Israel Jefferson
Encyclopedia
Israel Jefferson, known as Israel Gillette before the 1840s (1800-after 1873), was born a slave at Monticello
Monticello
Monticello is a National Historic Landmark just outside Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was the estate of Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence, third President of the United States, and founder of the University of Virginia; it is...

, the plantation estate of Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...

, third President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

. He worked as a domestic servant close to Jefferson for years, riding with his brothers as a postilion for the landau carriage.

After 1826, he was sold to Thomas Walker Gilmer
Thomas Walker Gilmer
Thomas Walker Gilmer was an American statesman.-Personal life:Gilmer was born to George and Eliza Gilmer at their farm, "Gilmerton", in Albemarle County, Virginia. He was taught by private tutors in Charlottesville and Staunton, and studied law in Liberty , Virginia.Gilmer practiced law in...

, from whom he purchased his freedom in the 1840s, taking Jefferson's surname at that time in his honor. Jefferson and his freeborn wife Elizabeth moved to the free state of Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

, where he worked on a steamboat
Steamboat
A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...

. In 1873, his memoir was published as an interview in the Pike County Republican, in which he attested to Thomas Jefferson's fathering the children of Sally Hemings
Sally Hemings
Sarah "Sally" Hemings was a mixed-race slave owned by President Thomas Jefferson through inheritance from his wife. She was the half-sister of Jefferson's wife, Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson by their father John Wayles...

. In 1998, a DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...

 study helped to confirm his account.

Early life and education

Israel Gillette was born into slavery; he estimated about 1797. His mother was an enslaved woman known as Jane and his father was Edward Gillette. Together, Edward and Jane had thirteen children, all of whom bore their father's surname Gillette.

During his years as a slave at the Monticello estate, Gillette served in a number of capacities, starting as waiter at the family table at about the age of eight years. Of his service to Mr. Jefferson, he said: “For fourteen years I made the fire in his bedroom and private chamber, cleaned his office, dusted his books, run of errands and attended him about home". He and his older brother Gilly “…were both retained about the person of our master as long as he lived.” He added, "Frequently, gentlemen would call upon him on business of great importance, whom I used to usher into his presence," and "sometimes I would be employed in burnish
Burnish
Burnishing is a form of pottery treatment in which the surface of the pot is polished, using a hard smooth surface such as a wooden or bone spatula, smooth stones, plastic, or even glass bulbs, while it still is in a leathery 'green' state, i.e., before firing. After firing, the surface is...

ing or doing some other work in the room where they were.”

One such noted gentleman who came to call on the former President was the Marquis de Lafayette, who had served in the Revolution. Of that occasion Israel Jefferson recalled: “In those times I minded but little concerning the conversations which took place between Mr. Jefferson and his visitors. But I well recollect a conversation he had with the great and good Lafayette, when he visited this country in 1824 and 1825, as it was of personal interest to me and mine.” It was during this frank discussion that Lafayette expressed his concerns about the continued existence of slavery in the now independent United States of America.
In the book Friends of Liberty, Gary Nash and Graham Russell Gao Hodges describe this conversation:
"Speaking openly in the presence of Israel, Jefferson’s slave who waited on their tables and stood postilion on his master’s carriage, Lafayette lectured Jefferson about the retired president’s continued ownership of slaves and his unwillingness to speak out as a revered American leader on the subject. 'No man could rightfully hold ownership of his brother man' Lafayette gravely maintained. He had come from France to fight for American independence because he believed they were fighting for a great and noble principle – the freedom of mankind." The account continues, "Now, decades later, he was grieved that instead of all being free, a portion were held in bondage. Rebuked, Jefferson contended that slavery should be extinguished but that the proper time had not yet arrived."

Sold from Monticello

In 1829, three years after Jefferson's death, Gillette was sold to Thomas Walker Gilmer
Thomas Walker Gilmer
Thomas Walker Gilmer was an American statesman.-Personal life:Gilmer was born to George and Eliza Gilmer at their farm, "Gilmerton", in Albemarle County, Virginia. He was taught by private tutors in Charlottesville and Staunton, and studied law in Liberty , Virginia.Gilmer practiced law in...

 by order of Thomas Jefferson Randolph
Thomas Jefferson Randolph
Thomas Jefferson Randolph of Albemarle County was a planter and politician who served in the Virginia House of Delegates, was rector of the University of Virginia, and was a colonel in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War...

