Eston Hemings Jefferson was born into slavery at Monticello, the youngest son of Sally Hemings, a mixed-race enslaved woman.
20 Facts About Eston Hemings
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2.
Evidence from a 1998 DNA test showed that a descendant of Eston matched the Jefferson male line, and historical evidence supports the conclusion that Thomas Jefferson was probably Eston's father.
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Many historians believe that Jefferson and Sally Eston Hemings had six children together, four of whom survived to adulthood.
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In 1852 Eston Hemings moved with his wife and three children to Madison, Wisconsin, where they changed their surname to Jefferson and entered the white community.
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Madison and Eston Hemings were freed in 1827, in accordance with President Jefferson's will.
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Eston Hemings's children were seven-eighths white and thus legally white under the Virginia law of the time.
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In 1830, Eston Hemings purchased property and built a house on Main Street, where his mother lived with him until her death in 1835.
8.
In 1832, Eston Hemings married a free woman of color, Julia Ann Isaacs.
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Eston Hemings was the daughter of the successful Jewish merchant David Isaacs, from Germany, and Nancy West, a free woman of mixed race.
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About 1837 Eston Hemings moved with his family to Chillicothe, a town in southwest Ohio with a thriving community.
11.
Eston Hemings, being a master of the violin, and an accomplished "caller" of dances, always officiated at the "swell" entertainments of Chillicothe.
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In 1852, Eston Hemings decided to move the family further north for security, and migrated to Madison, Wisconsin.
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Eston Hemings became a successful cotton broker, supported his mother, and left a considerable estate at his death in 1892.
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Eston Hemings founded the first omnibus line in the Wisconsin capital, and was a popular figure among politicians in the city.
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Eston Hemings recognized Eston Hemings Jefferson's name in the book from family stories and contacted Brodie.
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Eston Hemings's Y-chromosome matched the rare haplotype of the Thomas Jefferson male line.
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Historians had long disputed accounts that Thomas Jefferson had a relationship with his mixed-race slave Sally Eston Hemings and fathered children by her.
18.
Eston Hemings said historians failed to adequately assess which version was supported by known facts.
19.
Sally Eston Hemings is believed to be the half-sister of Thomas Jefferson's wife Martha; her mother was Elizabeth Eston Hemings, a mixed-race slave, and her father was John Wayles, Martha's father.
20.
Since 1998 and the DNA study, many historians have accepted that the widower Jefferson had a long intimate relationship with Eston Hemings, and fathered six children with her, four of whom survived to adulthood.