| John Wayles Jefferson | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 8, 1835 Charlottesville, Virginia |
| Died | July 12, 1892 (aged 57) |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Soldier, hotelier, cotton broker, journalist |
| Parents | Eston Hemings, Julia Ann Isaacs |
| Relatives | Betty Hemings, Sally Hemings, Beverly Hemings, Madison Hemings, Harriet Hemings, Frederick Madison Roberts, Martha Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson, John Wayles |
John Wayles Jefferson, born John Wayles Hemings (May 8, 1835 – July 12, 1892), was the son of a former slave who served as a colonel in the Union Army and was a businessman, becoming a wealthy cotton broker in Memphis, Tennessee. He was the eldest son of Eston Hemings (1808–56), a freedman who was seven-eighths European in ancestry and "white" under Virginia law, and Julia Ann Isaacs Hemings (1814–1889), a free woman of color. His family moved from Charlottesville, Virginia to Chillicothe, Ohio in 1836. They later moved to Madison, Wisconsin in 1852, where they changed their surname to Jefferson and entered the white community.
Jefferson is the grandson of Sarah (Sally) Hemings, a slave, and her master Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United States. DNA tests conducted in 1998 confirmed that a male descendant of John's brother Beverly was descended from the male Jefferson line. For most historians, this data, together with the weight of historical evidence, has confirmed the Hemings family's claim of descent from Thomas Jefferson.[1]
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John's father Eston Hemings was born a slave at Monticello in 1808, the youngest of Sally Hemings’ six mixed-race children. They are understood to be the children of Thomas Jefferson, Hemings' master, and seven-eighths European in ancestry. Under Virginia law at the time, they were legally white, although born into slavery under the slave law principle of partus sequitur ventrum.
In DNA studies in 1998, Eston's descendant was found to have Y-DNA that matched that of the Jefferson male line. This confirmed the family's tradition of descent from Thomas Jefferson and together with the body of historical evidence, has convinced most historians of the connection. Jefferson informally and formally freed all of Sally's children. Eston was freed by Jefferson's will shortly after the president's death in 1826; and "given his time" so that he did not have to wait until age 21. His older brother Madison Hemings, already 21, had been freed immediately. In 1830 Eston purchased property in Charlottesville, on which he and his brother Madison built a house. Their mother Sally lived with them until her death in 1835.
In Charlottesville, Eston married Julia Ann Isaacs, a mixed-race daughter of wealthy Jewish merchant David Isaacs from Germany, and Ann (Nancy) West, a free woman of color who also built a successful business in the town. Their first son John Wayles Hemings (later Jefferson) was born in Charlottesville in 1835. His first and middle name were after his maternal great-grandfather John Wayles who, as a widower, had fathered six children by his enslaved concubine Betty Hemings, of whom the youngest was Sally Hemings. They were the half-siblings of Thomas Jefferson's wife Martha Wayles Skelton. John's sister Anna Wayles Hemings (later Jefferson) (1836–1866) was also born in Charlottesville.
After his mother died, Eston and Julia Ann Hemings moved their family to Chillicothe in the free state of Ohio, where they settled for more than 15 years. His and Julia Ann's youngest child William Beverley Hemings (1839–1908) was born there. The town had a thriving free black community and strong abolitionist activists who helped fugitive slaves along the Underground Railroad. Eston was well known as a musician and entertainer. The children were educated in the public schools. Madison Hemings and his family also moved there.
In 1852, after passage of the Fugitive Slave Act increased the danger to members of the African-American community as slave catchers came to Ohio, the family moved North to Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital. There Eston changed his name to Eston Hemings Jefferson; his wife and teenage children also adopted the new surname. John was 17, Anna 16, and Beverly 13 at the time of the move. The family lived as part of the white community in Madison. As adults, both Anna and Beverly Jefferson married white spouses. Anna died young in 1866 at the age of 30.
John W. Jefferson operated the American House hotel in Madison, where he brought on his younger brother Beverly to help and learn the business.
At the age of 26, Jefferson entered the United States Army on August 26, 1861, at Madison, Wisconsin. He took command of the Wisconsin 8th Infantry during the American Civil War. On September 28, 1861 he was promoted to Major; to Lieutenant Colonel on April 23, 1863; and to Colonel on June 16, 1864. He fought in significant battles of the war and was wounded at Vicksburg and during the Siege of Corinth. He was mustered out of service on October 11, 1864 at Madison, Wisconsin. His brother, William Beverly Jefferson, also served as a white soldier in the Union Army.
His service records noted that John Jefferson had red hair and gray eyes.[2] Images show his resemblance to Thomas Jefferson. In 1902, a former neighbor from Chillicothe recalled:
...and I saw and talked with one of the sons, during the Civil War, who was then wearing the silver leaves of a lieutenant colonel, and in command of a fine regiment of white men from a north-western state. He begged me not to tell the fact that he had colored blood in his veins, which he said was not suspected by any of his command; and of course I did not.[3]
Jefferson wrote as a newspaper correspondent during and after the war, producing articles about his experiences. He later moved from Madison to Memphis, Tennessee, where he became a prominent businessman. He became a cotton broker and the owner of the Continental Cotton Company.
Jefferson never married. He died on June 12, 1892. He was interred in Madison, Wisconsin, in the Jefferson family plot at Forest Hill Cemetery. He left a sizeable estate.