The only logical and rational conclusion is that the said Thomas Jefferson would have
considered it beneath his own personal dignity to consort with any black slave.
A very interesting claim, which shows that you obviously know zero
about Thomas Jefferson.
Jefferson was involved in many sexual escapades before he met Sally.
The first known is that he proposed or intended to propose marriage to
Rebecca Burwell, a 16-year-old girl. She married Jacquelin Ambler
instead, and became the mother-in-law of US Supreme Court Chief
Justice John Marshall, who wrote the famous Marbury vs. Madison
decision which was a rebuke for President Jefferson.
It was probably a wise move for Rebecca Burwell not to marry Thomas
Jefferson, because the woman Jefferson eventually did marry died soon
because of having too many children in too short a time.
Next, Jefferson engaged in an adulterous affair with Elizabeth Walker,
the wife of General John Walker, who had gone off to fight in one of
the Indian Wars. The Walkers were neighbors of Jefferson before he
built Monticello and, when General Walker was leaving, he asked Thomas
Jefferson to take care of his wife. Jefferson certainly did that,
while he was gone.
Years later, General Walker found out that Jefferson had been sleeping
with his wife and challenged Jefferson to a duel, but Jefferson
declined.
Some historians have claimed another scandal erupted when Thomas
Jefferson married his wife, Martha Wayles. They say that he married
her when she was still married to another man, Bathurst Skelton, and
that she had a son named John. However, it has been concluded that
this question arose because the calendar changed at about that time.
Almost every date during this period has two years attached to it,
because of the calendar change. The conclusion is that John Skelton
died in June 1771, that Bathurst Skelton died in September 1771, and
that Thomas Jefferson married Martha Wayles on 1 January 1772. This
was still a brief interlude for a woman supposedly in mourning from
the loss of both her husband and her son.
When Jefferson went to France in 1784, he started another adulterous
affair, this time with Maria Cosway, wife of the famous painter,
Richard Cosway. Richard Cosway was refered to as a "fop" by none other
than King George III. Apparently, Richard Cosway was thought of as a
homosexual who did not care if his wife slept with other men. Maria
Cosway later became notorious for the numerous affairs she had in her
life, something Jefferson could not have known because he was probably
among her early lovers. Here is where Fawn Brodie made a huge mistake
in her book, "Thomas Jefferson, an Intimate History". Fawn Brodie said
that Maria Cosway was "guilt ridden and ill equipped for adultery".
Fawn Brodie obviously did not do much research on the life of Maria
Cosway.
Benjamin Franklin was famous for the number of mistresses he had and
the number of illegitimate children he sired. When Jefferson came to
France, Franklin was already there and reputedly introduced Jefferson
to several of his mistresses, especially since Franklin was going back
to America anyway.
When Maria Cosway and her husband later left Paris for England, Thomas
Jefferson followed them on horseback for as long as he could.
Jefferson and Maria Cosway then exchanged love letters. One letter by
Jefferson, entitled "The Head and the Heart" became famous.
In 1787, Maria Cosway returned to Paris alone, without her husband,
obviously hoping to renew her relationship with Jefferson. She was
disappointed that Jefferson expressed no interest in her. Perhaps
Jefferson had heard of her reputation for promiscuity.
Still, for the next forty years, until they died, Maria Cosway
continued to write love letters to Thomas Jefferson, always hinting
that she would like for Jefferson to invite her to America. Jefferson
responded politely, but never encouraged her. These letters are now at
Princeton University.
We know from his accounts book that Thomas Jefferson probably first
became sexually involved with Sally Hemings on or about April 6, 1789,
because his account book shows that on that date he spent 96 francs
buying "cloths for Sally." Over the period of the next seven weeks,
Jefferson bought clothing for Sally on five separate occasions,
spending a total of 216 francs. He also paid 41 francs for washing for
Sally and 105 francs for an apartment for Sally. Sally had already
been in France for two years and this was the first time Jefferson had
ever spent any money on her.
