The Wayles/Eppes/Jefferson/Hemings Relations...Black & White Cousins

I want to talk about my connection to this group of my cousins.

I remember as a teen in the 1970's when a bombshell book came out written by the historian Fawn M. Brodie  It was called "Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History".  My mother bought this book and it sat in our den on the bookshelf.  At the time I remember it caused a stir(especially since I lived in Virginia)as it included the accusation that Jefferson had children with his slave Sally Hemmings outside of his marriage to his wife, Martha Wayles Jefferson.

Just about everyone at that time who knew anything about Thomas Jefferson knew these rumors were true but people didn't go around talking about it nor had anyone written a book containing this information for public consumption.  I took the book and read it when I went away to college in 1977.  This was right after Alex Haley published "Roots" in 1976 and they came out with the much touted mini-series based on his book.

As for the cousining, let's start with Henry Isham I(1627-1675).  He had two daughters, Anne Fitzhugh Isham and Mary Isham.  Anne married Col. Francis Eppes III(1659-1718).  Anne is my 2nd cousin 12 x removed.  Their son, Francis Eppes IV(1686-1734)married Sarah Kennon(1684-1748).  Their daughter, Martha Eppes(1712-1748), my 4th cousin 10 x removed)married John Wayles(1715-1773)a Welshman who immigrated to America.

Martha Eppes and John Wayles had a daughter, Martha Wayles(1748-1782).  Martha Eppes Wayles died a few days after giving birth to that daughter Martha.

John Wayles also had an older brother, Richard Wayles(1714-1765)who married Martha Cocke Bolling(1726-1758)and they had a son, Francis Eppes(1747-1808).  This Francis Eppes married Elizabeth Wayles(1752-1810).  Elizabeth Wayles was the daughter of John Wayles and his second wife, Mary Tabitha Cocke(1724-bet.1758-1760), making Francis Eppes and Elizabeth Wayles not only husband and wife but also double cousins and making Martha Wayles and Elizabeth Wayles half siblings.  Is everyone following this so far? ;-)

Not only did John Wayles have two wives, he also "took liberties" with one of his slaves, Elizabeth "Betty" Hemmings.  

Betty was the daughter of a sea captain, John Hemmings and an African slave, thus Betty was biracial or as they used the term back in the day "mulatto".  The story goes that John Hemmings plied his trade between England and the port town of Williamsburg and that is where he met and had his way with the African slave who's name is lost to history.  This slave was the property of John Wayles.  Captain Hemmings claimed paternity of the child Betty and tried to buy her from John Wayles but Wayles would not hear of it and took the slave and child into the "great house" to live to keep the child away from Hemmings if he considered kidnapping the child.  Wayles also thought her a novelty, being mulatto, and saw this as "a grand experiment" and wished to see how she would "turn out".  So John Wayles raised Betty and then once his second wife died he turned around and slept with Betty, producing six children with her.  Betty had already had 4 other children with unknown fathers-well one was a carpenter of Irish extraction who worked on building Monticello named Joseph Neilson.  Among these offspring Betty had with John Wayles(the number are still undecided)were Thenia, Cristena "Critta", Robert "Bob", James and Sally Hemings(1773-1835).

This would make Sally Hemings 3/4 European White and 1/4 African American and John Wayles' "white" daughter, Martha Wayles, with his wife Martha Eppes Wayles, Sally's half sister.  This ad mixture back in that day made Sally an "octoroon" or "almost white" in appearance.  There are no images of Sally Hemings from that era but here is one often used to "portray" her....

Compare that to a known portrait of Martha Wayles, Sally's half sister......

And a portraiture of Sally and Thomas Jefferson's only daughter Harriet, who lived to adulthood, until 1863 or 1864 *no  one is sure*.....

So why my interest in these genealogical lines?  I am a 5th cousin 9x removed to Thomas Jefferson through my maternal Great Grandmother and his mother who was a Randolph.  I am also a 5th cousin 9x removed to Jefferson's wife, Martha Wayles Jefferson through the same Great Grandmother and her mother who was an Eppes.  Isham, Eppes, Wayles, Jefferson are all my cousins by blood. (Also my 7th Great Grandmother married as her 4th Husband, Thomas Jefferson's uncle, Fielding Jefferson, though they had no children together.  So my direct ancestor was also for a time the Aunt of Thomas Jefferson and was the part of the first couple in English America to have a legal pre-nuptial agreement.)

So this whole argument that has raged for centuries about Thomas Jefferson having a "shadow family" as it was often referred to in the South with Sally Hemings, his slave and half-sister of his wife, is near to my heart.

Once the Brodie book came out the debate among the direct Jefferson ancestors as to whether to accept the Hemings ancestors "into the family" has taken center stage.  First the Jefferson Society hierarchy refused to provide DNA to confirm or deny the Hemings link and court cases ensued.  Then the sticking point became only the "white" direct ancestors of Jefferson were allowed to be buried at Monticello as is the family members' right.  Even after DNA testing has confirmed centuries of oral history there is still a segment of the "white" Jefferson's who started the ultra-conservative Thomas Jefferson  Heritage Society who still refuse to come around and deny any Jefferson-Hemings ties.  These folks keep pushing against the tide.

My thoughts?  I am all for embracing the Sally Hemings offspring descendants as Jefferson descendants.  

I grew up in the South during the Civil Rights Era.  I saw that struggle first hand from the sidelines as a child.  I have progressive relatives and I have relatives who'd prefer we all go back to the "good old days".  I've seen my share of racism.  (Let me add that having lived up North since 1984 I've seen about as much racism up here as down South where I grew up.) 

All the Hemings descendants are welcomed as my cousins and I have added them(as much information as I can find)to my personal family tree. We are ALL cousins when it comes down to it and any of them are welcomed at my table.

Sluggy