I suppose that if Rev. ML King and Jesse Jackson could have illegitimate children, TJ could have them as well. In a message dated 7/17/2008 5:33:47 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [log in to unmask] writes: Herb, You are asserting that he no consideration for her as a human being, but it does not answer the question of whether or not he had a sexual relationship with her. It really does not matter how exhaulted Jefferson was in being a Founding Father. In fact, it is no part of my consideration of whether or not he was responsible for fathering children with Sally. The publication of the stories circulated at Monticello by the "scandalmonger" Callender seem like the tip of the iceberg. Callender did well by Jefferson in the early days of the 1800 election, publishing questionable details on Adams' personal behavior, details at times supplied by Jefferson himself. Jefferson applaude Callendar's publications, and helped circulate them where they would be useful to his campaign. But when Adams, who'd had enough, pressed for Callendar to be prosecuted under the Sedition laws, in Richmond, Jefferson deemed it detrimental to his campaign to intercede, and Callendar went to jail, from where he continued to write the same stuff about Adams and the Federalists. It is understandable that he would have reason to later turn on his supporter, Jefferson, when the tide turned against him. Did he then publish "lies", or did he publish the truth as he was told it by those who were at Monticello and probably knew what was going on? Jefferson, as explained in Kukla's book, was not necessarily an "admirable" man in all his sexual activities. Although he admitted to pursuing Mrs. Walker, when he was "young and unmarried", the truth, as disclosed in the Walker documents, was that the pursuit continued after he was married to Martha. Not only did he relentlessly pursue Mrs. Walker, a married woman, but he also carried on an affair with Mrs. Coswell in France and after returning home to Virginia. It would seem to me that his relationship with Martha was verging on abusive, inasmuch as the poor woman was kept constantly pregnant, and those constant pregnancies were the ultimate cause of her death. While the evidence is circumstantial, it is evidence nevertheless, and certainly points to the likelihood that those who affirmed it, the slaves at Monticello, and those who claimed to be his sons, were not totally making it up. Minor details may be suspect, but in whole, the argument holds water. You can hold out as long as you can draw a breath, but do you really need to rail against those who are more accepting of the humanity of this man than you are? Your defense of Jefferson is admirable in the same sense that the attorney for a suspect grabs at straws and technicalities to confuse the jury. 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 **************Get fantasy football with free live scoring. Sign up for FanHouse Fantasy Football today. (http://www.fanhouse.com/fantasyaffair?ncid=aolspr00050000000020) ______________________________________ To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html