Jeffy’s Doll?

Born as the son of a planter and surveyor in 1743, Thomas Jefferson had no idea as to the role he would play in the formation of this country.

Although lanky, he was refined and genteel nonetheless, and in 1772 married widow Martha Wayles Skelton. He was seemed the “silent member” of the Virginia House of Burgess and the Continental Congress, for it was with his pen and not his voice with which he often spoke. At the age of 33, he began to write the Declaration of Independence, the very document which led to the birth of this country. Aside from the Declaration, Jefferson is most well known for writing a bill which allowed religious freedom; it was passed in 1786.

In 1785, Jefferson became the successor of Benjamin Franklin as the minister to France. He resigned in 1793 as Secretary of State due to conflicts with Alexander Hamilton. Also, due to increasing tensions, two parties began to form, and Jefferson slowly became the leader of the republicans. In 1796, Jefferson became close to winning the presidential election and became vice president. Later, Jefferson assumed Presidency, and the problem with France had passed. While he cut many things, he was able to reduce national debt by at least a third. He was able to get new land from the French leader Napoleon while keeping the county from the Napolonic wars.

He died on the birthday of this nation, July 4, 1826, at the ripe old age of 83.

It has been 180 years, and, in light of attempts to ignore or other wise explain things away, even more evidence mounts as to the 38 year long romance between Thomas Jefferson and a slave which he acquired as inheritance via his wife, a Sally Hemings, continues to grow.

Sally was only nine when Jefferson’s wife died, leaving the 39 –year-old alone and full of grief. The passage of time and the ability to serve his country helped somewhat, as well as a trip to France. Normality returned once more. A whooping-cough epidemic, which broke out in Virginia, forced Jefferson to call his daughter Polly to France, accompanied by Sally. Abigail Addams knew this was a mistake and begged that Jefferson send Sally away. He refused, and an affair broke between the two. Sally only returned to the States at Jefferson’s call when he promised her children freedom at age 21. Sally returned, glowing and quite pregnant. She supposedly bore him seven children between 1789 and 1805, though no records were ever kept. Several slaves disappeared from records after their 21^st birthday. Sally herself was also nonexistent in records. Jefferson felt it was the only way he could protect her. Sally died not long after Jefferson in 1835.

They suffered because of their love for one another. Jefferson’s administration suffered and Sally faced taunts at the hands of such notables as John Quincy Adams, who dubbed her as “Monticellian Sally” able to “breed a block of slaves for stock.” Wanting to spare Sally from more pain, Jefferson kept quiet. This threatened his administration more; sadness once again reared its ugly head when Polly died suddenly. His other daughter, Martha, tried to protect them as well, dispelling rumors that Sally had given her father children. Media readily took to this, as they did not wish to believe that such a great man could do as he did.

Current research, as appeared in Nature magazine, November 1998, uses strong evidence, such as DNA testing, to prove that at least one child, a one Eston, belonged to the Jefferson-Sally union. Some say, however, that another man in the Jefferson family could be the father to Eston, but the descendants of Heming contend this is not the case, point out Jefferson’s red hair and freckles, as well as several other Jeffersonlike features, in Eston.

Many opinions of this so called conspiracy float from ear to ear and head to head and have been jumbled in the process. It may never be known whether or not Jefferson did father the Hemings children, even with DNA testing. There were over 20 other Jefferson men living in the state of Virginia at the time; any one of them could have fathered the children through an illicit affair. This could very well be the case; however, it is very unlikely. Perhaps one day technology will advance even more, but, until then, the outcome will not be known, and the topic still open for debate.

While this may have ruined Jefferson’s reputation in the past, currently it serves to help him somewhat, for the so called negative brings to light the more positive things the man had been able to accomplish in his 83 years of life.