning 
Randolph. Because Thomas Jefferson had no sons they must use the male Y 
chromosome from the DNA of his brother, nephews, male cousins, or another 
male carrying the Jefferson Y chromosome. They can't trace this DNA lineage 
through generations of females.

3) Sally's son Madison's descendants, who were located after much effort, 
have refused to be DNA tested. We don't know that a Jefferson fathered any 
other of Sally's children.

4) The rumor that Sally was Thomas Jefferson's wife Martha's half sister is 
just that, a rumor. Sally is said to have been a light mulatto and pretty. 
The various myths disagree with Martha Jefferson's father's business 
dealings, ports, etc., and there is no DNA evidence that she is a blood 
relative to Martha.

5) Even if we want to make the BIASED ASSUMPTION that more than Eston of 
Sally's children was fathered by a Jefferson, it is again MOST UNLIKELY that 
Thomas was the Jefferson that fathered them.

6) Thomas Jefferson arrived in Paris 1784, as the U.S. Ambassador to France, 
and was accompanied by his oldest daughter Martha who was 12 years old, and 
James Hemings. 1787, three years later, Jefferson's other daughter Mary 
accompanied by Sally Hemings arrived in Paris. Thomas Jefferson and his 
family returned from Paris December 1789. Sally's first child Harriet was 
born on October 5, 1795 when Thomas Jefferson was 52 years old; he was 65 
years old when Eston, Sally's last child, was born. In those days life 
expectancy was much shorter and people aged earlier, and had the ailments 
that may arrive with age. Thomas Jefferson had severe arthritis for many 
long years, and other ailments that appear with aging.

7) Thomas Jefferson's younger brother Randolph Jefferson had become widowed 
between the years of 1796 and 1807. Randolph was born on October 1, 1755. He 
would have been between 41 and 52 years of age when his first wife died. 
Thomas Jefferson was born April 13, 1743 and was 12 ½ years older than 
Randolph. Eston, Sally's last child, was born on May 21, 1808, when Randolph 
was about 52 ½ years old and Thomas was 65. When Jefferson retired to 
Monticello in 1809 after completing his second term as President, Sally quit 
having children. Randolph was remarried 1808 or early 1809, and after this 
Sally had no more children. Randolph's oldest son, Thomas, married on 
October 3, 1808 and after this Sally had no more children. President 
Jefferson died July 4, 1826, when he was 83 years old.

8) Randolph's residence and farm was 20 miles away from Monticello. Randolph 
had 5 sons, 4 of child bearing age in their early 20's when Eston, Sally's 
last child, was conceived. Randolph and his sons visited Monticello, and one 
or more of his sons periodically lived at Monticello. In the book JEFFERSON 
AT MONTICELLO by J. A. Bear, Jr., he reports that the slave Isaac reported 
that Randall was a simple man that used to come out among black people and 
play the fiddle and dance half the night. There are written historical 
statements from interviews with Thomas Jefferson and others expressing 
Randolph's sometime lack of intelligence, character and personal discipline.

9) There were other male Jefferson relatives that visited Monticello. From a 
map it appears the Carrs lived less than 5 miles from Monticello. President 
Jefferson's sister Lucy Jefferson Lewis and her family, and Martha Jefferson 
Randolph and her family lived almost adjacent to Monticello.

10) In archives is a letter dated August 12, 1807 where Thomas Jefferson 
writes to his brother Randolph that Randolph's twin sister was then visiting 
Monticello and that he and his family were invited to visit, and also that 
Randolph was expected to deliver grass seed to Monticello. This was slightly 
more than 9 months before Eston's birth. Randolph and his family likely 
visited at that time.

11) There is a journal of Thomas Jefferson's letters; and when Jefferson was 
at home, at his insistence his daughter Martha J. Randolph, her husband and 
their children (they had 12 children, one 13-14 years old around the time 
Sally became pregnant with Eston) lived at Monticello for the duration of 
his visit. Sometimes they arrived before he did. Also while Thomas was at 
Monticello, at times his sister and cousins visited.

12) Family letters express the great affection and respect the Jefferson 
family had for each other; and of Thomas Jefferson's impeccable behavior 
regarding visibility of his living quarters and policies that servants were 
to be in his quarters only in his absence.

13) The whereabouts of the slaves was not at all times known. There were 
times when Sally helped out at estates neighboring Monticello.

14) Thomas Jefferson married Martha Wayles Skelton in 1772. She was a 
widower. They had 6 children. Only 3 lived beyond infancy, 2 beyond 
childhood. Martha Wayles Jefferson died in 1782. Their daughter Martha 
(Patsy) married Thomas Mann Randolph, Jr. in 1790 and they had 12 children, 
and all survived childhood except 2 that died in infancy. They lived almost 
adjacent to Monticello. Martha Randolph lived until she was 64 years old. 
Their second surviving child, Mary (Maria, Polley), married John Wayles 
Eppes. They had 3 children and only one survived beyond age 3. Mary died 
giving birth when she was 26 years old.  They lived about 60 miles from 
Monticello. President Jefferson's sister Lucy Jefferson Lewis and her 
husband and children lived near Monticello.

15) When Martha Wayles Jefferson's father died, they inherited his estate 
and slaves, and debts of what would now be over a million dollars that was 
paid for the slaves and secured by the slaves. President Jefferson died 
leaving considerable financial debts. Attorney Richard E. Dixon, author, 
page 160 "The Case Against Thomas Jefferson: A Trial Analysis of the 
Evidence on Paternity" THE JEFFERSON-HEMINGS MYTH "Jefferson's financial 
situation would have prevented his freeing his slaves under Virginia law. It 
may also be that he would have let more or all go but for the legal claim of 
his creditors." And laws made it difficult for ex-slaves to survive. After 
being freed Sally's brother James became an alcoholic and committed suicide. 
Page 185 In a published article Madison, one of Sally's brothers, speaks of 
Jefferson "He was hardly ever known to get angry. He was uniformly kind to 
all about him being kind to all at all times." Jefferson's writings about 
human rights transcend his own circumstances and time.



