Henry Wiencek asks WHY I brought up the subject of Sally Hemings and Thomas
Jefferson's wife, Martha Jefferson, being half-sisters, the daughters of
John Wayles--which Barger disputes." Possibly if he should look back at his
post of Feb. 6, 06 he may see that HE stated that "Madison Hemings gave an
interview in which he "claimed" that....Jefferson's wife, Martha, and Sally
Hemings were both daughters of John Wayles, so they were half-sisters." My
questioning and clarifying this statement several days later on March 23,
06,  was to make the public aware of a study done by Dr. and Mrs. James
McMurry in their book, "Anatomy of A Scandal-Thomas Jefferson and the Sally
Story."

I urge all to read this book and also, "The Jefferson-Hemings Myth, An
American Travesty" and "Jefferson Vindicated, Fallacies, Omissions and
Contradictions in the Hemings Genealogical Search" by Charlottesville
genealogist with an excellent foreword by Past Monticello Director, James A.
Bear, Jr. If you are unable to purchase any of these books from Monticello
or other good local book dealer, the books with reviews may be ordered from
Amazon or B&N.

In speaking of Virginius Dabney's belief that it was true was in fact due to
the fact that no one had been motivated by lack of time and the rumor went
unresearched by modern means that the McMurrys used to bring the truth to
the public. Since the DNA Study had been so misstated and twisted to fit
various agendas it was necessary to spend much time digging into details.
The public has been sold a "bill of goods" with the Jefferson-Hemings DNA
Study of which I participated in as Dr. Eugene Foster's assistant.

I urge you, Mr. Wiencek, to read the above mentioned books, to write in your
forthcoming book what you and I have discussed about the unbelievable claims
in the Wetmore/Madison Hemings claims in the Pike Co. Republican. I along
with you have found many inaccurate assumptions and statements. If we have
found "several" then what does this say about the accuracy of the complete
article?

Yes, Jefferson owned slaves but there is NO PROOF (and DNA bears that out),
that he fathered any slave child. Modern data banks, close and accurate
courthouse visits and dedicated honest people are researching for the truth
and finding and reporting on it.

Herb Barger
Jefferson Family Historian

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