JEFFERSON NOTES Jefferson Notes is a publication of theThomas Jefferson Heritage Society Richard Dixon Editor 4122 Leonard Drive Fairfax VA 22030 l jeffersonnotes@earthlink.net Spring 2008 No. 4
JEFFERSON MEMORIAL DEDICATED SIXTY-FIVE YEARS AGO
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ver in his thoughts, and indeed often in his presence, the woman who knew Thomas Jefferson best has disappeared. In her place appears another, whose only documented connection to Jefferson was that she lived at Monticello.
Nowhere is this more evident than Jon Kukla’s Mr. Jefferson’s Women. Kukla examines Jefferson’s character through the women he had known, the young girl who rejected his early proposal of marriage, the married woman whom he injudiciously propositioned, the wife with whom he had ten years of “unchequered happiness” and the coquette he met in Paris who briefly captured his fancy. Some years ago, Kukla conceived of the idea of examining Jefferson through the women in his life. The result reveals an unusual portrait of Jefferson as solipsistic and selfish in his relationships with women. Oh yes, there is also a Sally Hemings. Kukla does not bring us anything new about Hemings. In fact, history has left almost no trace of her. He calls their relationship “elusive” and he also concludes that the “emotional aspects of the relationship remain even more obscure.” Then, for reasons not quite explained, he concludes they had a relationship because of the children. Two of Hemings’ children were allowed to run away and two were freed in Jefferson’s will. It would seem that a relationship would be a predicate for paternity, but apparently if that can not be found, an assumed paternity is proof of the relationship. But there is no chapter for Jefferson’s daughter Martha (Patsy). The Jefferson books keep coming, and each must have their say on the paternity issue, but all ignore the one constant in Jefferson’s life. She was only ten when her mother died and she became her father’s sole companion in the long rides through the hills around Monticello as Jefferson struggled through his grief. Several years later, she accompanied him to Paris. After returning, she married and often visited Monticello with her children. Later, after Jefferson’s presidency ended, she and seven of her children came to Cont’d on page 2
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homas Jefferson had placed a dome on his home at Monticello and on the Rotunda at the University of Virginia. John Russell Pope adopted this classic architectural feature for the Jefferson Memorial. It is supported by white marble columns around its circumference. One can look between the columns and see a 19 foot standing Jefferson. Inside, there are panels with the words of Jefferson that have come to define the promise of the country. President Franklin Roosevelt requested Congress in 1934 to establish a memorial to Jefferson. Sitting beside the tidal basin and surrounded by cherry trees it is one of the capital's most beautiful structures. It was dedicated on April 13, 1943, on the 200th anniversary of Jefferson's birth while a great war to determine the destiny of human freedom raged throughout the world. It is managed by the National Park Service.
COURSES ON JEFFERSON-HEMINGS SLANTED Fourth in a series. We previously looked at courses given by Wesleyan University, William & Mary, Bridgewater College, Rochester University, Canisius College, Cornelia Strong College (UNC at Greensboro) and University of New Mexico that require the student to accept as historical fact that Jefferson fathered children by Sally Hemings The website for Feminist Sexual Ethics Project at Brandeis University supported by a grant from the Ford Foundation and Brandeis University includes this statement: She (Sally Hemings) had no right to say "no" when she was 13 or 14 and her sexual relationship with Jefferson began, and had no right to say "no" when her children were sold off with the rest of Jefferson's property after his death
The Madison Hemings interview with a newspaper reporter occurred about fifty years after he left Monticello. This interview is important to the paternity believers. Because it is the only declaration by a Jefferson relative, acquaintance, or slave, that Jefferson fathered children by Sally Hemings. We will continue in Jefferson Notes, to examine it. FAILED CLAIM OF PARENTAGE
Madison Hemings revealed in his interview that Thomas Jefferson “was not in the habit... of showing partiality or affection” to him. Annette Gordon-Reed, in Thomas JefferIn the face of a complete absence of evidence, almost all of the son and Sally Hemings: An American paternity advocates have retreated from the charge that Jefferson had a Controversy, asserted that this did not sexual relationship with Hemings in Paris. Even though they need Madirule out all partiality or affection, son Hemings’ declaration of paternity, his assertion that his mother reonly that it was not a “habit” of Jefturned from France pregnant is mostly ignored. Of course, none of Hemings’ children were “sold off,” either before Jefferson’s death or afterward. ferson’s. This argument misses the It is in academia that the paternity claim should receive a lively debate, point. It is not the relationship that but slowly imagination is becoming historical fact. may have been demonstrated between Jefferson and Hemings that would establish proof of paternity. FORGOTTEN WITNESS That would carry little weight to cont’d from page 1 prove or disapprove whether Jefferson was Madison’s father. He could live at Monticello. One had recently married, but she would have four easily have shown partiality and afmore. fection on a daily basis and not have been his father.
