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From: "Herbert Barger" <>
Subject: Re: [DNA] Jefferson-Hemings DNA
Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 23:27:11 -0400
References: <200410251753.i9PHrKAm019164@lists5.rootsweb.com> <004401c4baf4$e92c5600$443519d0@oldvunp1s2202j>


The National Genealogical Special Issue (NGSQ) referenced, was an attempt to add
the weight of the prestige and "authority" of NGSQ to the Jefferson-Hemings
controversy. All three authors knew NO first hand facts or of the mishandling of
the original study. A new book will soon be out completely rebutting this issue.
DNA did NOT prove Thomas Jefferson guilty..........I know, I assisted Dr. E.A.
Foster with the study.

The problem with the study was NOT a genealogy problem it was a problem of an
amateur DNA study gone wrong with the aid of the media and mishandled by
Monticello management who were critically critiqued by a panel of 13 well known
scholars (The Scholars Commission Report), available in it's entirety as a link
from the Monticello Association web page.

Herb Barger
Jefferson Family Historian

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ted McClellan" <>
To: <>
Sent: Monday, October 25, 2004 8:44 PM
Subject: Re: [DNA] Jefferson-Hemings DNA


> The Jefferson~Hemings question was the subject of a special issue of the
> National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Volume 89, No 3, September 2001.
> The feature article written by Helen F. M. Leary, CG, CGL, FASG, FNGS, was
> “Sally Hemings’s Children: A Genealogical Analysis of the Evidence”. This
> article, a little over forty pages, includes a short discussion of the DNA
> evidence but is principally focused on the issues, traditions and arguments
> and how they fare with actual genealogical research. The conclusion includes
> the following: “Credible evidence is presented honestly without trimming off
> uncomfortable bits that prevent its fitting someone’s preconceptions.
> Competent analysis views the evidence in terms of its own background context
> and its relation to all the rest of the evidence. Genealogical Proof rests
> on an unbroken chain that ties the problem to its solution – not on a series
> of isolated links, any one of which is inadequate for the task. In this case
> the chain of evidence securely fastens Sally Hemings’s children to their
> father Thomas Jefferson.”
>
> This publication also contains a review essay by Thomas W. Jones Ph. D., CG,
> CGL, on “The ‘Scholars Commission’ Report on the Jefferson~Hemings Matter:
> An Evaluation by Genealogical Proof Standards”. The tone of this review is
> stated early, “the Jefferson~Hemings Scholars Commission – an impressive
> panel of distinguished academics – has attempted to answer what is basically
> a genealogical question, without genealogical credentials or expertise. As a
> result, the work is ineffective in answering the issue it addresses.”
>
> Another review essay by Joshua D. Rothman, Ph. D., is “Can the ‘Character
> Defense’ Survive? Measuring Polar Positions in the Jefferson~Hemings
> Controversy by Standards of History”. This review has additional facts and
> similar conclusions to the above articles.
>
> The often quoted DNA analysis is supportive but the genealogical evidence
> that Thomas Jefferson fathered one or more of the Hemings children is much
> more significant. This special issue of the Quarterly is available in many
> libraries and from
> https://www.ngsgenealogy.org/BookStore/ListItems.cfm?CATID=26
>
>
> Ted McClellan
>
>
>
>
> ==============================
> Gain access to over two billion names including the new Immigration
> Collection with an Ancestry.com free trial. Click to learn more.
> http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=4930&sourceid=1237
>

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