CONVERSATIONS ON JEFFERSON AND JEFFERSONIAN POLITICS
The Children of Sally Hemings
Eyler Coates
Did Sally Hemings tell her son Madison that Thomas Jefferson was his father? One story that brings the theory that she did so into question is the story told of some residents of Chillicothe, Ohio, who traveled to Washington, D.C., and saw a statue of Thomas Jefferson that they thought resembled Eston Hemings. One of the travelers asked Eston about this after returning to Ohio, and Eston reportedly made this ambiguous comment: "Well, my mother whose name I bear belonged to Mr. Jefferson... [pause]... and she never was married." Eston did not comment further, and the questioner reportedly "saw this as confirming the rumor."
On the face of it, Eston's statement expressed a genuine uncertainty and lack of knowledge. The questioner apparently wanted to hear that Thomas Jefferson was Eston's father, and if he were, it is difficult to find a reason why Eston would not have owned up to the fact, if indeed he believed it to be true. How simple it would have been for him to have replied, "The truth is, that is what my mother, whose name I bear, told me."
Perhaps opposition partisans might be inclined to put some other spin on Eston's response and hesitancy, but the obvious, "prima facie" interpretation is, he may have been entertaining the possibility that Thomas Jefferson was his father, but HE HONESTLY DID NOT KNOW! He could only offer his questioner some suggestions that might tend to support the apparent theory of the questioner.
This is a common human experience. When some friendly person comes to us with an idea or suggestion, most people tend not to contradict them outright, but rather to "go along" and feed them with information that might tend to agree with their suggestion. Eston did not contradict his questioner, but said things that suggested an effort to find facts that might support what the questioner was getting at, even though he was not able to give a definitive answer.
There is one significant piece of information that was part of this story. After being given the ambiguous answer, the questioner "saw this as confirming the rumor." If Eston had reason himself to believe that he was Thomas Jefferson's son, there was no substantial reason for denying it. If there already was a rumor that he was Jefferson's son, it seems doubtful that he would fear any harm from admitting it. Therefore, there seems to be every reason for assuming that if Eston actually believed he was Jefferson's son, he almost surely would have stated so when questioned.
The other interesting fact about the questioner's assumption is that it tells us that there was indeed a rumor existing that was not initiated by Eston and that suggested Eston was Jefferson's son. The rumor, in other words, had a life of its own before the question, and that life was being supported by gossip from persons other than Eston himself. The extent of the rumor is not clear, however. Was it a rumor that existed before the travellers went to Washington, or was it a "rumor" amongst a small group after they saw the statue? We know, of course, that there had been such rumors regarding Sally's children for many years before.
There are some even more interesting conclusions that can be drawn from this story. At the time that Eston was questioned about his father, Sally Hemings was dead. But she had lived with Eston and Madison up until the time of her death. So, if Eston didn't really know who his father was and expressed obvious uncertainty, how did Madison know? Would Sally have told Madison and not Eston? During the nine years after Jefferson's death, when Sally lived with Madison and Eston, is it possible that Madison could have known at that time who his father was, and Eston would not? If Sally had told Madison it was Thomas Jefferson, would either she or Madison have not told Eston at a time when they were all living together?
If we accept this story of Eston being questioned about his similarity to the statue of Jefferson being true, it also serves as powerful evidence that Eston himself did not know for sure who his father was, and that up until the death of Sally Hemings, she had not told her children that Jefferson was their father. Moreover, it is apparent that there was nothing in the upbringing of Eston and Madison or their mutual experiences at Monticello when Jefferson was alive that would have indicated to Eston that Jefferson was definitely his father, nor that this belief was shared between Eston, Madison and Sally when Sally was still alive.
So where did Madison get his information of which he was so certain that he conveyed in the Wetmore interview? NOT from Sally! He could only have gotten it from sources outside Monticello, such as Callender's accusations or other rumors that were floating around. And since we have already seen that there possibly were rumors in existence that Eston was Jefferson's son -- rumors that were not being fed by Eston himself -- we may surmise that Madison probably got these suggestions that Jefferson was his father not from Sally, not even from his own experiences at Monticello, but from extraneous sources, such as rumor and gossip. Madison cites NOTHING in his experience that would lead him to make that claim. Looking back upon his childhood, he said that Jefferson treated his grandchildren better than he treated Sally's children, indicating he did not treat the latter as though they actually were his own children.
Some partisans might manage to put a different spin on all this information, but it all sounds to me like very strong evidence that Sally never during her lifetime claimed that Thomas Jefferson was the father of her children -- not even to her own children.
Did Eston tell his own children that Thomas Jefferson was his father? But isn't the story well-founded that the descendants of Eston all believed Eston was fathered by "an uncle"? It seems unlikely that the descendants would have passed on this story if it began originally that the father was Thomas Jefferson. Who would take responsibility for making such a drastic change in handed-down family history? Even if they feared that to make this claim publicly would subject them to some kind of ridicule or even ostracism, is it not much more likely that they would have held within the family what they thought was the true story and have not revealed it to the outside world? Isn't this exactly what happened with some of the Woodson descendants? Didn't some of them think they were descended from Thomas Jefferson, but kept it as though it were a family secret to avoid the reactions of other people? Isn't this a more reasonable reaction than to deliberately change the story?