I emphatically question the motives of people who have an agenda to publish 
BIASED AND MISINFORMING opinions and conclusions [and to the extent that 
they ignore most pertinent scientific evidence and historic evidence, LIES] 
about the very person who probably did the most, in his day, to end slavery. 
And he was the most instrumental in establishing democracy in the United 
States. Thomas Jefferson wrote numerous articles, including his first draft 
of the Declaration of Independence (exhibits are available), where he states 
that slavery is "a cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most 
sacred rights of life and liberty" and that slavery is "an assemblage of 
horrors". They made him delete his opinions about slavery from his draft of 
the Declaration of Independence. He wrote in several articles that he 
thought miscegenation, bearing multi racial children, was degrading to all 
races involved. This was written at a time when slavery was legal and he 
held senior government offices. Within Monticello the slaves probably led a 
comfortable life; but when he died he was badly in debt. He freed Sally and 
some other of the more senior slaves. The remaining slaves were considered 
part of the assets used as collateral for his inherited debts. And when 
slaves were freed there was an abundance of laws to prevent their gainful 
employment, and they had to leave Virginia.



If he were having an affair with Sally why didn't she become pregnant before 
she was 22 years old, or during the 13 years after Thomas's wife died? That 
President Jefferson was the father of even one of her children is possible, 
but I think extremely unlikely. Some might be of the opinion that the 
difference is only academic; that what big difference would there be if 
Thomas and Sally, two consenting adults, had a sexual relationship? I think 
it would have been much out of character for the brilliant, most principled, 
most important and dashing man, who was close with his and Martha's 
children, to have a sexual relationship with a family slave Sally; for whom 
he held enough personal regard to have her help raise his children. I think 
there would be many accomplished, Caucasian, not slave women, who would be 
desirous of Thomas Jefferson's attentions. From Sally's point of view I 
think the statements from scholarly spin masters who (twist, manipulate, and 
ignore an overabundance of evidence to the contrary) conclude that Thomas 
Jefferson was or was most likely the father of Eston and or Sally's other 
children is degrading to Sally, as well as to President Jefferson, as well 
as to United States history.



And some of the "scholars" that conclude in writing and lectures that he was 
the father of Eston and or more of her children are those that own and work 
for Monticello and are professors at the University of Virginia, both 
institutions that were founded by Thomas Jefferson. They have a fundamental 
responsibility not to lie and deface their founder Thomas Jefferson. They 
have changed the name from The Monticello Thomas Jefferson Memorial 
Foundation to The Monticello Thomas Jefferson Foundation. With its present 
administration, I think the Monticello Corporation has no reason to continue 
as a public facility representing Thomas Jefferson, its founder, or United 
States history. Academia would be better off without those that misstate, 
deceive, lie, and prosecute their institutions' founder, instead of 
presenting the available information and wherever it may lead. They should 
be removed from their positions of responsibility. I conclude that because 
Thomas Jefferson was an extraordinarily brilliant, principled, judicious and 
discerning person, and because of much additional evidence which supports my 
conclusion, it is extremely unlikely that President Jefferson would have had 
a sexual relationship with, and or impregnated Sally Hemings. As multiple 
public records show, and as these scholars would have known, there were many 
other male Jeffersons, some adolescent or in their early 20's, frequently at 
Monticello when Thomas Jefferson was there, and particularly during the time 
when Sally became pregnant with Eston, who could have been the father of 
Eston. And as to the rest of her children, there may have been several 
different fathers, as reported was so with Sally's mother.





(Ms.)Adrian Zolkover



----- Original Message ----- 
From: <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, September 27, 2008 11:17 PM
Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] Annette Gordon-Reed praised by Edmund Morgan


> Herb--
>
> You write:  "I read such statements as (pg 116) "nevertheless, the 
> available evidence now suggests that Callender was essentially correct 
> about Jefferson's relationship with Sally Hemings."
>
> This statement is in fact true.  What Kukla says, in essence, is that in 
> his view, the evidence suggests (but does not prove) that Jefferson had a 
> sexual relationship with Hemings.  Kukla's view is more or less the same 
> as mine, and I would submit that of most reasonable people who have 
> examined the evidence.
>
> I doubt we will ever know for certain whether Jefferson and Hemings had a 
> sexual relationship.  But the circumstantial evidence suggests that there 
> was one.  It is just circumstantial evidence--it is suggestive, but not 
> definitive.  But then, that is what I take Kukla to be saying when he 
> writes "the available evidence now suggests."  We don't know for sure, but 
> the extant evidence in favor of Jefferson's paternity of (some of) 
> Heming's children is sufficiently persuasive to allow a reasonable, if 
> tentative conclusion that Jefferson did in fact have sex with Hemings.
>
> I should add that people like Annette Gordon-Reed strike me as relatively 
> conservative.  They want to retain some value in Jefferson's private life. 
> The tenor of the profession, to my read, is to hang Jefferson out to dry 
> as a repulsive character, on the scale of say, Rousseau.  To my read of 
> her most recent book, Gordon-Reed goes out of her way to defend Jefferson. 
> I have a considerably darker, and less redemptive view of the man.  I tend 
> to think that Hamilton got Jefferson right.
>
> Just saying.
>
> All best,
> Kevin
>
> Kevin R. Hardwick, Ph.D.
> Department of History
> James Madison University
>
> ______________________________________
> To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions 
> at
> http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html 

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