It doesn't matter which of the Hemings' DNA is tested (and no one with a life
could keep up with the pea and shell game hypersuggestions of the Barger et
al gaggle anyway), it would produce information of the same sort that they
already have poo-pooed with the original DNA results that showed that a descendant
of Eston Hemings who had an unbroken male line had the Jefferson male
chromosome in his DNA.  They don't recognize these Jeffersons and Westerinens as
descendants of Mr. Jefferson and they'd not recognize the Madison Hemings
descendants, either.  Mr. Barger is just taunting.  The Hemings are right not to play
further in that ilk's no-win games.

The problem -- or gift, depending on your point of view -- is that
descendants of Martha Wayles (Skelton) Jefferson share a common ancestor with the
descendants of Sally Hemings, negating the possibility of using mitochondrial DNA.
Unless we test Mr. Jefferson himself (which, because of the way he was buried
that is likely to have destroyed his DNA or left what is extant of it useless,
is unlikely to produce reliable results, if any) because Mr. Jefferson had no
male children who reproduced, much less a continuous line of male
descendants, it's impossible to use the other type for direct proof.

Thus it is necessary to use other evidence to come to the most accurate
conclusion possible.  In this case, there is ample historical evidence and The
National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Vol. 89, No. 3, Sept. 2001, does a
thorough and reasonably succinct job of analyzing it.  That Mr. Barger and cronies
disagree doesn't really matter.  Their objections are of the sort that only
those studying the politics of denial will be interested in in the long run.

Regarding the Woodsons:  No matter if Thomas Woodson was not a descendant of
Mr. Jefferson or if he was but the living Woodsons are not because the line
was broken along the way, the intelligent, accomplished family is certainly a
fine example of the power of positive nurturance.

By now, enough dilution has occurred down the generations that only a tiny
fraction of living descendants of Mr. Jefferson's genes come from him.  Most of
the 'Jefferson effect' is what we as a family have developed and passed along
in terms of expectations and standards and, as time goes by, a greater and
greater percentage will become so so that anyone can be just as capable of being
Jeffersonian as the most proven descendant.  It is this power of meritocracy
that Mr. Jefferson strived to instill in his family, the curriculum of the
University of Virginia, and in America at large.

The gift of my Jeffersonian heritage is the sure knowledge that one person
can make a positive difference that long outlives one's earthly life -- that, if
he could do it, so can I and that I have a responsibility to try my best to.
If that's all I share with the Woodsons, it's enough of a shared heritage to
constitute family for me.

I've enjoyed corresponding privately with a number of people who read this
list on this and, more importantly, other aspects of Virginia genealogical lore.
Due to a computer malfunction, I may have lost some of it into the black hole
of cyberspace so, if I haven't responded in another week's time, please try
again.

Thank you all for producing such a fascinating list.

Sincerely,

Marla Randolph Stevens

P.S.   By the way, there is no such position as "Jefferson Family Historian"
except in Mr. Barger's mind.  I leave it to you to figure out why the claim is
made.

In a message dated 3/30/2006 20:51:01 Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
Marla is confused about the other source of Hemings DNA. That source is from a
Civil War soldier, William Hemings, son of Madison Hemings and is buried in
the Veterans Cemetery in Leavenworth Kansas. Even the Hemings descendants
refused to believe this until my research revealed many things like, the
amount of money in his pocket when he died, a picture of the grave site, the
organization he belonged to, and others. Shay Banks-Young has told me they
will never test and hold to their oral family history. Dan Jordan at
Montivello refuses to pursue the matter. I suppose research is performed on
matters that interest people.

John Works, Jr., Past President of the Monticello Association (Thomas
Jefferson descendants) and Past President of The Thomas Jefferson Heritage
Society, is part of deeply commited researchers on ALL sides of the unfound
charges about Thomas Jefferson was the father of slave children. He and others
know there is no proof to those old Campaign Lies. See the Dr. and Mrs. James
McMurry book, "Anatomy of a Scandal" available from Amazon.

Herb Barger
Jefferson Family Historian

Marla Randolph Stevens wrote:
Works, Jr., et al began to claim that Sally Hemings was not
the half-aunt of Mr. Jefferson's children with Martha Wayles.

As for the Hemings being willing to produce the other source of DNA to
which Mr. Barger refers, it would come from a grave of an infant in an old
graveyard that might or might not be a Hemings descendant of a line that
does not have an unbroken chain of male descendants.
Mind you, I'm not advocating digging up Mr. Jefferson.  The chances of
finding functional DNA are too small for the insult to his bones for
that.  Marla Randolph Stevens

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