Squabbles about Southern genealogies are usually confined to blue-haired ladies in local history societies but not when the family in question is Thomas Jefferson's. The possibility of a sexual liaison between the third president and his slave Sally Hemings has occupied scholars and gossipmongers since Jefferson's lifetime. Most of the recent debate has focused on the four children with the surname Hemings (Madison, Beverly, Harriet and Eston). But there may have been another child, Thomas Woodson (so named because, the story goes, he was sent from Monticello to the nearby Woodson plantation as a lad). Though the existence of young Tom is up for debate, one of those claiming to be his descendants tells his side of the story here. Woodson presents new evidence, the most persuasive piece of which is Jefferson's Farm Book, in which he recorded all the names of his slaves. Scholars have noted that no young Tom was recorded in 1790 (his putative year of birth). Woodson was stunned, then, to see that in 1790, four slaves' names had been recorded, and one of them was erased, a fact never reported by Jefferson scholars. Woodson's book is a tad histrionic, filled with words like "astounding," "preposterous," "repulsed" and lots of exclamation marks. There is also a bit too much extraneous material about the author's family details about his adoptive daughter's penchant for running away, for example. Still, Woodson makes his case effectively, and Jefferson buffs will relish this latest installment in the Jefferson-Hemings saga.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Woodson is a sixth-generation descendant of Thomas Woodson, who was the eldest of five children born to Sally Hemings, a slave in the household of Thomas Jefferson. This book is the latest installment in a bitter debate concerning whether the father of those five children was Thomas Jefferson himself. In this heartfelt book, the author clearly delineates those he sees as the heroes and the villains. The chief villains are the "establishment" Jefferson historians, such as Dumas Malone, who for many years declared that Jefferson could never have had an affair with one of his slaves. One of Woodson's "heroes" is Fawn Brodie, whose 1974 book Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History argued that such a liaison had indeed existed. This book gives not only another exhaustive account of our third President's private life but the subsequent history of the Hemings progeny. Woodson bitterly criticizes the procedures followed in the DNA testing of 1997, which failed to establish conclusively that the Woodsons are descended from Jefferson. (Woodson himself contributed a blood sample to that test.) This book will not end the debates about the Jefferson-Hemings relationship, but it will be an important document in future discussions. Recommended for all academic and large public libraries. T.J. Schaeper, St. Bonaventure Univ., NY
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Woodson conveys the pain, pride, and persistence of a remarkable family that faced nearly 200 years of challenge and denial of their descent from the first-born son of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings. Woodson's family meticulously researched and documented an oral history that traced their connection to the third president and his mulatto slave, who was his wife's half-sister. Consequently, this book offers historic accounts and documents attesting to that relationship. Woodson seeks to do justice to the memory of Hemings, who was much vilified until historian Fawn Brodie acknowledged her in Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History (1974). He recounts the long and vehement denial of the Hemings-Jefferson affair--an effort to protect the image of an American icon seen to have flouted the taboo against race mixing--and also the history of his own significant family, distinguished by such members as a pioneer of black nationalism and founder of Wilberforce University. This is an important contribution to the honest presentation of American history and the entanglements of race. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
"A valuable new addition to the growing body of research on the relationship between Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson. Woodson retells the story of our nation's third President, filling the gaps of history with extensive research and his own family's story. This intimate examination teaches an important lesson about America through the complex prism of race."-Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr.
"A very interesting read. Byron Woodson's book is a magnificent, sensitive, and scholarly book documenting the clandestine affair between Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, his slave and his wife's half sister. Before Sally Hemings' destiny found its proper place in history, her restless spirit roamed everywhere and belonged nowhere for over two hundred years. Her life has been vindicated by one of her descendants. The book is a significant contribution to American history."-Charles L. Blockson, Curator Charles L. Blockson Afro American Collection Temple University
"A President in the Family is really three stories. It is, first, the most complete account we have to date of the children of Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson. It is the fascinating story of a remarkable African-American clan of institution-builders, the Woodsons. And it is the saga of a family's passionate quest to recover their hidden heritage. This is a book about links and connections, a story to make all Americans proud."-Robert P. Forbes, Associate Director Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, & Abolition Yale University
?A fascinating story that deserves our attention on its own terms.?-William and Mary Quarterly
?An inspiring story of triumph over disadvantage and prejudice featuring, among other memorable characters, an eminent black educator and founder of black nationalism.?-The Historical Novels Review
?Of considerable interest to students of African-American history and biography.?-Kirkus Reviews
?This heartfelt book...not gives not only another exhaustive account of our third President's private life but the subsequent history of the Hemings progeny....This book will not end the debates about the Jefferson-Hemings relationship, but it will be an important document in future discussions.?-Library Journal
?Woodson conveys the pain, pride, and persistence of a remarkable family that faced nearly 200 years of challenge and denial of their descent from the first-born son of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings....This is an important contribution to the honest presentation of American history and the entanglement of race.?-Booklist
?Woodson makes his case effectively, and Jefferson buffs will relish this latest installment in the Jefferson-Hemings saga.?-Publishers Weekly
"A fascinating story that deserves our attention on its own terms."-William and Mary Quarterly
"An inspiring story of triumph over disadvantage and prejudice featuring, among other memorable characters, an eminent black educator and founder of black nationalism."-The Historical Novels Review
"Of considerable interest to students of African-American history and biography."-Kirkus Reviews
"This heartfelt book...not gives not only another exhaustive account of our third President's private life but the subsequent history of the Hemings progeny....This book will not end the debates about the Jefferson-Hemings relationship, but it will be an important document in future discussions."-Library Journal
"Woodson makes his case effectively, and Jefferson buffs will relish this latest installment in the Jefferson-Hemings saga."-Publishers Weekly
"Woodson conveys the pain, pride, and persistence of a remarkable family that faced nearly 200 years of challenge and denial of their descent from the first-born son of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings....This is an important contribution to the honest presentation of American history and the entanglement of race."-Booklist
About the Author
BYRON W. WOODSON SR. is a son of Minnie S. Woodson, who researched the Woodson genealogy and wrote the Woodson Source Book. He is a sixth generation descendant of Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson and a great-great-grandson of the Reverend Lewis Woodson, the father of black nationalism. Byron Woodson gave a blood sample for the Hemings/Jefferson DNA test in 1997 and with his wife, Trena, has extended research to Thomas Jefferson's papers, uncovering new findings. Woodson is a graduate of Lincoln University (Pa.) and Temple University where he earned a MBA.
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