You ought to talk to a lot of my darker Lee Cousins. What I have seen from many of their educational, social, religious and other accomplishments, I am realllllly proud that they call me their cousin, It is a matter of history, not some wishful thinking that the overseer did it. This is a historical fact, not a wish in the dark. NOW, what I would really like is for the Yankees, those whose relatives are from these states north of Virginia and Kentucky, to jump in here and admit to all of the slaves they possessed and did not free until 1863 and the mistreatment of the Scots, Irish and French indentures that they treated like slave labour. Possibly even some of these descendants are Caucasian descents as well. I saw a PBS show that shoed the African - Americans in this country are running around a minimum of 30% 'white'. Oh yes, dig into your jeans and pay for the test from your own funds. Maybe getting something from the Government is the old way, but let's show some American fortitude and do this ourselves. Some of the family trust for the Hemings and the Jefferson's might want to lay these issues to rest their selves. The big cost will be the exhumation of a good test subject. I know TJ would want the truth to come out. John Philip Adams Texas -----Original Message----- From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Anne Pemberton Sent: Sunday, May 04, 2008 5:46 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: DNA TEST and genealogy 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 ______________________________________ To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html ______________________________________ To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html