| Episodes |
Beyond Sally: Stanton on Jefferson's Other Slaves
Elijah Ohrt
[1] As students or teachers in this course on Jefferson and Hemings, it is always advantageous to have a strong basis of knowledge of the going-ons at Monticello and the slave community populating it. After reading Lucia Stanton's Free Some Day: The African-American Families of Monticello, I can confidently say that this book can provide such a basis and is, indeed, invaluable to anyone studying the controversy. Yes, that is a strong evaluation, but, I can confidently make it given who is authoring the book. Stanton is among the top experts in Jefferson and Monticello. She was not only the Director of Research at Monticello and head of research at Monticello's' International Center for Jefferson Studies, but also she also worked on four Jefferson-related books. Needless to say, Stanton is a veritable champion of slavery at Monticello. This book is an important tool in a scholar's arsenal because "her efforts are aimed at producing a more detailed and comprehensive account of the lives and contributions of the African Americans who inhabited Jefferson's mountaintop plantation" (Back Cover). The book communicates these "lives and contributions" by focusing on six slave families. Anecdotes abound in the text, amusing and interesting ones at that, with sections in between each of the six that detail general slave events and issues at the plantation. Within this essay we will look at two of those families to see why they are included in the text -- in short, at what they have to provide to the book and us as students of Monticello.
[2] Before we get into the two families, I think it's important to recognize some of the other valuable resources in the book. For instance, Stanton provides complementary historic images. These images, which I will describe in context later, are significant and, having never seen anything like them, I was quite amazed that such detailed Monticello records still exist. The book also has a brilliant family tree. I can not express how valuable this is to the Jefferson and Hemings course as it keeps track of not only Jefferson's family but also the six slave lines traced in the research. I found myself constantly referring to this map to follow along with the reading and get a visual for all of it.
[3] Jupiter and his wife Suck are presented first because of the length and depth of their relationship with Jefferson. They are one of the most important slave families because Jupiter and his master were companions from birth. Stanton talks about how the young boys may have fished together, set traps along the river, and shared hunting escapades until Jupiter finally became Jefferson's personal assistant in their teens (19). This close proximity of relationship lasted for all of Jupiter's life. The man cared for Monticello's stables, for Jefferson himself, and often shuttled large sums of money on deliveries for his master. He was also entrusted with important errands, such as, when Jefferson was sick, carrying to the 1774 Virginia Convention in Williamsburg a copy of A Summary View of the Rights of British America with the important words: "The abolition of domestic slavery is the great object of desire in those colonies where it was unhappily introduced in their infant state" (a bit ironic, if I do say so myself) (21). Jupiter was given all of these duties because, as Stanton puts it, he "epitomized the ideal slave of Jefferson's and other southern slaveholders' expectations" (23). At this point Stanton delves into something I found extremely interesting. She talks about how Jupiter is very common in Monticello records because he was so close to Jefferson. She then mentions that only the two extremes of slaves -- those like Jupiter or those who constantly misbehaved -- are mentioned in the records, indicating that "those who chose intermediate strategies for survival are least visible in the records" (23). Back to Jupiter -- his close relationship with Jefferson and fifty-year-long friendship is the reason why Stanton includes him in the book since he gives insight into the lives of the favored at Monticello. The last line of Jupiter's section, however, paints a very different picture of how Jefferson actually viewed him. His remarks on the beloved companion's death merely amount to "as well as sensible he leaves a void in my administration which I cannot fill up" (27). A particularly loving sentiment from the man who wrote the infamous lines that introduce our Declaration.
[4] The second family in the book we will examine is the infamous Hemings clan. Although I will focus mainly on Stanton's writing about Sally, it's important to point out that this chapter focuses on the whole family and only touches on Sally a bit. I choose to talk mainly about her simply because she pertains to what we are studying in the course, but the long chapter deals a lot with Elizabeth Hemings and Sally's children. Here's the point where Stanton's book can be separated from most other books on the subject. Instead of keeping the other slaves and members on Monticello in the dark, she chooses to bring everyone to the front and celebrate their accomplishments and lives (which is well deserved as over eighty members of the Hemings clan inhabited Monticello over the years) (106). Sally accompanied Jefferson's daughter to France merely by chance since the desired slave to go was sick (108). This is so intriguing when one thinks of the alternative. If the other slave wasn't sick and Sally never to France, there would have been no relationship and therefore all this scandal would be non-existent.
[5] The privileges of those slaves close to Jefferson is also explored in this chapter. A particularly strong example of this comes in the form of an image of a page in the Farm Book (as previously mentioned) that shows the Hemings family receiving close to double the allotments of linens other slaves did (106). This is the point at which Stanton's research clearly shines; this image does wonders to further her points and is amazing to see up close in print. Most of the rest of the parts on Sally include her times in France and how those were such formative years for her. Stanton also talks about the birth of her son and Callender's accusations, all familiar items in our knowledge toolbelt. The chapter starts to get interesting again when Stanton brings in the DNA tests discussed in episode 9, concluding there was a less than one percent chance that Jefferson was not the father (117). This information is well placed and clearly communicates Stanton's stance on the controversy. One more significant portion of Sally's part is the credit that Stanton gives the young slave girl. She speaks of "a woman, who although limited by her race and condition, exercised a measure of control over her own destiny," and She later goes on to note her "strength and agency" throughout life (117). Stanton's characterization of Sally is quite beautiful and refreshing for a student in the course.
[6] In addition to the two families we covered, others included are the Herns, George and Ursula, The Gillets, and the Hubbard brothers. Their stories range from George, overseer of the slaves, to the escapee Hubbards, and all are relevant to life at Monticello. Overall, Stanton's book is an invaluable tool for anyone in the course because it gives a detailed and thorough account of six slave families and general happenings at Monticello. The inclusion of the map, the pictures, the extensive research all culminates in a package that is perfect for the course and specifically for episode 9. Free Some Day furthers the conversation about slaves on the plantation and of Sally, all the while in a quite entertaining manner.
