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From: "Joe W. Stout" <>
Subject: Re: [JEFFERSON-HEMINGS] Freedom for the Hemings Family - Check out Michael Janofsy's article
Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2000 16:09:40 -0600


So, what proof does any of this article present? Much contrary evidence has
been presented on this forum since that article was written.

Joe Stout

----- Original Message -----
From: <>
To: <>
Sent: Friday, February 25, 2000 3:41 PM
Subject: [JEFFERSON-HEMINGS] Freedom for the Hemings Family - Check out
Michael Janofsy's article


> This statement came from this article. Sorry I forgot to put quotes
around
> it!
>
> The New York TIMES On the Web May 17, 1999
> Jefferson Table Extended for Hemingses
> By MICHAEL JANOFSKY
>
> CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- If descendants of Thomas Jefferson ever accept as
> their relatives people who claim as forebears Jefferson and Sally Hemings,
> one of his slaves, the first steps were taken over the weekend. However
small
> they were. As part of the Jefferson family's 86th reunion, his
descendants,
> a group known as the Monticello Association, for the first time invited
> Hemings descendants to attend a reception on Saturday at Monticello,
> Jefferson's plantation home, and a family business meeting Sunday. About
35
> Hemingses came, and also for the first
> time, the association agreed to accept a membership application from a
> descendant of each of the three male children Hemings relatives claim she
had
> by Jefferson. In addition, a motion to have the Hemings descendants leave
> the room after lunch Sunday, when the business meeting officially began,
was
> voted down, 33-20, another small sign that relations might be warming. But
it
> could be a long thaw. Despite the desire of all Hemings' progeny to be
> recognized as true descendants of the nation's third president and the
author
> of the Declaration of Independence, the applications were viewed as
strictly
> symbolic. And final approval was hardly guaranteed, reflecting the
fierce
> pride of Jefferson descendants and their grudging reluctance to accept an
> alternative view of history that shows their patriarch in a less than
glowing
> light. In response to the ongoing campaign by
> Hemings descendants to prove what they believe is their rightful place in
> history, the association voted to have a special committee gather more
> evidence -- through genetic tests, oral histories and anything else --
before
> making a final determination of whether Hemingses are truly Jeffersons.
The
> committee is expected to present its findings by next year's reunion. The
> vote effectively seeks to build upon years of scientific, genealogical and
> historical work that both supports and disputes the contention that
Jefferson
> and Hemings
> had children together. Recent genetic tests, for example, offered evidence
> that Jefferson probably fathered one of Hemings three sons, Eston
Jefferson,
> but not necessarily the other two, Thomas C. Woodson and James Madison
> Hemings. As a result, descendants of Eston Jefferson argued this weekend
> that the genetic evidence is compelling, while Woodson and Madison progeny
> sought to place greater emphasis on oral histories passed down by
generations
> of their families.
>
> In any event, the request for more information continued a Jefferson
family
> dispute pitting forces sympathetic to the Hemings' campaign to be accepted
> against family members who want to see more proof. The rancor spilled
outof
> the meeting room Sunday when the Hemings' leading champion among the
> Jefferson descendants, Lucien K. Truscott IV, an author from Los Angeles,
> accused the out-going president, Robert M. Gillespie, of sabotaging
efforts
> to have Hemings' descendants ultimately be recognized as true Jefferson
> descendants.
>
> Truscott said that when he made a motion for the association's executive
> committee to admit the Hemingses as honorary members, he was dismissed by
> Gillespie as acting out of order. "That is a good reflection of how fair
> they intend to be with the criteria committee they appointed," Truscott
> said. "They had the opportunity to vote, to let these people in as
nonvoting
> members, to come to meetings, and they wouldn't even let the floor vote."
> Gillespie insisted Truscott was out of order, that association bylaws say
> that honorary members must be affiliated either with the Monticello
> Foundation, which maintains the residence, or the
> University of Virginia, which Jefferson founded.
>
> Other Jefferson descendants took issue with Truscott, not least for his
> characterizations of association members as racists for their reluctance
to
> recognize Hemingses as Jeffersons. As Truscott stood before a bank of
> television cameras, answering reporters' questions, one Jefferson
descendant,
> Theresa Shackelford, walked up beside him to refute some of his
contentions.
>
> To his charge that some members have said they would resign and insist
upon
> not being buried in the family cemetery if Hemings were allowed in, Ms.
> Shackelford said, "I've never heard anybody say they would resign or
refuse
> to be buried in the graveyard.
> "And you can't allow them in as honorary members until there is time to do
> more thorough research," she added. "You can't do these things halfway.
> Look, I am for any lineal descendant, be they black, white or purple.
We're
> not racists in this organization. We're snobs, but not racists."
>
> This article can be found at
>
http://search.nytimes.com/search/daily/bin/fastweb?getdoc+site+iib-site+96+0
> +wAAA+sally%7Ehemings
>
> Thomas Jefferson never denied his relationship with Sally Hemings. After
he
> died, the Virginia
> State Legislature voted a special dispensation for her in recognition of
the
> well-known fact that
> she had been the President's mistress. Only Sally and her sons, Madison
and
> Eston, were
> allowed to stay behind at Montecello. All of the other of the 187 slaves
were
> disbursed.
> Jefferson's three older children by Sally had previously been freed.
>
>
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