Paternity Battles

I read my nephew Lucian K. Truscott IV's article ("Jefferson's   Children," July) with interest. He wrote "I'll tell you what separated me and Frank from our Hemings cousins. The oral  history of the Hemings descendants has not been accepted by historians because it was a history passed along by slaves."  However, he did not mention that the thing that really separates him and his brother Frank from the Hemingses is more than an oral history. My nephews have a paper trail, marriage and birth certificates that link them directly back to Thomas Jefferson.

Unfortunately, the Hemings descendants do not have one. Dr. Eugene Foster's DNA study, made public last November, showed that a Jefferson fathered Eston, Ms. Hemings's last son. Other data suggest that it was most probably Thomas. This supports the oral history of Eston's descendants, but it is not certain proof.

The Monticello Association is determined to do the right thing regarding membership, which requires that one be a lineal descendant of Thomas Jefferson. We hope that additional studies, now under way, will aid us in determining descent for the Hemings descendants and others who may apply for membership. We are committed to establishing the criteria for such a determination by the time of our next annual business meeting, May 2000. If it is shown that any of the Hemings descendants are descended from Mr. Jefferson, we shall welcome them with open arms.

JAMES J. TRUSCOTT
President, The Monticello Association
Slippery Rock, Pa.

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