So she was there from the beginning until the end with Sally Hemings. But she is mostly ignored by current writers who wish to conclude that a Jefferson-Hemings relationship was a part of Monticello life. This could not have occurred without Martha’s knowledge. Fawn Brodie, in Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History, was first with this proposition that Martha and Jefferson’s younger daughter, Maria (Polly), knew but pretended they did not. Perhaps this was the source of Kukla’s solution, because he also avoids the dilemma by concluding both daughters knew. He offers no evidence of this. To the contrary, there is an event where Martha just before her death implored her oldest son to fight such charges. If the daughters knew, then all the others knew. Kukla does not speculate on the details of this massive cover-up. Left unexplained is the silence of the others, the grandchildren, the relatives, the friends, the constant visitors, and the slaves, who said nothing. There is an interesting analysis by Cynthia Kiernan in Scandal at Bizarre: Rumor and Reputation in Jefferson’s America about the role that fell to women in the early Republic to maintain the morality of the household. This would have been Martha’s responsibility, from the time of her marriage, well before Sally Hemings had her first child. To be complicit in her father’s relationship with Hemings, she would have sustained a public deceit for more than thirty years and rejected her own moral responsibility. Martha Jefferson is the key witness for Thomas Jefferson. She must be heard. She is the forgotten witness. Jefferson Notes page 2
What is missing in the interview and what Gordon-Reed ignores is the relationship between Jefferson and Sally Hemings. The author of the interview, S. F. Wetmore, sought the interview because he knew that Hemings claimed to be the son of Thomas Jefferson. Why then would the interview be devoid of any incidents or recollections that would support a relationship between Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson? The only way Madison could designate the person he believed to be his father would be to describe the circumstances of his early life and the relationship of that person to his mother. Wetmore would understand the purpose of the interview and it has to be assumed he would have given Madison the opportunity to support his claim of parentage, which Madison was unable to do.
THE JEFFERSON IMAGE THOMAS JEFFERSON * ARCHITECT AND BUILDER
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the three accomplishments for which Jefferson most wished to be remembered, one was the building of the University of Virginia. In 1976, the American Institute of Architects deemed his design of the university “the proudest achievement of American architecture in the past 200 years.” The university and its magnificent Rotunda is only one of the many ventures displayed in Thomas JefThomas Jefferson Architect: The ferson, Architect. This Built Legacy of Our Third Presi- is a wonderful book. It has the coffee table dent, by Hugh Howard and look with gorgeous Roger Straus III, Rizzoli, 2003 photographs, but with a careful and detailed explanation how Jefferson’s love of classical achitecture changed the face of Virginia.
Jefferson and Monticello: The Biography of a Builder, by Jack McLaughlin, Henry Holt and Company, 1988
A perfect companion book is Jack McLaughlin’s Jefferson and Monticello. In the public consciousness, Jefferson and Monticello have become one. Often, biographers refer to Jefferson’s home Monticello as an extension of his unique personality. McLaughlin captures this duality. He uses a biographical format to weave together Jefferson’s forty year construction project and how it affected all those who lived there. Monticello
son inherited from his father. He brought his bride here through the deep snow in 1772 and lived in one of the small dependencies while the main house was being constructed. After her death in 1782, Jefferson accepted an assignment to France. His travels in France and Italy and his study of ancient Greek and Roman architecture were important in his conception of a unique style for public and residential buildings in America. He was greatly influenced by his study of the books and drawings of Andrea Palladio, the 16th century Italian architect. Jefferson had been building Monticello for almost fifteen years before he left. After he returned from France, he redesigned Monticello, removing the roof, lowering the upper walls and changing the front portico. The architectural and construction techniques are impressive even today. It is the place Jefferson longed to be during his years in public life and at the end of his presidency he returned to Monticello never to leave except to visit Poplar Forest. Monticello is open to tours. Poplar Forest Poplar Forest Poplar Forest in Bedford County, Virginia, was inherited by Jefferson’s wife, Martha, upon the death of her father in 1773. The construction of the unique octagon residence, was not begun until 1806. Jefferson also incorporated design techniques, floor to ceiling windows, alcove beds, a skylight and an indoor privy he discovered during his stay in France. Restored to Jefferson’s original design, it offers a fascinating look at architectural archeology and colonial building techniques. Poplar Forest is open to tours State Capitol at Richmond
