Thomas Jefferson???

Question

Does any one know Thomas Jefferson' Ansestory Through Mid 1900s. My Grandmothers Last Name is Jefferson and I was Wondering if I was related

Answer 1

Most of Thomas Jefferson's children ,from his 4 marriages, were girls and only 3--I believe--lived past childhood. He had 3 sons--1 listed as "Unnamed Son Jefferson" because he died at 17 days old; and 2 by 3rd wife SALLY HEMINGS (or SARAH HEMMINGS). Their names were JAMES MADISON HEMINGS JEFFERSON (who was named by James Madison's wife because she was present at his birth), and ESTON HEMINGS JEFFERSON.  Thomas' marriage to Sally has been questioned over the last 5-6 years at least because it was rumored she had been a slave in his household; her father JOHN WAYLES was also the father of his first wife, MARTHA "PATTY" (making them half-sisters); and that DNA evidence has shown it could have his brother Randolph could have fathered at least one--if not both--of her sons.

     www.wikipedia.org says this about Sally in their 1st paragraph about her: " Sally Hemings (b. Shadwell, Albemarle County, Virginia, circa 1773; d. Charlottesville, Virginia, 1835) was an American slave owned by Thomas Jefferson. She is said to have been the half-sister of Jefferson's deceased wife Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson

Jefferson was alleged during his administration to have fathered several children with slaves; more recently DNA tests indicate that a male in Jefferson's line, possibly Thomas Jefferson himself, was the father of at least one of Sally Hemings's children."

     Further down in the article, it says, "There is nothing in Jefferson's references to Hemings in his records that distinguishes her as receiving special treatment, but her extended family did.  Out of the hundreds of slaves he owned, Jefferson freed only two slaves in his lifetime, and five in his will - all from the Hemings family.  Additionally, he allowed Harriet and Beverly to "escape" with his tacit consent. He also successfully petitioned the Virginia legislature to allow her sons Eston and Madison to remain in Virginia after they were free, as Virginia law held that freed slaves must leave within a year. Sally Hemings was never officially freed, an act - if Jefferson had ever considered it - which would have certainly drawn scrutiny. When appraisers arrived at Monticello after Jefferson's death to evaluate his estate, they described 56-year-old Hemings as "an old woman worth $50."  Jefferson's daughter, Martha Randolph, then apparently gave Hemings her "time", a type of informal freedom which would allow her to continue to live in Virginia, and Hemings lived out the rest of her life in Charlottesville, with her sons.  Researchers believe she was buried at a site in downtown Charlottesville, which now lies beneath a parking lot."

Sally's Descendants:

1. Daughter Harriet-- was said by a Monticello overseer to be "nearly as white as anybody, and very beautiful" and married a white man after she left Monticello.

2. Son William Beverly --also married a white woman of good circumstances, and his  exit from history was as complete as Harriet's; the only post-slavery record of his activities is an enigmatic reference to him in former slave Isaac Jefferson's memoirs as launching a hot air balloon in Petersburg, Virginia.

3. Son Eston moved to Ohio where, according to census records, he lived as a "mulatto," then moved to Wisconsin, changed his name to "Eston H. Jefferson" and lived as a white man.

4. Son Madison Hemings, who also moved to Ohio, was the only child who did not choose to live as a white person.

Madison followed his brother Eston to Ohio. Both achieved some success in life, were respected by their contemporaries, and had children who repeated their success.  They worked as carpenters, and Madison had a small farm. Eston became a professional musician and bandleader, "a master of the violin, and an accomplished 'caller' of dances," who "always officiated at the 'swell' entertainments of Chillicothe," and was in demand all across southern Ohio. A neighbor described him as "Quiet, unobtrusive, polite and decidedly intelligent, he was soon very well and favorably known to all classes of our citizens, for his personal appearance and gentlemanly manners attracted everybody's attention to him.

GRANDCHILDREN:

5. Madison's son Thomas Eston Hemings, served in the American Civil War & spent time at the Andersonville POW camp, and later died in a camp in Meridian, Mississippi,

His brother James attempted to cross Union lines and enlist in the Confederate army to rescue him. Later, James was rumored to have moved to Colorado; and  like others in the family, he disappeared.

6. Eston's son John Wayles Jefferson wrote frequently for newspapers and published letters about his war experiences. He was proprietor of a hotel in Madison, Wisconsin. Ultimately he became a wealthy cotton broker in Tennessee.

7. Eston's son Beverly Jefferson was, according to his 1908 obituary, "a likeable character at the Wisconsin capital, and a familiar of statesmen for half a century". He had operated a hotel with his brother, then built a successful horse-drawn "omnibus"( or a four-wheeled public vehicle with seats for passengers) business.

8. William Hemings, Madison's last known male-line descendant, died in 1910, unmarried, in a veteran's hospital.

9. Frederick Madison Roberts (1879-1952) - Sally Hemings's great-grandson/Madison's grandson/Ellen's son (not sure who this is) - was the first person of known African American ancestry elected to public office on the West Coast: he served in the California State Assembly from 1919 to 1934.

   Now,  through the quirks of history and biology, only ONE set of Americans can show both that their ancestors were born at Monticello and that they share a Y chromosome with the Jefferson family: the patrilineal male descendants of Eston Hemings, Sally Hemings's youngest son.

(NOTE: Hemings's mother, Betty Hemings, was the daughter of the English Captain Hemings and an enslaved African woman, thus making Sally biracial (1/2 black, 1/2 white), so her children would then be only 1/4 black --if that much--if Jefferson proved to be their father).

www.howmanyofme.com says that including the 3rd President, there are 526 people in the U.S. named Thomas Jefferson today; about 2,104,880 people in the U.S. with the first name Thomas; and  76,098 people in the U.S. with the last name Jefferson (statistically the 445th most popular last name).

(I would have to say if you ARE related to Mr. Jefferson, it would possibly have to be through Eston's son, William Beverly Jefferson , who died in 1908. He's the only one I see with the Jefferson last name and who lived beyond 1900.)

Answer 2

As the person above me stated, Thomas Jefferson didn't have any sons to carry on the name, so he wouldn't be one of your ancestors.  However, you could be descended from his brother, uncle or an earlier relative, which would make you a distant cousin of Thomas Jefferson.  The only way to find out is to trace YOUR Jefferson family back generation by generation until you reach 1700 or earlier, and then compare your Jefferson ancestors to Thomas' ancestors. You can easily find a pedigree (ancestor chart) for him online.  You may find that you have an ancestor in common with him... which means you're related.  =]

Answer 3

Here is a list of Thomas Jefferson's Children

Martha Washington Jefferson,

Jane Randolph Jefferson,

Stillborn son,

Mary Wayles Jefferson,

Lucy Elizabeth Jefferson I,

Lucy Elizabeth Jefferson II.

Since he had no male heir to carry on the Jefferson family name I sort of doubt you are related.But then again you never know.

Answer 4

anythings possible

Answer 5

If your black your probably related to Thomas Jefferson.