Hemings family

The Hemings family was a large multigenerational family of African American people who lived in Virginia during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The family is especially documented because many Hemingses were enslaved at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's Virginia plantation, where they formed the largest family group living at the estate. Their history illustrates the violence and complexity of slavery, including forced family separation, coerced sexual relationships, inherited status, restricted mobility, skilled labor, negotiated freedom, and the creation of family networks under oppressive conditions. The family's best-documented matriarch was Elizabeth Hemings, whose birth is generally estimated to have occurred around 1735. According to an account given by her son Madison Hemings, Elizabeth's mother was an African woman whose identity has not been established with certainty, while her father was said to have been an English sea captain named Hemings. The surviving evidence does not resolve all details of Elizabeth's parentage or early life. She was held by the Eppes family at Bermuda Hundred in Virginia until 1746, when Martha Eppes married John Wayles. Elizabeth and other enslaved people were transferred with Martha as part of the marriage settlement, although legal ownership remained connected to the Eppes family for part of this period. Elizabeth worked as a domestic servant in the Wayles household and is believed to have helped care for Martha Wayles, who later married Thomas Jefferson. After John Wayles's wife died, Wayles entered into a coercive sexual relationship with Elizabeth. He did not marry her, free her, or free their children. Six of Elizabeth's children were therefore also Martha Wayles Jefferson's half-siblings. When Martha married Jefferson, members of the Hemings family went to Monticello. Elizabeth is thought to have cared for Martha during illness and to have been present when Martha died. The Hemings family included domestic workers, artisans, cooks, agricultural workers, and people who hired themselves out under arrangements that allowed them to retain wages. Jefferson granted unusual latitude to some Hemings men, permitting them to leave Monticello, select employers, and keep earnings, even though Virginia law generally gave enslavers control over such income. These arrangements did not make the individuals legally free, but they provided limited economic and personal autonomy. Jefferson freed several members of the family, though many others remained enslaved. Robert Hemings was permitted to purchase his freedom, while James Hemings secured freedom after training as a chef and negotiating with Jefferson. Peter Hemings, John Hemings, and other relatives were recognized for skilled work at Monticello. Sally Hemings, one of Elizabeth's daughters, had a long-term relationship with Thomas Jefferson and had several children. Her children included Beverley, Harriet, Madison, and Eston Hemings. Historical and genetic research has supported the conclusion that Jefferson fathered Sally Hemings's children, although the history has long been contested in public debate. Some of Sally's children were allowed to leave Monticello or were freed, and descendants later lived under different racial identities and in different communities. The family maintained strong internal connections. Members pooled resources, reused family names, and helped one another navigate enslavement, employment, emancipation, and migration. Robert and James Hemings helped Martha Jefferson and her daughters during the American Revolutionary War, when British forces threatened Virginia. Later descendants included people who lived as free African Americans and people who passed into white society. Because Jefferson's correspondence and Monticello records survive in unusual quantity, historians know more about many Hemings family members than about most enslaved families, although the archive remains shaped by enslavers' records and leaves significant gaps. The Hemings family is not a commercial brand or operating enterprise. It is a historical family subject whose significance lies in the lives, relationships, labor, resistance, and descendants of people who experienced slavery and its aftermath in the United States.

