John,

The first question I have is who is going to pay for the tests? Then there 
is the problem of digging up the son of Madison, which appropriately is a 
decision that rests with descendents not the merely curious.

The problem with taking a sample from a current descendent is that the 
paternal line was broken one generation after Madison, requiring that 
exhumation and examination of a long dead man.

And, the information yielded could show that TJ and Sally mixed it up, but 
if the information does not show paternity, it still does not answer the 
question of whether TJ got down and dirty with Sally.

What I do not understand, is the animosity towards the Hemings descendents 
shown by the "white" descendents of TJ. No matter which Jefferson sired the 
children, they are still within the definition of non-direct descendents - 
cousins one and all.

Anne
Anne Pemberton
[log in to unmask]
http://www.erols.com/apembert
http://www.educationalsynthesis.org 

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