, Thomas Jefferson’s oldest grandson and executor
Executor
An executor, in the broadest sense, is one who carries something out .-Overview:...

 of the late President’s estate. Because of the estate's debts, Randolph sold 130 slaves from Monticello.

Elected to the Virginia House of Delegates
Virginia House of Delegates
The Virginia House of Delegates is the lower house of the Virginia General Assembly. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbered years. The House is presided over by the Speaker of the House, who is elected from among the...

 that same year, Gilmer was later named Speaker
Speaker (politics)
The term speaker is a title often given to the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body. The speaker's official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the...

. He went on to be elected the 28th Governor of Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

, and later to the 27th and 28th U.S. Congress. In 1844 Rep. Gilmer was appointed by President John Tyler
John Tyler
John Tyler was the tenth President of the United States . A native of Virginia, Tyler served as a state legislator, governor, U.S. representative, and U.S. senator before being elected Vice President . He was the first to succeed to the office of President following the death of a predecessor...

 to be U.S. Secretary of the Navy. Gillette later said that Gilmer asked him to go with him to the capital as his servant. He would have had to leave his wife behind.

Gillette "demurred," as he put it, not refusing his master, but making it known that he desired his freedom. His master assented. Having originally paid $500 to purchase Gillette in 1829, Gilmer agreed in 1844 to let the slave purchase his freedom for the same price. Gillette had served him for 14 years. On gaining freedom, Israel took the surname Jefferson in honor of his former master.

Marriage and family

Gillette married twice. His first wife, Mary Ann Colter, a fellow slave with whom he had four children, died. Their children were sold from Monticello.

While still held by Gilmer, Gillette met and married Elizabeth Randolph, a widow and free woman of color. After he bought his freedom, Jefferson and Elizabeth decided to leave Virginia. They migrated to the free state of Ohio, where they settled in Cincinnati. Upon arrival in Ohio, the Jeffersons renewed their marriage vows.

The North, literacy and land

In Cincinnati, Jefferson learned to read and write. He worked as a waiter, especially on steamboats, where he earned more money. They traveled extensively on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Eventually, he and his wife owned a farm together in Pike County
Pike County, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 27,695 people, 10,444 households, and 7,665 families residing in the county. The population density was 63 people per square mile . There were 11,602 housing units at an average density of 26 per square mile...

. They became members of Eden Baptist Church, where Jefferson served as a deacon and treasurer. After the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 and emancipation
Emancipation
Emancipation means the act of setting an individual or social group free or making equal to citizens in a political society.Emancipation may also refer to:* Emancipation , a champion Australian thoroughbred racehorse foaled in 1979...

 of all slaves, his brother Moses Gillette (1803-after 1880) migrated to Ohio with his family and settled near him.

During those years, Jefferson returned more than once to Monticello to visit. In nearby Edge Hill, around 1866 he encountered the elderly Thomas Jefferson Randolph
Thomas Jefferson Randolph
Thomas Jefferson Randolph of Albemarle County was a planter and politician who served in the Virginia House of Delegates, was rector of the University of Virginia, and was a colonel in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War...

, reduced to poverty as he had lost all his property during the Civil War. (In 1829 Randolph had published the first collection of President Jefferson's writings.)

Jefferson had been a close childhood friend of Madison Hemings
Madison Hemings
Madison Hemings, born James Madison Hemings , was born into slavery as the son of the mixed-race slave Sally Hemings; he was freed after the death of his master Thomas Jefferson. Based on historical evidence, most historians believe that Jefferson, United States president, was his father...

, a son of Sally Hemings
Sally Hemings
Sarah "Sally" Hemings was a mixed-race slave owned by President Thomas Jefferson through inheritance from his wife. She was the half-sister of Jefferson's wife, Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson by their father John Wayles...

 at Monticello, who with his brother Eston Hemings
Eston Hemings
Eston Hemings Jefferson was born a slave at Monticello, the youngest son of Sally Hemings, a mixed-race slave. Most historians believe that his father was Thomas Jefferson, the United States president. Evidence from a 1998 DNA test showed that Eston's descendants matched those of the male...

 and their families had also moved to Pike County, Ohio. In the year 1873, Jefferson and Hemings were interviewed by the journalist Samuel F. Wetmore, who published their memoirs in the Pike County Republican. Isaac Jefferson
Isaac Jefferson
Isaac Jefferson, also likely known as Isaac Granger was a valued, enslaved artisan of U.S. President Thomas Jefferson; he crafted and repaired products as a tinsmith, blacksmith, and nailer at Monticello....

