The Wall Street Journal reviews In Defense of Thomas Jefferson, a book that concludes,
emphatically, that the male Jefferson family member who fathered Eston Hemings could have been any one of at least seven males. There were, [author William G. Hyland Jr.] notes, “two dozen-plus Jefferson males (with DNA markers in common) roaming Virginia at the time.” The seven include Jefferson’s younger brother, Randolph, who had already fathered slave children and who had been invited to Monticello nine months before Eston’s birth. Mr. Hyland does not exclude Thomas Jefferson as a possible father of Eston. But he deplores the false assumption that today’s limited DNA evidence can answer the question one way or another.
Seems reasonable enough, although the Journal does not ask a question that the book’s title most strongly provokes: Why does Mr. Jefferson need a defense?
IMAGE: Thomas Jefferson by kamilya on Worth1000.com
4 responses so far ↓
1 AC // Jul 10, 2011 at 10:39 am
Jefferson’s wife’s father even had children with Sally Hemmings. TJ’s wife was half sister to one of her husband’s lover’s children.
2 Tog // Jul 10, 2011 at 10:41 am
He is an ancestor of these descendents as well as a slave owner. He talked out of both sides of his mouth, but alas, was a man of his time, just like Lincoln.
3 MN // Jul 11, 2011 at 9:56 pm
AC you have it wrong. Jefferson’s father in law fathered Sally Hemings, making her Martha Jefferson’s 1/2 sister.
4 southern girl // Nov 2, 2011 at 11:52 pm
it is what it is and it’s funny how everything was suppose to be “correct” and the owner not have relations with his servants. Well guess what? it happened. Too much time defending history instead of finding the truth
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