Mary Hemings - Descendants

Descendants

Jefferson kept Mary's older children Betsy Hemmings and Joseph Fossett enslaved at Monticello. He had already given away her children Daniel and Molly to his sister and daughter, respectively. When his daughter Mary Jefferson married John Wayles Eppes in 1797, Jefferson gave Betsy Hemmings at age 14 to them as a wedding gift. She had to leave her family, and lived with the Eppes family for the rest of her life.

The Hemmings descendants' oral tradition is that after Mary Jefferson Eppes died, the then-21-year-old Betsy became the concubine of the young widower John Eppes. They had a daughter Frances and son Joseph together and other children. (The names of other children were lost when a fire destroyed the plantation records.) According to her descendants, their relationship continued after he married a second time five years later, although it was not openly acknowledged. Betsy Hemmings was buried next to Eppes in his family cemetery at the plantation, and her grave is marked by a tombstone similar to his. His second wife was buried at her daughter's plantation.

Decades later, in 1826 Jefferson freed Joseph Fossett by his will, in recognition of his valuable service as an ironworker. To settle debts of the estate, 130 Monticello slaves were sold, including Fossett's wife Edy and their children. With the help of his mother Mary Bell and other free family members, Fossett over several years purchased the freedom of his wife and most of his children. The family moved from Virginia to the free state of Ohio about 1840.

In 1833 his son Peter Fossett's master, John Jones, reneged on his previous agreement to sell the boy back to Fossett. According to Peter Fossett's memoir, published in The New York World, 30 January 1898, he had learned to read and write. Peter Fossett gave his sister Isabel, also still enslaved, a "free pass" enabling her to travel; she escaped to Boston and freedom. Peter escaped twice but was captured, and in 1850 was sold. Friends of his father's bought him and freed him; he then joined his father and the rest of the family in Cincinnati.