"The TJMF issued a report in January 2000 concluding that Thomas Jefferson probably fathered one if not all of Sally Hemings' children."
That quote from Herbert Barger (http://www.angelfire.com/va/TJTruth/background.html), the Jefferson Family Historian. You can read his spin on the DNA testing at that link. He adds that, "The truth is, they don't know." They were only able to conclude that one of Sally Hemmings offspring shared DNA with the Jefferson offspring, and that was Eston Hemings, her youngest son, who could have also been the son of any one of other Jefferson men around at the time, including Jefferson's sons.
The truth will probably never be known. Yet the truth also is that white men breeding with slaves happened all the time on plantations. And Thomas Jefferson's plantation was particularly known for having many red headed slaves running around. His own wifes father was notorious for breeding with his slaves, and Sally Hemmings was said to be only part black herself, that she resembled Jefferson's wife, and was most likely her half sister. Historians haven't been able to find any pictures of Sally Hemmings to confirm this, but they have found a reliable eyewitness description of her, and she was apparently quite beautiful, and white looking.
I personally believe that it is likely that Thomas Jefferson had children with Sally Hemmings.
Mr Barger comes across as kind of a crank [1 (http://www.angelfire.com/va/TJTruth/questions.html)], freely mixing majors and minors.
However, on the page you linked he mentions one of the salient facts and hints at one of the others:
There were several male Jefferson relatives living in the general area, any of whom could have given Eston Hemmings his Y chromosome
Eston Hemmings was born in 1808; Jefferson died a little over a year later; this means Jefferson would have fathered Eston Hemmings less than two years before he died.
On the basis of those two facts, I'd say that it's rather less than certain that Jefferson was Hemmings's father.
Furthermore, it strikes me as unlikely that Jefferson would have taken up having sex with his slaves late in life. If that's the case, where are the offspring of his relationships with other slaves?
Check out a book review in this month's Harper's for a wacky penal code recommendation of Mr. Jefferson's. I'm still one of the man's admirers, all in all, and hardly anybody in the West even began to conceive of anything other than homophobia at the time, but it's a creepy and bizarre suggested punishment for "sodomitic" women. And I shall say no more; get thee to a newsstand.
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no subject
Don't go slandering Thomas Jefferson that way. The tests never proved he was anybody's dad. Just that somebody with a Y chromosome similar to his was.
no subject
That quote from Herbert Barger (http://www.angelfire.com/va/TJTruth/background.html), the Jefferson Family Historian. You can read his spin on the DNA testing at that link. He adds that, "The truth is, they don't know." They were only able to conclude that one of Sally Hemmings offspring shared DNA with the Jefferson offspring, and that was Eston Hemings, her youngest son, who could have also been the son of any one of other Jefferson men around at the time, including Jefferson's sons.
The truth will probably never be known. Yet the truth also is that white men breeding with slaves happened all the time on plantations. And Thomas Jefferson's plantation was particularly known for having many red headed slaves running around. His own wifes father was notorious for breeding with his slaves, and Sally Hemmings was said to be only part black herself, that she resembled Jefferson's wife, and was most likely her half sister. Historians haven't been able to find any pictures of Sally Hemmings to confirm this, but they have found a reliable eyewitness description of her, and she was apparently quite beautiful, and white looking.
I personally believe that it is likely that Thomas Jefferson had children with Sally Hemmings.
no subject
However, on the page you linked he mentions one of the salient facts and hints at one of the others:
On the basis of those two facts, I'd say that it's rather less than certain that Jefferson was Hemmings's father.
Furthermore, it strikes me as unlikely that Jefferson would have taken up having sex with his slaves late in life. If that's the case, where are the offspring of his relationships with other slaves?
no subject
I'm sure that we will never know.
no subject