An Intimate History Lesson for Newfound Jefferson Kin

Dating and marriage just got more complicated for Mary Esther Jefferson, a Diamond Bar woman who recently learned that she and 13 other family members are bona fide descendants of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, a slave who worked on his plantation.

“I used to tell men I dated that I was pretty sure I was related to Jefferson and Hemings, just so any white supremacists could make a quick exit,” said the 51-year-old reading instructor. “But now I’m positive--and I wonder, wouldn’t it be a hoot to get married at Monticello?”

Daily life has also changed for Jefferson’s cousin, Julia Westerinen of Staten Island. Ever since DNA tests proved that she is a distant offspring of the founding father and his concubine, the 64-year-old furniture saleswoman has been energized and believes she has a duty to speak out on racism.

“I’m not black and I haven’t suffered,” said Westerinen. “But in another sense, I am black, even though a stranger would say that I’m white. It’s a very American story, like the melting pot, and to me it can sometimes be very confusing.”

Also mind-boggling. According to their genealogies, the California and New York families are descendants of Eston Hemings Jefferson, who was Sally Hemings’ youngest son. Today, they are scattered across the nation, and many of the kin have reacted to the news of their link to the third president with pride and a sense of obligation.

Some, like Westerinen and Jefferson, wonder if they could be buried at Monticello. Others, like Mary’s children, wrestle with the fact that their famous ancestor owned slaves when he wrote the Declaration of Independence. All feel elated they now belong to an extended family--and they hope other descendants of Hemings and Jefferson will experience the same kind of belonging.

For years, Mary Jefferson and Julia Westerinen have told children, friends and anyone who would listen that they were related to the founding father. Family histories dating back to the early 19th century strongly suggested the link between master and slave, they said, but historians dismissed the idea as a myth.

Monticello Tour Guides Skeptical

Tour guides at Monticello were equally skeptical. When Mary Jefferson tried to tell officials there last year of her links to the president, they were not convinced. She and her cousin both had learned of their family history when they were students, yet schoolteachers also had dismissed the idea.

Virtually all doubt was removed, however, when genetic tests last week showed that Eston was sired by Jefferson. Yet the DNA lab work has failed to demonstrate the same links between Thomas Jefferson and the descendants of Heming’s two other sons. It’s a sore spot for scores of African Americans who are convinced that they are products of the Jefferson-Hemings union--and who feel they are entitled to the same legitimacy.

“The DNA test results weigh against my forefather [Tom Woodson] as the son of Hemings and Jefferson,” wrote Byron Woodson in a letter to the Los Angeles Times. But “questions remain unanswered by the historians that are answered by my family’s oral history. My family is convinced that Thomas Jefferson is their ancestor. . . . Research should continue.”

Rumors that Jefferson had a liaison with Hemings first surfaced in an 1802 political campaign; the president refused to comment and the charges were chalked up to political rancor. But Hemings’ children insisted that Jefferson was their father, and the stories persisted for nearly two centuries. The mystery was unraveled by Dr. Eugene Foster of Charlottesville, Va., who compared genetic samples of Hemings’ and Jefferson’s undisputed heirs. He determined that Jefferson fathered her youngest son.

After the DNA results were unveiled, historians and pundits debated their meaning. Some said the news reinforced Jefferson’s image as a racist hypocrite. Others said the story humanized Jefferson, fleshing out the portrait of a man whose intellectual gifts were well known, but whose personal side is still a matter of historical conjecture.

Although some commentators suggested similarities between the scandal over Jefferson’s dalliance and President Clinton’s problems, the differences are striking. Jefferson was faithful to his longtime wife, Martha, and he grieved for years after her death. By all indications, he was faithful to Hemings during their relationship and looked after her children.

‘The Rest of Us Can Get Along Too’

If there’s a moral to Jefferson’s liaison with Hemings, said Mary Jefferson, it has more to do with present-day America than a debate among historians: “If the president could have a 38-year relationship with a black woman, it means the rest of us can get along too. We have to put an end to racism.”

It’s a lesson she’s tried to teach her two boys, but Thomas Jefferson is not an easy figure to deify. Her son, Colby, for example, was initially appalled at the idea that he was related to the founding father and took absolutely no joy in it.

“Originally I wanted to be removed from it,” said the 25-year-old Santa Barbara teacher. “I’d studied African history and I knew there were a lot of illegitimate births [on plantations] due to rape and mistreatment of African people here in the United States. And my first reaction was, he [Jefferson] must have forced himself on Sally Hemings.”

After studying the matter further, however, Colby decided that Jefferson likely had a caring relationship with Hemings, even though she was his slave. While no firm proof exists, he said, the duration of their relationship speaks for itself.

Justin, who is Colby’s younger brother, said his ancestor shouldn’t be criticized because “it’s not as if he cheated on his wife. You can’t choose who you fall in love with, slave, black or white. It doesn’t matter. It’s not an issue.”

In New York, the Westerinens are less ambivalent. Julia feels like she’s part of a big family now and will seek admission to the Monticello Assn., a group of Jefferson’s living descendants.

She’d like to be buried at the site, a privilege reserved for Jefferson’s “lineal descendants,” adding: “I want to get to know all my relatives, because I am related to them whether they want to admit it or not.”

Officials of the roughly 800-member Monticello Assn. have indicated that there may not be enough room for new burials at the site, but Westerinen scoffs, saying there is plenty of room. To date, no final decision has been made on whether the Hemings-Jefferson wing of the family will be granted such eternal privileges. In general, the other well-established descendants of the president have kept a low profile, although at least one welcomed the news that the family tree has grown larger.

The New York and California branches bring a rich ethnic mix to the table: Westerinen has Scottish, Irish, English, Welsh and French ancestors. In California, Jefferson has an Italian background, and she also notes that Eston Jefferson married Julie Ann West Isaacs, a woman of mixed race who was part Jewish.

Still, it’s the African American link that fascinates Thomas Jefferson’s newest acknowledged heirs. They are bursting with questions.

“I’d love to talk to Sally in another life,” said Westerinen. “What kind of father was he? What were her days really like at Monticello? And given all the amazing things he wrote, the things he invented--did the man ever sleep?”

For her son, William Jefferson Westerinen, the genetic link is a blessing and a responsibility. “This man gave us so much and I know I’ve got a lot to live up to,” said the 42-year-old Microsoft programmer. “These are very big shoes to fill.”

First, though, the family members have to get together. Later this week, the descendants of Eston, Thomas and Madison Hemings--all sons of Sally Hemings--will get to meet each other for the first time on (where else) Oprah Winfrey’s TV show.

“I just can’t wait,” said Julia Westerinen. “We all feel such a great sense of kinship. Like a family that’s reborn.”