Barbara Hambly - Patriot Hearts - A Novel of the Founding Mothers

Peter Carr 1770 (?)–1815—One of Aunt Carr’s children, raised at Monticello. Much later in life, Patsy Jefferson claimed that Peter Carr was the father of Sally Hemings’s children, a claim disproved by DNA tests in 1998. He was, apparently, the father of a son by Sally’s sister Critta.

Sam Carr 1766 (?)–1855 (?)—Another of Aunt Carr’s sons, raised at Monticello.

Aunt Elizabeth Eppes— Younger half-sister of Jefferson’s wife Martha (Patty). She assumed care of Jefferson’s daughters Maria (Polly) and Lucie Elizabeth on the death of Patty Jefferson.

Jack (John Wayles) Eppes 1773–1823—Son of Aunt Eppes and Maria Jefferson’s childhood sweetheart and eventual husband; lived for a time with the Jefferson household and acted as Jefferson’s secretary. U.S. Representative for Virginia, U.S. Senator. After Maria’s death in 1804, Jack married Martha Jones; he also kept as a concubine Sally Hemings’s niece Betsie Hemings, who is buried beside him at Millbrook in Virginia. Martha Jones Eppes reportedly asked to be buried someplace else, and was.

Betty Hemings d. 1807—Mother of Sally Hemings by John Wayles, the father of Jefferson’s wife. Prior to becoming John Wayles’s concubine, she had three children by a fellow slave—Martin, Bett, and Mary (Mary was the mother of Jack Eppes’s concubine Betsie Hemings). She had six children by John Wayles: Robert, Jimmy, Peter (Pip), Critta, Sally, and Thenia. Later, at Monticello, she had a son (John) by one of the white carpenters there, and a daughter (Lucy) by a fellow slave. All the slaves manumitted by Thomas Jefferson were either Betty’s children or her grandchildren.

Sally Hemings 1773–1836—Daughter of Betty Hemings by John Wayles, the father of Jefferson’s wife; nursemaid to Jefferson’s daughter Maria (Polly) on her journey to join her father in France; maid to both the Jefferson daughters and later the servant in charge of Jefferson’s private quarters; Thomas Jefferson’s concubine for forty-two years and the mother of eight of his children including his only surviving sons. One of her grandsons fought as a Union soldier in the Civil War and died in the Confederate prison at Andersonville.

Jimmy Hemings 1765 (?)–1801—Son of Betty Hemings by John Wayles, taken to France with Jefferson in 1784 to be trained as a cook, returned with him to Virginia and was given his freedom, later traveled in Europe but died “tragically” (Jefferson’s word)—possibly from the effects of alcoholism, in 1801.

Peter Hemings— [Pip] Son of Betty Hemings by John Wayles, trained by Jimmy as his replacement as Monticello cook.

Critta Hemings— Daughter of Betty Hemings by John Wayles; housemaid at Monticello and mother of a son (Jamey) by Jefferson’s nephew Peter Carr.

Young Tom Hemings 1789–(?)—[Little Tom] Oldest son of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings.

Beverly Hemings 1798–(?)—Second son of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings. Reported to have gone to Washington, D.C., and “passed” for white.

Thomas Jefferson 1743–1826—Virginia planter, philosopher, architect, gardener, author (in committee with John Adams and Benjamin Franklin) of the Declaration of Independence, Minister to France, Secretary of State to George Washington, Vice President, and later third President of the United States.

Martha (Wayles) (Skelton) Jefferson 1748–1783—[Miss Patty] Formerly married (for twenty-two months) to Jefferson’s friend Bathurst Skelton, by whom she had a son, John, who died at age four. Jefferson loved her desperately and promised her on her deathbed that he would never marry again.

Patsy (Jefferson) Randolph 1772–1836—[Martha] Oldest daughter of Thomas Jefferson, and his lifelong companion. Married Thomas Randolph, Jr., by whom she had twelve children, and left him shortly after Jefferson’s death. Her youngest son was the first Secretary of War of the Confederate States of America.

Maria (Jefferson) Eppes 1778–1804—[Mary, Polly] Youngest surviving daughter of Thomas Jefferson. Married Jack Eppes by whom she had three children, died two months after the birth of the third.

Lamentation Hawkin *—Free black carter from Charlottesville; one of Sally’s admirers.

Lacey *—Patsy Jefferson Randolph’s maid.

Adrien Petit— Thomas Jefferson’s French valet. Originally employed by John Adams, he went to work for Jefferson when Adams went to England. He remained in France at the beginning of the French Revolution, but rejoined Jefferson at Monticello in 1791. I have been unable to ascertain whether the Monticello overseer from 1794 to 1797, Hugh Petit, was any relation.

Thomas Mann Randolph, Jr. 1768–1828—Virginia planter, U.S. Representative of Virginia, twice elected Governor of Virginia despite severe depression and intermittent mental instability. Son of Jefferson’s old friend Thomas Mann Randolph, Sr., with whom Jefferson grew up. Randolph junior was Patsy Jefferson’s childhood friend, reencountered her in Paris in 1788, and married her in 1790, three months after her return to Virginia. He spent much of his life in debt. Even after he and Patsy were reconciled and he returned to Monticello to live, he had separate quarters from hers.

Anne Carey Randolph b. 1791—[Annie] First child of Patsy and Tom Randolph.

Thomas Jefferson Randolph b. 1793—[Jeff] Second child of Patsy and Tom Randolph. In 1795, when their father had a breakdown, Jeff and Annie were taken to Monticello to live for almost two years.

Ellen Wayles Randolph b. 1796—Second daughter of that name born to Patsy and Tom Randolph; the first, born in 1794, died in infancy.

Cornelia Jefferson Randolph b. 1799—Fourth child (third surviving) of Patsy and Tom Randolph.

DOLLEY

Lizzie (Collins) Lee b. 1768 (?)—Dolley’s best friend from the Quaker Meeting in Philadelphia; like Dolley, ejected from the Meeting for marrying out of her faith (to Congressman Richard Lee of Virginia). Remained Dolley’s best friend for life.

Andrew Jackson 1767–1845—First Congressman and later Senator from Tennessee, Judge of the Tennessee Supreme Court, and General of the United States forces defending New Orleans against an invading British force in January of 1815. Seventh President of the United States.

Rachel Jackson 1767–1828—Daughter of Virginia planter and politician John Donelson; later married to Lewis Robards (who seems to have been something of a nutcase), who initiated—but did not complete—divorce proceedings in 1790. Rachel married Andrew Jackson in 1791, in Spanish territory, under the impression that she was a free woman, which turned out not to be the case until 1793. Jackson and Rachel remarried in 1794—as soon as they legally could—and Jackson subsequently shot several people in duels for calling Rachel an adultress. This became a major target for mudslinging in the Presidential elections of 1824 and 1828.

Paul Jennings b. 1799—James Madison’s slave valet and writer of the first “behind-the-scenes” account of White House life. When in desperate financial straits in later life, Dolley sold Paul to Daniel Webster for a ridiculously low sum so that Paul would have the opportunity to easily work his way out of slavery.

Dolley (Payne) (Todd) Madison 1768–1849—Third and fourth First Lady of the United States, she acted as Thomas Jefferson’s hostess through much of his administration (except for one season when Patsy Jefferson Randolph was able to come to Washington). Formerly married to Philadelphia lawyer John Todd, Jr., by whom she had two sons, Payne and Willie.