While I do not respond to all posters regarding the Jefferson-Hemings controversy I do find that Mr. Wiencek's remarks are worthy of reply. He is doing much serious research for his new Jefferson book and has actually "researched" the matter. He has studied the claims of Madison Hemings in the Pike County article and has found them to be lacking in truth on many of his statements. This was the same article that was "greatly" relied upon for the Monticello Research Study by an oral family history specialist assigned the task of Chairperson by Dr. Daniel Jordan, Monticello President. See one of my two original citing in my original posting on this specific point of view. I would highly suggest to Mr. Wiencek and other serious amateur or professional genealogists to closely consider the two cited new analysis. If you test a known person who has "always" claimed to have Jefferson DNA, in most cases if the claims were true, THEN you will get a match with the Jefferson DNA donors who descend from Thomas Jefferson's uncle, Field Jefferson (the source of all tested Jefferson DNA). This is NOT true disinterested research.........the results of a match is expected and there was a match. But in reality, the DNA of Field Jefferson's 5 descendants was being tested against the Jefferson DNA of John Weeks Jefferson, an Eston Hemings descendant who had always claimed descend from "an uncle Jefferson, NOT Thomas." Sure, the DNA would definitely match, SO the test was predestined beforehand and should have NEVER went forward for a test. Mr. Wiencek and any other subscriber comments on these two points are welcome. I agree with Mr. Wiencek's suggestion for any that wish for no discussion of this vital topic to just "click it." Our children's future history textbooks and our country's history is being tainted by these false and biased articles and books. Herb Barger Jefferson Family Historian -----Original Message----- From: Research and writing about Virginia genealogy and family history. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Henry Wiencek Sent: Wednesday, November 14, 2007 1:34 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [VA-ROOTS] Jefferson, Hemings, & DNA I do hope the esteemed members of this list are NOT tired of the Hemings story because I am writing a book about Jefferson and his slaves, which will have a section on the Hemings family. I have done a lot of new research and made some fresh discoveries about Monticello. Let me try to summarize the story quickly, in a "non-partisan" fashion; and those who are not interested can just hit "Delete" right now. Thomas Jefferson was alleged to be the father of Sally Hemings's children in newspaper articles in 1802 by the political journalist James Callender (who had a grudge against Jefferson), in oral histories, in letters, and a diary entry. All this evidence has been subject to dispute for two hundred years and continues to be debated. In the 1850s, Jefferson's grandchildren Ellen Randolph Coolidge and Thomas Jefferson Randolph admitted privately that Hemings had children who closely resembled Thomas Jefferson, but they said the reason for the resemblance was that the children had been fathered by Jefferson's nephews Peter and Samuel Carr, the sons of his sister. In the late 1990s Dr. Eugene Foster, with the invaluable aid of Herbert Barger, obtained blood samples for DNA testing from male-line descendants of Field Jefferson, an uncle of Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson himself had no surviving legitimate male children. On the Hemings side, Foster obtained samples from a male-line descendant of Eston Hemings, the youngest son of Sally Hemings. These two lines of DNA matched, proving that Eston Hemings had been fathered not by a Carr but by some male of the Jefferson family. After analyzing the historical evidence, Monticello's scholars concluded that Thomas Jefferson was the most likely member of his family to have fathered Eston and that Thomas Jefferson was very likely the father of all of Sally Hemings's children. That would seem to be the end of the story, except that a number of researchers, notably including Herbert Barger, Cynthia Burton, and Rebecca McMurry, raise the possibility that Eston's father could have been TJ's brother Randolph or some other Jefferson. The Monticello scholars, and others, think this is unlikely, but the debate continues. Herbert Barger has proposed trying to get a DNA sample from the remains of another Hemings who is buried in Kansas, the son of Madison Hemings. Madison was Eston's brother. The living Hemings descendants have not granted permission. According to Jefferson's plantation records, Sally Hemings had one daughter and three sons who survived (Harriet and Beverly, who were allowed to leave Monticello in 1822; and Madison and Eston, who were freed in Jefferson's will). But according to oral history and other documentation, there was another son--the first-born "President Tom," made notorious by James Callender's articles. According to an oral history, this Tom was whisked away from Monticello in the wake of the scandalous press reports and given a new identity as Thomas Woodson. Today's Woodson family is descended from an actual Thomas Woodson, who died in 1879 in Ohio and whose birth date is not known. His descendants have long claimed that he was the son of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings. They claim he was conceived when Jefferson and Hemings were in France and was born at Monticello in 1790. Nothing in Jefferson's Farm Book or other Monticello records verifies Woodson's birth or presence at Monticello. Foster's test showed no match between the DNA of Jefferson's family and Woodson's descendants. In the interest of brevity I have left out a lot, but I think that's a fair gist of the story in a very small nutshell. Henry Wiencek Charlottesville