, a former fellow slave and contemporary of the two men at Monticello, had related his narrative in 1847 in a published interview with Rev. Charles Campbell.

In his 1873 memoir, Jefferson corroborated Hemings' statement of being descended from THomas Jefferson:
"I know that it was a general statement among the older servants at Monticello, that Mr. Jefferson promised his wife, on her death bed, that he would not again marry. I also know that his servant, Sally Hemmings (sic), (mother to my old friend and former companion at Monticello, Madison Hemmings,) was employed as his chamber-maid, and that Mr. Jefferson was on the most intimate terms with her; that, in fact, she was his concubine. This I know from my intimacy with both parties, and when Madison Hemmings declares that he is a natural son of Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence
Declaration of independence
A declaration of independence is an assertion of the independence of an aspiring state or states. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another nation or failed nation, or are breakaway territories from within the larger state...

, and that his brothers Beverly and Eston
Eston Hemings
Eston Hemings Jefferson was born a slave at Monticello, the youngest son of Sally Hemings, a mixed-race slave. Most historians believe that his father was Thomas Jefferson, the United States president. Evidence from a 1998 DNA test showed that Eston's descendants matched those of the male...

 and sister Harriet
Harriet Hemings
Harriet Hemings was born into slavery at Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United States, in the first year of his Presidency. Most historians believe her father is Jefferson, who is believed by many historians to have had a relationship with his mixed-race slave...

 are of the same parentage, I can as conscientiously confirm his statement as any other fact which I believe from circumstances but do not positively know."


Thomas Mann Randolph, the president's grandson, tried to "protect" his grandfather by disputing Israel Jefferson's claims in a reply published in the Pike County Republican, December 25, 1873. In addition, he had told the historian James Parton years before that his uncle Peter Carr was the father of Sally Hemings' children, although his uncle had been married. (Randolph recounted this after Carr's death.) In his 1874 biography of Thomas Jefferson, Henry Randall first published the Peter Carr paternity account; it was taken up by succeeding historians through the mid-20th century.

Until the late 20th century, historians generally discounted the testimony of Hemings and Israel Jefferson in favor of the denials of the president's recognized descendants. Following additional late 20th-century historical analysis and DNA studies in 1998 that disproved the Carr claim and showed a match between the Jefferson male line and an Eston Hemings' descendant, the scholarship has changed dramatically. Most historians now accept that Thomas Jefferson did have a long-term relationship with Sally Hemings and fathered all her children.

Additional reading

  • "The Memoirs of Israel Jefferson", Frontline, PBS-WGBH
  • "The Memoirs of Madison Hemings", Frontline, PBS-WGBH
  • Gordon-Reed, Annette, (2008) The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family, New York: W.W. Norton, 2007
  • Rinaldi, Ann, Wolf by the Ears (1991), ISBN 0-590-43413-6 Published by Scholastic, Inc., 730 Broadway, New N.Y. 10003

See also

  • Sally Hemings
    Sally Hemings
    Sarah "Sally" Hemings was a mixed-race slave owned by President Thomas Jefferson through inheritance from his wife. She was the half-sister of Jefferson's wife, Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson by their father John Wayles...

  • Madison Hemings
    Madison Hemings
    Madison Hemings, born James Madison Hemings , was born into slavery as the son of the mixed-race slave Sally Hemings; he was freed after the death of his master Thomas Jefferson. Based on historical evidence, most historians believe that Jefferson, United States president, was his father...

  • Eston Hemings
    Eston Hemings
    Eston Hemings Jefferson was born a slave at Monticello, the youngest son of Sally Hemings, a mixed-race slave. Most historians believe that his father was Thomas Jefferson, the United States president. Evidence from a 1998 DNA test showed that Eston's descendants matched those of the male...

  • Harriet Hemings
    Harriet Hemings
    Harriet Hemings was born into slavery at Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United States, in the first year of his Presidency. Most historians believe her father is Jefferson, who is believed by many historians to have had a relationship with his mixed-race slave...

  • Isaac Jefferson
    Isaac Jefferson
    Isaac Jefferson, also likely known as Isaac Granger was a valued, enslaved artisan of U.S. President Thomas Jefferson; he crafted and repaired products as a tinsmith, blacksmith, and nailer at Monticello....


External links

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