At Capitol, supporters defend Jefferson on his 266th birthday
On the 266th anniversary of his birth, some of Thomas Jefferson's biggest fans are again speaking out on the controversy that followed him to his grave in 1826 and has been fodder for scandal ever since.
Meeting beneath a portrait of the Virginian in the state Capitol he designed more than 200 years ago, the Thomas Jefferson Heritage Society today made the case against claims the nation's third president had an affair with slave Sally Hemings and with her, had several children after his wife's death.
But it wasn't just business for these Jefferson devotees. Led by the organization's president, Dr. William McKenzie Wallenborn of Charlottesville, they squeezed out three hearty "huzzahs" for the Sage of Monticello.
Three authors and researchers, addressing about 40 in the Capitol's yellow-green-and-white Jefferson Room, refuted DNA evidence from nearly a decade ago that has led some scholars and Jefferson buffs to conclude he and Hemings had a continuing liaison.
Read entire article at Richmond Times-Dispatch
Meeting beneath a portrait of the Virginian in the state Capitol he designed more than 200 years ago, the Thomas Jefferson Heritage Society today made the case against claims the nation's third president had an affair with slave Sally Hemings and with her, had several children after his wife's death.
But it wasn't just business for these Jefferson devotees. Led by the organization's president, Dr. William McKenzie Wallenborn of Charlottesville, they squeezed out three hearty "huzzahs" for the Sage of Monticello.
Three authors and researchers, addressing about 40 in the Capitol's yellow-green-and-white Jefferson Room, refuted DNA evidence from nearly a decade ago that has led some scholars and Jefferson buffs to conclude he and Hemings had a continuing liaison.