Many believe that Sally was not the first slave-mistress of Thomas
Jefferson. One candidate is Mary Hemings, the half-sister of Sally.
Mary had a son named Joe Fossett, who was born in 1780. The
descendants of Joe Fossett claim that Thomas Jefferson was his father.
Joe Fossett was always given special treatment and is mentioned in the
will of Thomas Jefferson. Joe Fossett was caught in 1806 on the White
House lawn, sneaking out of the White House early in the morning. He
had been obviously sleeping with his wife Edy, who was working in the
White House. Thomas Jefferson was the first American President to
occupy the White House. Although John Adams and his wife visited the
still not entirely completed White House and Abigail Adams notoriously
hung up her wash to dry in the White House basement, they probably
never spent the night there. When Thomas Jefferson became president,
there was no White House staff, so he brought some of his slaves and
they became the first White House staff. Among his slaves, Edy, the
wife of Joe Fossett, and Davy and Fanny Bowles are known to have
worked in the White House. However, Thomas Jefferson did not want Joe
Fossett there and, when Joe was caught leaving the White House, Thomas
Jefferson had him arrested and put in jail in Arlington.
There is reason to suspect that Thomas Jefferson was the real father
of Joe Fossett, especially since Jefferson later gave Joe Fossett his
freedom. Joe Fossett was so named because his father was said to be
William Fossett, a white man who worked briefly for Thomas Jefferson,
but there is no evidence that William Fossett was around nine months
before Joe Fossett was born. There are many famous people who are
descendants of Joe Fossett. One of his daughters married Tucker
Isaacs, a prominent Jewish businessman in Charlottesville, and they
had nine children. The next time you meet a Jewish man named Isaacs,
ask him if he is part-black and see his reaction. There are at least
two well-known tournament chess players named Isaacs.
Another candidate for the original slave mistress of Thomas Jefferson
is Betty Brown. She received a lot of special treatment, compared with
the other slaves. One of her sons was Burwell, who was left $300 in
the will of Thomas Jefferson. He was the only person, including the
daughters, who was left a significant sum of money in the will of
Thomas Jefferson. He is sometimes referred to as Burwell Colburn, but
there was nobody named Colburn who ever worked at Monticello, so there
is suspicion that Burwell was also the son of Thomas Jefferson.
Finally, there was John Hemings, the younger half-brother of Sally.
John Hemings was born in 1775. John Wayles had died in 1773 and John
Hemings was born as the slave of Thomas Jefferson. John Hemings was
made the supervisor in charge of the construction of Jefferson's
second home at Poplar Forest. It is surprising that a mere slave was
given such an important position. His father was said to be John
Neilson, the architect who designed Poplar Forest, but it seems
unlikely that this was true. John Hemings also supervised the
construction of some of the buildings which became the University of
Virginia.
These circumstances have led some to conclude that Thomas Jefferson
was the real father of Joe Fossett, Burwell Colburn and John Hemings.
One thing was certain: That all three of them had white fathers.
Possibly the real situation was that Thomas Jefferson suspected that
he might be the father, but was not sure. He certainly gave those
three men advantages that the other slaves did not receive.
Fawn Brodie, in her book, "Thomas Jefferson, an Intimate History",
engaged in a lot of wild speculation and made a lot of baseless and
doubtful conjectures, but one of her theories is worth repeating,
which is Thomas Jefferson was only interested in "forbidden women".
Brodie pointed out that every woman Jefferson is known to have been
involved with was in some way forbidden. Elizabeth Walker and Maria
Cosway were married to other men. Jefferson's only legal wife, Martha
Wayles, had been married to a man who had died just three months
earlier. Rebecca Burwell was very young. Sally Hemings was a slave.
Sam Sloan
http://www.samsloan.com/slaves.htm
http://www.labnet.or.jp/~kiseido/jefferson/slave.htm
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/ ... ofthomasje