In 1850, a 42-year-old former slave with light bronze skin, auburn-tinted hair and a trace of freckles moved with his wife and three children to Madison, Wis. Historical accounts note that Eston Hemings, a black man born into slavery, had a dignified manner about him and bore an uncanny resemblance to one of the nation’s Founding Fathers.
But it was only through a DNA study published in 1998 that scientists were able to confirm with reasonable certainty what Eston Hemings himself never talked about: that he was the son of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, a household slave at Monticello.
“It is conclusive that Eston Hemings is a Jefferson. That’s the scientific evidence,” said Cinder Stanton, senior research historian at the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation.
However, Stanton noted that since Thomas Jefferson did not produce any sons with his wife Martha, the Y-chromosome DNA material used for the test had to be taken from descendents of Thomas Jefferson’s uncle, Field Jefferson. This means that while the DNA of the lone descendent of Eston Hemings conclusively matched that of the Jefferson descendents, technically Eston Hemings could be the son of any male relative with the same Y-chromosome as Thomas Jefferson.
But while DNA evidence alone does not conclusively prove Thomas Jefferson fathered Eston Hemings, Stanton and other experts point out that documents recording who was at Monticello nine months before the birth of each of Sally Hemings’ six children and the birth patterns make it highly probable that Thomas Jefferson fathered some, if not all, of Sally Hemings’ children.
“We know Thomas Jefferson was at Monticello nine months before all six kids were born,” said Wayne Mogielnicki, director of communications at Monticello.
Eston Hemings, the youngest of Sally Hemings’ six children, was born into slavery at Monticello in 1808. According to Stanton, Eston Hemings was trained as a carpenter while living on the plantation. Stanton said although Jefferson never acknowledged a special relationship with any of the Hemings children, he kept a promise he made to Sally Hemings that he would free each of her children when they reached age 21. Eston Hemings and his brother, Madison, were freed in Thomas Jefferson’s 1826 will. According to experts at Monticello, Jefferson did not grant freedom to any other nuclear slave family.
“They were freed, which is pretty unique for a Monticello slave,” Stanton said.
Stanton said Jefferson’s decision to free Sally Hemings’ children raised some eyebrows among Jefferson’s white peers.
“It did excite some talk in the neighborhood,” Stanton said.
Although Sally Hemings was never formally freed from slavery, she lived with Madison and Eston Hemings in Charlottesville, Va., as a free woman until her death in 1835. After her death Madison and Eston Hemings moved to Chillicothe, Ohio, where Stanton said individuals commented on how strongly Eston Hemings resembled Thomas Jefferson.
But residents in the southern Ohio community still considered Eston Hemings a black man, and according to Stanton, the laws in Ohio were harsh toward African Americans. In addition, the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which allowed slave catchers to cross state lines for the purpose of capturing and returning escaped slaves or, in some cases, kidnapping free African Americans, made southern Ohio a dangerous place for African Americans to live. Stanton said historians have speculated that these laws may have prompted Eston Hemings to move to Wisconsin in the early 1850s.
Upon arriving in Madison, Wis., Eston Hemings and his family passed as white members of society and changed their last name to Jefferson. Eston Hemings, who went by E.H. Jefferson while he lived in Wisconsin, is listed in the 1855 Madison Directory and Business Advertiser as a cabinetmaker. According to Stanton, he was a successful businessman in the area. However, Stanton speculates that living as a white person was likely very tense.
“The fear of discovery must have always been there,” Stanton said.
Eston Hemings’ son, Beverly, built on his father’s success and became a prominent member of the Madison business community. According to Stanton, he was a hotelkeeper and a carriage operator in Madison, owning one of the largest lines of carriages and wagons in the area.
Eston Hemmings lived out the remainder of his life in Madison, where he died in 1856. He is buried in Madison’s Forest Hills Cemetery (located on Speedway Road), alongside his wife, Julia, and eight family members. Eston Hemings concealed his family history until his death.
Slavery’s role in the nation’s history
Although Eston Hemings brought a piece of Monticello’s legacy to Wisconsin as a free man, there were hundreds of slaves at Monticello and millions throughout the country who remained bound by slavery.
As the nation observes Black History Month, experts note that slavery plays a crucial role in the history of the United States and the status of race relations today.
“The essential story that white Americans tell themselves about America as a land of opportunity looks radically different when you approach it from not an immigrant ship, but a slave ship,” University of Wisconsin associate history professor Steve Kantrowitz said.
According to a pamphlet published by the Wisconsin Historical Society titled “Black Settlers in Rural Wisconsin,” African Americans have played a key role in the development of Wisconsin since their first arrival in the 1700s.
From 1619, when the first Africans arrived in America, until 1865, an estimated 350,000 to half a million African-Americans were transported to America. Through a natural population increase, their number had grown to 4,441,830 by 1860, only a fraction of whom lived outside the south.
Kantrowitz added that in many ways, America is still in the immediate aftermath of slavery. He said America is still feeling the effects of slavery socially and economically and will likely continue to do so for several hundred years.
Stanton said although Jefferson wrote the phrase “All men are created equal” into the Declaration of Independence in 1776, he owned more than 600 slaves in his lifetime. She said Jefferson accepted slavery as a part of the law and relied on slaves to maintain Monticello.
“That was the system, that was the law in place. He didn’t want to rock the boat,” Stanton said.
Although Stanton said Jefferson tried to make slavery at Monticello as humane as possible, he did not view African Americans as equals.
“He considered black people mentally and physically inferior to white people,” Stanton said.
Kantrowitz said Jefferson’s inaction is a sign of a larger cultural attitude about black history.
“We need to see Jefferson’s ambivalence and failure to act as a larger history of white Americans’ unwillingness to confront how painful and problematic American slavery has been for America,” Kantrowitz said.
UW celebrates black history, teaches others
In an effort to provide a forum for open discussion about black history, several UW student groups are holding events and working to educate others.
Tyina Steptoe, a UW graduate student in the history department, works with a campus group called TRUTH (Teaching Racial Understanding Through History), which uses music to educate elementary and middle-school students about race issues throughout history. The group travels to local schools and uses a variety of songs, ranging from old slave hymns to modern rap tunes, to get students talking about the race issues that played a role in history and those that continue to affect students today.
“To understand how the world works now, we need to look back at our history,” Steptoe said.
Steptoe said one common misconception is that black history is somehow different or separate from other parts of American history.
“Don’t think of this in terms of being somebody else’s history,” Steptoe said. “Without black history, we don’t have American history.”
While Steptoe appreciates the educational forum Black History Month provides, she wishes black history was given recognition throughout the year.
“It’s almost sad that we have to have a month dedicated to black history and that we can’t just include black history all year long. Sometimes I look at all of the great African American movies playing during February, and I think, why can’t they play this movie in June?” Steptoe said.
The Wisconsin Black Student Union is also hosting a variety of events to commemorate Black History Month. According to Sheila Holloway, UW junior and vice president of the Black Student Union, the events will culminate with the Statewide Black Student Union Conference Feb. 20-22. The conference, held at Union South, will include a job fair, workshops, live entertainment and a Black History Month program.
As part of the program, UW alumnus Alex Gee, one of the authors of “Jesus and the Hip-Hop Prophets: Spiritual Insights from Lauryn Hill and Tupac Shakur,” will speak Feb. 21 at 7 p.m.
