James Hemings was an older brother of Sally Hemings and a half-sibling of Jefferson's wife Martha Jefferson.
20 Facts About James Hemings
1.
2.
Martha, Sally, and James shared John Wayles as a father.
3.
James Hemings is credited with bringing many French cooking styles to the colonial United States and developing new recipes inspired by French cuisine.
4.
James Hemings returned to the United States with Jefferson, likely because of kinship ties with his large James Hemings family at Monticello.
5.
James Hemings negotiated with Jefferson for his freedom, which he gained in 1796 after training his brother Peter for three years to replace him as a chef.
6.
James Hemings was born into slavery to Betty Hemings, who was the mixed-race daughter of an enslaved African mother and an English sea captain father whose surname was Hemings.
7.
James Hemings was the second of her six children by her enslaver John Wayles, who took Betty as a concubine after he was widowed for the third time.
8.
James Hemings's concubinage lasted for 12 years, until his death, and he had six children with her.
9.
James Hemings paid personally to learn the language from a French tutor.
10.
James Hemings earned the role of chef de cuisine in Jefferson's kitchen on the Champs-Elysees.
11.
James Hemings served his creations to the European aristocrats, writers, and scientists Jefferson invited to dinner.
12.
James Hemings is believed to be one of the first American chefs to prepare the original French dish in this way.
13.
In Paris, Jefferson became concerned that James Hemings might learn he could be free when France abolished slavery in 1789.
14.
James Hemings paid for a French tutor to teach him the language using his personal wage.
15.
Reluctant to return to a slave state, James Hemings negotiated a contract with Jefferson by which he would gain freedom after training a replacement chef at Monticello to take his place.
16.
For two years, James Hemings trained his younger brother Peter, enslaved from birth, as the chef at Monticello and finally gained his freedom in 1796.
17.
James Hemings spoke French and English and was literate; the Library of Congress holds his handwritten inventory of kitchen supplies before he left Monticello.
18.
One of the only sources directly traceable to James Hemings is a handwritten list of kitchen utensils.
19.
When Jefferson inquired a second time, James Hemings responded through an intermediary, Francis Sayes, who had worked with James Hemings in New York and Philadelphia.
20.
The report respecting James Hemings having committed an act of suicide is true.