Thomas Jefferson began the construction of Monticello in 1770 and continued to redesign and change it over the next forty years. It sits on a mountaintop (Monticello means “little mountain” in Italian) near Charlottesville, Virginia, on land Jeffer-
The Capitol of Virginia
Virginia moved its capital from Williamsburg to Richmond in 1780 and the committee responsible for construction of the new State Capitol wrote Jefferson, then Minister to France, for suggestions. JefferCont’d on page 4
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ARCHITECT AND BUILDER cont’d from page 3 son sent plans drawn by the French architect Charles-Louis Clerisseau based on the magnificent Roman temple at Nîmes, the Maison Carrée A year later, to be certain the plans were understood, Jefferson sent a plaster model of the Maison Carrée prepared by Jean-Pierre Fouquet. In changing the Capitol to Jefferson's design, it was adapted to fit foundations already started and the great steps were eliminated to provide space for windows at the lower level. It was not until the early 1900's that the steps were added, restoring the impressive portico to Jefferson's concept. At the same time, the assembly halls were added on either side of the original structure and all the buildings were painted white. Jefferson's decision to use the “cubic architecture” of the Maison Carrée introduced to America the classical form for public buildings. The Capitol is open to the public. University of Virginia Along with James Madison and James Monroe, Jefferson set the cornerstone for the beginning of Pavilion VII at his “academical village.” The design of the new university featured a wide PAVILLION VII AT THE expanse of lawn, flanked UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA by two parallel rows of buildings. At intervals in the rows Jefferson set Pavilions, two story structures which were occupied by the professors and where the students attended class. Between the Pavilions were the student rooms which opened onto a colonnaded arcade that ran the length of the row and protected the students from the weather as they walked to the Pavilions for class and meals. This design permitted the row to be extended for additional Pavilions and student rooms as the population of the school increased. Behind these rows were the “ranges” of additional student rooms. On the open north end of the two rows, he placed there his magnificent Rotunda, a domed structure modeled on the Pantheon in Rome. Jefferson supervised the construction, established the eight chairs for the disciplines to be taught, and selected the text books. The University may be seen by guided tour. Virginia Courthouses Even while his great project was going forward at the University of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson contributed to the design of several Virginia courthouses and continued to influence the use of the
classical form for public buildings. The earliest was completed in 1820 at Fincastle in Botecourt County. The courthouse was replaced in 1845, but there is some uncertainty whether Jefferson's plans were followed. Several years later, Jefferson provided plans for a courthouse at Buckingham County. In 1869, fire destroyed the building. It was long believed that the building was replaced using Jefferson's original plans, although this assumption has been challenged During the time that the Buckingham Courthouse was constructed, the plans were also used to build the new courthouse for Charlotte County. Located at Marysville, it is the only remaining courthouse constructed before Jefferson's death. Contributions to Friends Apparently, Jefferson was asked by his friends to assist in the construction of their own homes. There are a number of building throughout Virginia which seemed to reflect his influence, such as Christ Episcopal Church in Charlottesville, but do not. Among those in which he did participate in some way are Barboursville, the Residence at Woodberry Forest, Belle Grove, and Farmington, now a country club in Charlottesville. Barboursville was constructed between 1814 and 1821 by James Barbour, a Virginia governor, Senator, and Ambassador to Great Britain. Barbour asked his friend Thomas Jefferson to assist him with the design. The house was burned in 1884 and was never rebuilt BARBOURSVILLE RUINS but photographs reflect the similarity to Monticello. It contained an octagonal parlor and four Tuscan columns, a form Jefferson employed at Poplar Forest. Now known as the Barboursville Ruins, the walls still stand in mute memory of a lost age. Today, extensive vineyards cover the grounds and the winery is open to the public. Belle Grove was completed in 1797 by Isaac Hite and his wife Nelly Conway Madison, sister of James Madison. Here, James and Dolley Madison spent their honeymoon. It is constructed of limestone from a quarry on the property in a design influenced by Thomas Jefferson. An extension was added in 1815 to complete the house as it looks today. From the mid 1800's it had a succession of owners until purchased by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and opened to the public.
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ost of the arguments that are used to advance the notion of Jefferson’s paternity have been ably debunked in Jefferson Vindicated by Cynthia Burton. Unfortunately, throughout academia, it has been accepted as historical fact, as reflected in such books as Dominion of Memories by Susan Dunn, and the biography Thomas Jefferson by R. B. Bernstein. It was a rhetorical argument in Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy, by Annette Gordon-Reed.