The documented history of the Hemings family begins with Elizabeth Hemings, an enslaved woman in colonial Virginia. Her ancestry is not fully known. Her son Madison Hemings later reported that Elizabeth's mother was an African woman and that her father was an English sea captain named Hemings, but historians cannot independently verify every part of this account. Records suggest that Elizabeth was held by the Eppes family at Bermuda Hundred. In 1746, Martha Eppes married John Wayles, and Elizabeth was moved into the Wayles household as part of the marriage settlement. Elizabeth worked as a domestic servant and likely helped raise Martha Wayles. After the death of Wayles's wife, John Wayles entered into a sexual relationship with Elizabeth. Because Elizabeth was enslaved, the relationship existed within a system in which she could not freely refuse, marry her partner, or secure freedom for herself and her children. Elizabeth had several children with Wayles, including Robert, James, Thenia, Critta, Peter, and Sally. She also had children with other men, among them Mary, Martin, Betty, Nancy, and John Hemings. Martha Wayles later married Thomas Jefferson. Members of the Hemings family accompanied her to Jefferson's property at Monticello. Elizabeth became closely associated with the Jefferson household and is believed to have assisted Martha during her final illness. After Martha's death, Elizabeth and her children remained part of the enslaved community at Monticello. The family occupied a distinctive place there because of its size, its kinship ties to the Jefferson household, and the specialized skills of several members. The Hemingses performed a wide range of labor. Some worked as house servants, cooks, artisans, or agricultural workers. James Hemings trained in French culinary techniques while Jefferson was posted in France and later worked as a chef at Monticello. Peter Hemings became a skilled musician and craftsman, while John Hemings was a highly regarded woodworker. Other family members hired themselves out to third parties. Jefferson sometimes allowed Hemings men to leave the plantation, choose employers, and keep their wages, an arrangement that offered limited autonomy but did not eliminate their enslaved status. The family's history also includes acts of assistance and resistance within the constraints of slavery. During the Revolutionary War, Robert and James Hemings helped Martha Jefferson and her daughters evade British forces. Robert later sought and obtained freedom through a purchase arrangement. Jefferson freed James after James negotiated for his release, and several other Hemings family members were eventually emancipated. Jefferson did not free the entire family, however, and many relatives remained enslaved through the end of his life. A surviving account describes a serious dispute between Jefferson and Martin Hemings, after which Jefferson considered selling Martin but did not do so before Martin's death. Sally Hemings's relationship with Jefferson produced several children, including Madison and Eston Hemings. Their descendants followed different paths after emancipation. Some descendants identified and lived as African American, while others entered white communities and were later known as members of the Jefferson family or under other surnames. The divergent experiences of these descendants demonstrate how slavery, ancestry, racial classification, and freedom continued to shape family life long after emancipation. The Hemings family preserved cohesion through mutual aid, repeated naming practices, and shared economic resources. Nevertheless, the historical record is incomplete. Much of what is known comes from plantation records and Jefferson's writings, which were created by or for enslavers rather than by the family itself. Oral testimony, later recollections, genealogical research, and genetic evidence have helped reconstruct parts of the family's history. Today, the Hemings family is studied as a central case in the history of slavery, African American genealogy, Monticello, and the United States' contested memory of Thomas Jefferson.

• 1873

  Madison Hemings gives a later-life account

  [1]Hemings familyen.wikipedia.org

  Madison Hemings provided an account of his family history to a journalist, including traditions about Elizabeth Hemings's ancestry and his relationship to Thomas Jefferson.

• 1819

  Robert Hemings dies

  [1]Hemings familyen.wikipedia.org

  Robert Hemings, one of Elizabeth Hemings's children, died after living as a free man.

• 1801

  James Hemings dies

  [1]Hemings familyen.wikipedia.org

  James Hemings died after his period of work and training at Monticello and in France.

• 1793

  James Hemings receives freedom

  [1]Hemings familyen.wikipedia.org

  James Hemings was freed after negotiating terms with Jefferson, although the precise legal and practical details of his later life remain documented unevenly.

• 1784

  James Hemings trains in French cuisine

  [1]Hemings familyen.wikipedia.org

  James Hemings accompanied Jefferson to France and developed culinary skills that later made him an important cook at Monticello.

• 1775

  Hemings men assist the Jefferson household during the Revolutionary War

  [1]Hemings familyen.wikipedia.org

  Robert and James Hemings helped Martha Jefferson and her daughters leave danger during the American Revolutionary War.

• 1770

  The Hemings family becomes associated with Monticello

  [1]Hemings familyen.wikipedia.org

  After Martha Wayles married Thomas Jefferson, Elizabeth Hemings and members of her family became part of the enslaved community connected with Monticello.

• 1746

  Elizabeth Hemings enters the Wayles household

  [1]Hemings familyen.wikipedia.org

  Elizabeth Hemings was transferred from the Eppes household to the Wayles household when Martha Eppes married John Wayles, although the legal ownership arrangements were more complicated than a simple sale.

1. 1Hemings familyen.wikipedia.org