John,

I'm sure it would be great if you and I were relatives. I don't know what I 
said that gave you a clue I am in the Hemings family. I am not. My family is 
also, according to oral tradition, multi-racial, but some in the family say 
that since it cannot be "proved", it isn't so. Yet, to look at the faces of 
my sisters and I, is to know there was a Native American in the woodpile! 
<grin> Actually, the Native American in the family was on my grandmother's 
side, and the family record stops with a first name to the wife, who would 
have been the Native American, and nothing further can be found without her 
maiden name.

So, I have some understanding of what the Hemings family has been through. 
My mother did not tell us of the Native American heritage until we moved 
away from PA. Then it could come out of the woodwork. Had it been known, 
there may have been some fuss even tho, with my father being blonde, three 
of us are blondes, which does not lead to a supposition of another race 
mixed in.

The information I shared on the Hemings experiences with the Jefferson 
descendents came from my reading of the book, "Jefferson's Children" by 
Shannon Lanier, a descendent of Madison Hemings. And, yes it was shabby - an 
elderly white lady refused to shake a proferred hand and said it was 
"nasty". I'm sure those Hemings who live in northern states and it was their 
first visit to Virginia, wondered where the term "Southern hospitality" came 
from, since it was not extended to them by all there. But, to their credit, 
there were members of the most current generation of Jefferson descendents 
who were most accepting and friendly.

Lanier's book details the life of Jefferson and Sally with details that make 
a reader, even one who knows already of the controversy, likely to continue 
in the belief that the oral histories are true. The book says that Madison 
Hemings was a very well  respected businessman in Chillicothe, and it was 
said that "his word was his bond". With such honesty acknowledged by 
neighbors who knew him and did business with him, it seems unlikely that he 
was spreading a tall tale when he told who his father was.

I would like to see the tests done, but truly understand the reluctance of 
the Madison Hemings family to allow one of his sons to be exhumed. It is, in 
a way, similar to those women who tell their obstetricians that they don't 
want to know in advance if they will have a boy or girl. Sometime people 
just do not have a need to know. So I really think it is up to those who are 
the most curious to put up the funds for the testing.

And, I will make one parting remark before I close down for the night. How 
come none of the Jefferson descendents have been asked to prove their 
descendency via DNA tests? According to Lanier, there are a number of people 
who say they are descendents, but there are no official documents to say so. 
Is there a double standard involved here?

Anne




Anne Pemberton
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http://www.erols.com/apembert
http://www.educationalsynthesis.org 

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