William G. Hyland Jr. - Martha Jefferson: An Intimate Life with Thomas Jefferson

Martha Jefferson

An Intimate Life with Thomas Jefferson

William G. Hyland Jr.

ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hyland, William G., Jr., 1956

Martha Jefferson : an intimate life with Thomas Jefferson / William G. Hyland Jr.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-4422-3983-8 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-4422-3984-5 (electronic)

1. Jefferson, Martha, 17481782. 2. Presidents spousesUnited StatesBiography. 3. Governors spousesVirginiaBiography. 4. Jefferson, Thomas, 17431826. I. Title.

E332.25.H95 2015

973.4'6092dc23

[B] 2014021736

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

Printed in the United States of America

To my children, Victoria and William, who bring me joy, love, happiness (and a few gray hairs) every day of every year.

And to the memory of historian Dumas Malone, the foremost scholar (living or dead) on Thomas Jefferson.

If in the house of Hades men forget their dead,

Yet will I even there remember my dear companion.

Homer, The Iliad , XXII, 389, inscribed (in Greek) by Thomas Jefferson on the gravestone of Martha, his wife, 1782

Abbreviations Used in Notes

Anas: The Complete Anas of Thomas Jefferson , ed. Frank B. Sawvel.

Bear: James A. Bear, Jr., Jefferson at Monticello: Recollections of a Monticello Slave and of a Monticello Overseer (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1999).

Brodie: Fawn Brodie, Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History (New York: Norton, 1974).

Domestic Life: Randolph, Sarah Nicholas (TDLTJ). The Domestic Life of Thomas Jefferson (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1871).

EOL: Gordon S. Wood, Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 17891815.

Family Letters: Edwin Morris Betts and James Adam Bear Jr., eds., The Family Letters of Thomas Jefferson (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1995).

FB: Thomas Jeffersons Farm Book: With Commentary and Relevant Extracts from Other Writings , ed. Edwin Morris Betts (Charlottesville, Va.: Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation, 1999).

FLP: Family Letters Project, Thomas Jefferson Foundation, The Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Retirement Series , at www.monticello.org/papers/index.html.

Free Some Day: Lucia C. Stanton, Free Some Day: The African-American Families of Monticello (Charlottesville, Va.: Thomas Jefferson Foundation, 2000).

GB: Thomas Jeffersons Garden Book: 17661824, With Relevant Extracts from His Other Writings , ed. Edwin Morris Betts (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1944).

Hemingses: Annette Gordon-Reed, The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family (New York: Norton, 2008).

Henry Adams, History: Henry Adams, History of the United States of America during the Administrations of Thomas Jefferson.

ICJS: International Center for Jefferson Studies

Jefferson, Writings: Thomas Jefferson, Writings , ed. Merrill D. Peterson (Library of America).

JHT, IVI: Dumas Malone, Jefferson and His Time.

Kern: Susan Kern, The Jeffersons at Shadwell: The Social and Material World of a Virginia Family (Ph.D. diss., College of William and Mary, 2005).

LOC: Library of Congress

MB, III: Jeffersons Memorandum Books: Accounts, with Legal Records and Miscellany, 17671826 , ed. James A. Bear Jr. and Lucia C. Stanton.

Parton, Life: James Parton, Life of Thomas Jefferson.

PTJ, IXXXIX: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson.

PTJRS, IVIII: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson. Retirement Series.

Randall, Jefferson, IIII: Henry S. Randall, The Life of Thomas Jefferson.

TDLTJ: Sarah N. Randolph, The Domestic Life of Thomas Jefferson.

TJ: Thomas Jefferson

TJF: The Thomas Jefferson Foundation

VMHB: Virginia Magazine of History and Biography

VTM: Merrill D. Peterson, Visitors to Monticello.

WMQ: William and Mary Quarterly

List of Historical Names

EDMUND BACON: Jeffersons overseer at Monticello from 1806 to 1823.

JAMES CALLENDER: Journalist. First published allegation that Jefferson had fathered the children of Sally Hemings.

PETER CARR: Nephew of Thomas Jefferson. Alleged lover of Sally Hemings and alleged father of her children. Born 1770, died 1815.

SAMUEL CARR: Nephew of Thomas Jefferson. Brother of Peter. Alleged lover of Sally Hemings and alleged father of her children. Born 1771, died 1855.

ELLEN RANDOLPH COOLIDGE: Granddaughter of Thomas Jefferson. Daughter of Martha Jefferson Randolph and Thomas Mann Randolph Jr. Wrote letter to her husband saying that Samuel Carr was the father of Sally Hemingss children.

MARIA COSWAY: Recipient of Jeffersons love letter Dialogue between My Head and My Heart. It was thought the relationship was intense but platonic.

MARY JEFFERSON EPPES: Youngest surviving daughter of Jefferson and Martha Wayles Jefferson. Also called Maria and Polly. Born 1778, died 1804. Sally Hemings accompanied her to France in 1787. Married John Eppes.

BEVERLY HEMINGS: Full name William Beverly Hemings. Born in 1798. Son of Sally Hemings. Alleged son of Thomas Jefferson or Peter or Samuel Carr. Ran away from Monticello in 1822.

CRITTA HEMINGS: Sister of Sally Hemings. Daughter of Elizabeth Betty Hemings.

ELIZABETH BETTY HEMINGS: Mother of Sally Hemings. Alleged mistress of John Wayles, Martha Jeffersons father.

ESTON HEMINGS: Full name Thomas Eston Hemings. Born 1808. Son of Sally Hemings. Alleged son of Thomas Jefferson or Peter or Samuel Carr.

MADISON HEMINGS: Full name James Madison Hemings. Born 1805, died 1877. Son of Sally Hemings. Alleged son of Thomas Jefferson or Peter or Samuel Carr. Interview printed in Pike County (Ohio) Republican in 1873, in which he said he was the son of Thomas Jefferson.

SALLY HEMINGS: Probable given name Sarah. Alleged mistress of Jefferson. Born 1773, died 1835. Daughter of Elizabeth Hemings.

ISAAC JEFFERSON: Former slave from Monticello. Gave a statement to the Pike County (Ohio) Republican affirming Madison Hemingss assertion that Jefferson had a sexual relationship with Sally Hemings.

MARTHA WAYLES SKELTON JEFFERSON: Wife of ten years to Thomas Jefferson. Born 1748, died 1782. Daughter of John Wayles. Mother of two children who survived to adulthood, Martha Patsy and Mary Polly.

RANDOLPH JEFFERSON: Thomas Jeffersons younger brother and probable candidate for the paternity of Eston Hemings, as well as Sally Hemingss other children.

GEORGE WYTHE RANDOLPH: Youngest grandson of Thomas Jefferson. Son of Martha Jefferson Randolph and Thomas Mann Randolph Jr. His mother attempted to prove to him and his older brother that Jefferson could not have been the father of Sally Hemingss children.