You may recall that Henry VIII never consummated his marriage to Anne of Cleves (the daughter of the German Emperor) because, as he reportedly told Cromwell, she "smelled of the stable." Intentional lack of personal hygiene was a common form of contraception in England during medieval and later times. See, The Family, Sex and Marriage In England 1500-1800, by Lawrence Stone (Harper 1979). It seems to have been an effective tool vis-a-vis those of British heritage. If slaves were worked to death, 16 hours a day, with barely time to rest at night, and their quarters were as unsanitary and filthy as contemporary reports claim, there is no doubt that your average black indentured servant was no joy to be around. Nevertheless, Ms. Hemmings seemed to pop out babies from among her "homies" in the slave population left and right, not apparently knowing exactly who the fathers were in most cases. A fit paramour for the middle-aged TJ.....I doubt it and there is no factual evidence to definitively prove otherwise. Yet, apparently the Virginia public school system sees fit to allow its youth to be taught about TJ's parentage, probably in greater detail than what he really meant to the Commonwealth and the US. I am no huge fan of Jefferson. His figurative "wall of separation" letter, penned 13 years after Congress wrote the Establishment Clause (something Jefferson had absolutely nothing to do with drafting) was the basis for the Supreme Court leading us down the road of banning school prayer and a myriad of other Constitutionally bankrupt interpretations of the First Amendment. So, as far as I am concerned, there might not have been a "wall of separation" between Ms. Hemmings and he. However, without definitive factual proof, that allegation should not be made as if "everyone who has any brains" knows it to be true. Frankly, even I am tiring of this line of debate. JD Southmayd a/k/a J South In a message dated 5/16/2008 10:45:01 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [log in to unmask] writes: Even at the highest ranks of European society, personal cleanliness as we define it was somewhat lacking. For instance, the royal palace at Versailles had no ...ah... restrooms as such. There must have been chamberpots in the bedrooms, but the hordes of nobles, servants, etc. at the palace couldn't and didn't spend all their time in and near their sleeping places. I'm a member of that age cohort who hit the teen years in the early '70s. I remember how odd our parents thought we were for washing our hair _every_ day! "Older ladies," for instance, usually had their hair washed and set once a week at the local "beauty parlor." Elizabeth Whitaker Melinda Skinner wrote: >>From my readings and research about colonial Virginia and 16th and 17th-century England, > most people were pretty filthy and smelly. I would think that any household slaves/servants > would be about as clean as their employers/masters. > > -- > Melinda C. P. Skinner > Richmond, VA ______________________________________ To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html **************Wondering what's for Dinner Tonight? Get new twists on family favorites at AOL Food. (http://food.aol.com/dinner-tonight?NCID=aolfod00030000000001) ______________________________________ To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html