Eston's youngest son Beverly died in 1908, and someone, a friend of Beverly, wrote a brief letter to the editor of the Chicago Tribune that Beverly was the grandson of Thomas Jefferson. This was done in response to an obituary that appeared upon the death of Beverly. There apparently was no follow-up to this story, and it is not known how this person got his information, whether from Beverly himself, or from rumors in circulation at the time. It is possible the person surmised this from the story about Eston and his resemblance to Jefferson that was published in 1902 only six years earlier. In any case, information from such a source seems to be highly unreliable.
The article written in 1902, some fifty years after the event, about Eston and the statue of Jefferson, is nevertheless considered at least hearsay evidence. Although some conversations, along with their nuances, are not easily remembered even a short time after they occur, it is certainly possible that this could happen. As a person ages, it is short term memory that goes first, and frequently long term memories are still vividly recalled. I know that I, at age 71, can recall vividly things that occurred 50-60 years ago.
Eventually, Eston changed his family name from Hemings to Jefferson. We could only speculate on why Eston made this change. Was it because he thought he was descended from Thomas Jefferson? The story passed down has been that Eston and his descendants claimed "an uncle" as the father of Eston because they wanted to hide their descent from Thomas Jefferson, but that motive may be just more modern speculation. Changing the surname to Jefferson seems like the worst way to hide from such an eventuality. Why not to Jones or Smith? Perhaps Eston just wanted to identify with the broader Jefferson family because he had reason to believe he was actually a part of that family. It is difficult to believe he would have changed the name, but then avoided being identified as a descendant of Thomas Jefferson if, in fact, he believed he was. Why can't we take the matter on the face of it, based on the evidence that has come down to us, and assume that Eston thought he was descended from a Jefferson relative, not Thomas, and changed his name to Jefferson because that was his father's name? That sounds like a simple, straightforward explanation -- the kind of thing any ordinary person might do. Instead of bearing the name of his mother, as Eston reportedly said in Chillicothe, he would henceforth bear the name of his father. No fear, no subterfuge, no duplicity about it.
July 25, 2001
Cyndi
Did Sally Hemings tell Madison that Thomas Jefferson was his father? One Pulitzer Prize winning historian who has been in the news lately would have us believe Madison did in fact state that his mother told him Jefferson was his father, or at least that is what he has declared in one publication and to the media. He cites this as one of his reasons for reversing his opinion on the Jefferson-Hemings matter.
There is absolutely nothing in Madison Hemings's narrative which identifies the origins of his claim so we can only speculate. It is also quite possible Sally Hemings couldn't identify the father or fathers of her children. What would a mother say to her children under these circumstances?
Eyler has made some very good points about interpretations related to Eston Hemings and his resemblance to a bronze statue of Jefferson. One theory might be simply that the residents of Chillicothe while visiting Washington noticed the resemblance and from Eston's ambiguous reply, hence came the rumors. The Callender allegations would have legitimized the rumors.
Even though Eston may not have known who his father was or he may have known he was a Jefferson, he must have known that he resembled the Jeffersons, so his answer was possibly deliberately ambiguous. If Eston had believed the President was his father, there wouldn't have been any reason for him not to say so. There was a strong "anti-Negro sentiment" in his Ohio settlement from the mid 1800's and even as late as the 1880's. Hinting at a relationship to a prominent person may have been a way of attaining respectability and acceptance by the white residents. He may have viewed this as being necessary for his family's survival.
Why did Eston decide to change his surname to Jefferson when he passed as white? It could have been because he knew his father was a Jefferson, and/or he may have felt it was the logical choice because of his convincing resemblance to the Jeffersons. Why else would he choose a name that would not afford him anonymity?
July 25, 2001
Eyler Coates
Most of us know who our father is or was from the circumstances associated with the relationship. He's the man who sleeps in the same bedroom with mother every night. He supports the family, comes home from work, gives us directions, etc. With Madison, the circumstances were different. In fact, Madison cites no circumstances whatsoever that would lead anyone to think Thomas Jefferson was his father. If anything, it is just the opposite. Madison says, "He was uniformly kind to all about him. He was not in the habit of showing partiality or fatherly affection to us children... He was affectionate toward his white grandchildren." This suggests Jefferson was no more kind to Madison than to anyone else about him, but he was especially kind to his grandchildren. So, what is the basis upon which Madison states that Thomas Jefferson was his father? Apparently, we have only Madison's bare, unsupported statement.
July 31, 2001
A rumor which prevailed for many years but which is now being called into question is that Sally Hemmings was fathered by Jefferson's wife's father, making her Thomas Jefferson's wife's sister. Although I do not assert that this is conclusive by any means, would that not make Thomas Jefferson 'an Uncle'?
November 19, 2001