Anne, I don't know where you get the impression "those who study history and conclude Jefferson probably fathered those kids" is a correct statement. Of course historians and laypersons have their individual beliefs and that is fine, BUT I am pretty well familiar with those "historians" you are referencing and could name them. They DO NOT know any facts about the DNA tests, they are SLAVERY EXPERTS and not authorities on the study.......I AM....I was there and I know who skewed the DNA test, the interpretations and who wrote the TJ books and who advised them in their research. It is not a pretty picture ladies and gentlemen.....YOU ARE BEING CONNED! Your statement that I wished TJ be placed on a pedestal.....is absolutely a wrong assessment. If YOU were being maligned by an AGENDA, as TJ is, and I was in a position to know for a fact that your position is correct by careful research, I would protect YOU as I have TJ. Who he was and what my mission is COMPLETELY based upon honesty, fair play and a level playing field. He isn't getting it and the public is all the worse of for it. I KNOW who the perpetrators are and WHY they are doing it and I ask the public to react to all these "glorious" claims of some recent authors, some on this list, who "spout" much the same information. An excellent book, Down from the Mountain, Oral History of the Hemings Family by Judith P. Justus, was already out when Dr Foster started the tests and I recommended he contact her and get leads.......he did, and she visited his home twice. He knew well from her book that she had covered the meeting between two Eston descendants in NY and Fawn Brodie who had suggested they DROP their thoughts about being descended from "a Jefferson uncle or nephew" as Eston's descendants had always believed and NOW state that it was Thomas HIMSELF, a much better choice of ancestors in some eyes I suppose. The book also listed a note about a William Hemings, son of Madison BUT Dr Foster DID NOT choose to testy him in a grave in Levenworth, Kansas........WHY? In addition to John Weeks Jefferson (Eston descendant), he could have tested Madison's male heir, thus we would have DNA proof that the two brothers shared the same father....HE DID NOT TEST HIM! Some time later I mentioned this to Hemings descendants and at first some agreed orally for the test but after notifying Dan Jordan, Monticello President of this important find, they soon refused to file official papers that I had furnished. Dan Jordan advised me, "don't pressure them." Naturally I didn't or wouldn't but it would add to the controversy........what are they afraid of? I well know and discussed it with their spokesperson but that will remain unpublished for the time being. Anne, just on one point alone.....will you agree that if you test a KNOWN carrier of the Jefferson DNA, as his family has long claimed, is it not reasonable to assume that a match will occur? Refusing to tell a scientific journal of your "contrived" selection without informing the publication is most disturbing and unprofessional.....what say you? Herb Barger Jefferson Family Historian Assistant to Dr Foster on DNA Study Herbert, I think it quite appropriate to show what is happening in that big wide audience of people who could be "fooled" by those who study history and conclude Jefferson probably fathered those kids, The big wide audience is not putting Jefferson on the pedestal you are insisting he belongs on. Remember that Jefferson also said that the mix of white blood in with the African resulted in a bring superior to the African. (Don't have the exact quote handy!). What the story is lacking in absolute "proof" is overrun with likelihoods, probabilities, possibilities, and it could have beens. 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