John Wayles Jefferson

John Wayles Jefferson (born John Wayles Hemings; May 8, 1835 – June 12, 1892) was an American businessman and Union Army officer during the American Civil War. He is believed to be a grandson of Thomas Jefferson through his paternal grandmother, Sarah (Sally) Hemings, who was a mixed-race enslaved woman at Monticello and the half-sister of Jefferson’s wife, Martha Wayles Skelton.

Early life and family

John Wayles Jefferson was born in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1835. His father was Eston Hemings, born a slave at Monticello in 1808, and his mother was Julia Ann Isaacs, a woman of mixed race, the daughter of a Jewish merchant from Germany and a free woman of color. Eston Hemings was one of Sally Hemings’ children, widely believed to have been fathered by Thomas Jefferson. Under Virginian law at the time, children of enslaved women took the status of their mother; thus, Eston Hemings was born into slavery despite his high percentage of European ancestry.

Thomas Jefferson informally and formally freed all four surviving children of Sally Hemings, including Eston Hemings. Eston and Julia Ann moved to Charlottesville, where they purchased property and built a house, and where Sally Hemings lived with them until her death in 1835. After Sally Hemings' death, Eston Hemings and his family relocated to Chillicothe, Ohio, around 1835, seeking a free state environment. Eston and Julia’s children, including John Wayles Jefferson, received education through public schools, and the family was part of the free black community with abolitionist activities.

In 1852, amid heightened tensions and the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act, Eston Hemings' family moved to Madison, Wisconsin, where they adopted the surname "Jefferson" to reflect their ancestry. John was 17 years old at the time of the move. His siblings Anna and Beverley also married white spouses as adults. Anna Hemings Jefferson died young in 1866.

Career and military service

Prior to the Civil War, John W. Jefferson operated the American House hotel in Madison, Wisconsin. He brought his younger brother Beverly into the business to aid in management.

In 1861, at age 26, Jefferson enlisted in the Union Army, serving as a volunteer in the 8th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment. He was promoted several times, reaching the rank of colonel by June 1864. Jefferson participated in key battles and was wounded at Vicksburg and during the Siege of Corinth. His military service concluded on October 11, 1864, in Madison. Records note that he had red hair and gray eyes resembling Thomas Jefferson, and photographs indicate a strong resemblance.

In 1902, a former neighbor from Chillicothe recalled Jefferson’s concern about his mixed heritage, noting his rank as a lieutenant colonel and his command of a regiment of white men from a northwestern state.

Post-war life

After the war, Jefferson worked as a newspaper correspondent, publishing articles about his experiences. He relocated to Memphis, Tennessee, where he became a prominent cotton broker, founding the Continental Cotton Company. He cultivated cotton in Arkansas and bred trotting horses on his Memphis plantation. Jefferson authored articles in the Memphis Daily Avalanche on various civic and economic matters, including city planning and fire prevention.

He never married and died on June 12, 1892. Jefferson was interred in Forest Hill Cemetery in Madison, Wisconsin, in the Jefferson family plot, leaving a sizeable estate.

Ancestry controversy

Historians debated the extent of Thomas Jefferson’s relationship with Sally Hemings until the 1990s, when DNA testing provided evidence supporting the Hemings family’s assertion of Jefferson descent. Y-DNA tests conducted in 1998 revealed a male-line descendant of Beverly Hemings shared a common ancestor with male-line descendants of Thomas Jefferson, negating the theory that Jefferson’s nephew fathered Hemings’ children. These findings, along with documentary evidence, confirmed the Hemings family’s claim of descent from Jefferson, revising prior historical assumptions.