One recent effort to juggle the evidence to prove that Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings had a long time relationship that produced children is Twilight at Monticello by Allan Pell Crawford. One of the real problems with the Thomas-Sally relationship is how it was conducted under everyone’s nose. This was an issue that was completely ignored in the 2000 Committee Report from Monticello and there has been a scramble since then to close that gap. Jon Kukla in Mr. Jefferson’s Women essentially gives up and says that everyone knew it. That seems to be the new strategy. Crawford lends support by discovering a “secret passage way” through which Hemings could reach Jefferson’s bedroom. Jefferson Vindicated discusses at length that the stairways at Monticello were part of the design. It would seem common logic must take over at some point and compel one to recognize that Hemings does not sneak into Jefferson’s bedroom for twenty years without anyone in the house knowing it. In fact, there were grandchildren of Jefferson’s who claim no one could have gone to Jefferson’s room without them hearing it. Crawford ignores this although it is clear even today that voices in Jefferson’s room can be heard in the room above it. Crawford may have been influenced by an article in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly by Helen F.M. Leary. She claimed a “secret” passageway was built in 1802-03. This was actually a planned stairway. It was also not available for the earlier Hemings’ births in 1795, 1798, and 1801. If the paternity story is analyzed from the known historical facts, it falls apart. But those who wish to believe in it keep trying. No one is more
adept at imagining the possible than Andrew Burstein, as he does in Jefferson’s Secrets. He cogitates through the difficulty Jefferson faced to arrange sex with a servant and to keep it a secret from everyone else in the house. Burstein solves this dilemma by concluding that Jefferson’s daughters and a favored granddaughter share the “secret,” even though he must reject their own statements that they did not. Even here, Burstein is not quite forthcoming. Much is made of an effort by Jefferson’s grandchildren to explain the paternity of Sally’s children by suggesting Peter Carr or Samuel Carr. Burstein, like many others, claims the DNA cleared the Carrs. Of course, the DNA did not. It indicated that Eston Hemings was a descendant of a Jefferson, but the paternity of Beverly, Harriet and Madison Hemings has not been tested by DNA. Francis D. Cogliano suggests his Thomas Jefferson: Reputation and Legacy can be a successor to The Jefferson Image in the American Mind by Merrill D. Peterson. That’s quite a stretch, but Reputation and Legacy is well worth the reader’s time. Cogliano takes a comprehensive look at Jefferson’s constant effort to acquire books and historical manuscripts. When Virginia must produce its own laws after the Revolution, Jefferson’s records became the principal source of that research. It is well known his personal collection became the Library of Congress after it was destroyed by the British in the War of 1812. Even the recounting of the effort by Jefferson’s family after his death to bring his papers to the public is clear and interesting. Unfortunately, Cogliano follows the same methodology in the chapter on Sally Hemings. He records the conclusions of others and fails to deal with the inconsistencies of the paternity claim. The influence of Monticello to assume paternity and ignore the evidentiary gaps is evident. It is apparent Cogliano did not have the research and details of Jefferson Vindicated available to him. He applauds Burstein’s admonition to accept the paternity as historical fact and to spend future efforts determining what the relationship was. Apparently, this can be accomplished by further musing.
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tephen J. Vicchio was impelled to write this book to discover whether Thomas Jefferson was an atheist. He was called so 200 years ago and the charges are repeated to this day. Jefferson has been said to be a Unitarian, a Deist and a Christian. Indeed, his religious beliefs are unique Jefferson’s Religion devotes a separate chapter to each of these possible persuasions. Vicchio does not try to force the evidence but lays it out in a deliberate style. He lets Jefferson’s words and action takes the reader to a logical conclusion. In the final few pages of the book he presents an outline of Jefferson’s most important moral and religious beliefs. These Jefferson’s Religion, include his political beliefs relating to religion, the reliby Stephen J. Vicchio. Wpf & Stock Publishers, gious beliefs peculiar to him, his traditional Christian beliefs, and his moral beliefs. 2007 A professor of philosophy and a biblical scholar, Vicchio reconciles the seemingly contradictory stances taken by Jefferson and takes the reader on an informative and stimulating trip. Jefferson Notes page 6
Visit the Thomas Jefferson Heritage Society at www.TJHeritage.org for other articles on Thomas Jefferson and discussions on the Hemings paternity claim and exactly what the DNA tests proved. A new article that will raise serious reflection is A Civil Action: Sally Hemings v. Thomas Jefferson, by William G. Hyland Jr., Esq. which was originally published in the American Journal of Trial Advocacy, (Summer 2007).