Israel Jefferson facts for kids
Israel Jefferson (born around 1800, died about 1879) was an enslaved person at Monticello. This was the large farm owned by Thomas Jefferson, who was the third President of the United States. Before 1844, Israel was known as Israel Gillette.
He worked as a servant in Jefferson's home for many years. He also rode with his brothers as a postilion, guiding the horses for the president's large carriage.
After Thomas Jefferson died in 1826, Israel Gillette was sold. This happened when 130 enslaved people from Monticello were sold to pay off debts. Many families were separated during this time. Israel was sold to Thomas Walker Gilmer.
In 1844, Israel bought his freedom from Gilmer. He then changed his last name to Jefferson. He said a clerk suggested this name when he registered as a free man.
Israel and his wife, Elizabeth, who was born free, moved to Ohio. Ohio was a free state where slavery was not allowed. There, Israel worked on a steamboat.
In 1873, Israel Jefferson shared his life story. It was published in a newspaper called the Pike County Republican. That same year, Madison Hemings, another former enslaved person from Monticello, also shared his story.
Israel Jefferson's story gave many details about daily life at Monticello. He also confirmed that Thomas Jefferson was the father of Sally Hemings's children. This supported Madison Hemings's own account. Later, in 1998, a DNA study showed a connection between the Jefferson family and a descendant of Eston Hemings, Sally's youngest son.
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Life as an Enslaved Person
Israel Gillette was born into slavery around 1797. His parents were Jane and Edward Gillett, who were also enslaved. They had thirteen children, all of whom used their father's last name, Gillette.
At Monticello, Israel worked in many roles. He started as a waiter for the Jefferson family when he was about eight years old.
He described his work for Mr. Jefferson: "For fourteen years I made the fire in his bedroom and private chamber, cleaned his office, dusted his books, run of errands and attended him about home." He and his older brother Gilly stayed close to Mr. Jefferson as long as he lived.
Israel also said, "Frequently, gentlemen would call upon him on business of great importance, whom I used to usher into his presence." He would sometimes work in the same room where these important meetings took place.
One famous visitor was the Marquis de Lafayette. He was a French hero who helped America during the Revolution. Israel Jefferson remembered this visit:
In those times I minded but little concerning the conversations which took place between Mr. Jefferson and his visitors. But I well recollect a conversation he had with the great and good Lafayette, when he visited this country in 1824 and 1825, as it was of personal interest to me and mine.
During this talk, Lafayette expressed his worries about slavery continuing in the United States.
Sold from Monticello
In 1829, three years after Thomas Jefferson died, Israel Gillette was among 130 enslaved people sold from Monticello. This sale was to help pay off Jefferson's debts. Israel was sold to Thomas Walker Gilmer.
Thomas Jefferson Randolph, Jefferson's oldest grandson, managed these sales. He was in charge of the late President's estate. The sales broke up many enslaved families at Monticello.
Gilmer was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1829. He later became the Speaker of the House. He then became the 28th Governor of Virginia. Later, he served in the U.S. Congress.
In 1844, President John Tyler appointed Gilmer as the U.S. Secretary of the Navy. Israel Gillette later said that Gilmer asked him to come to Washington D.C. as his servant. However, Israel would have had to leave his wife behind.
Israel "demurred," meaning he hesitated. He did not refuse but said he preferred to gain his freedom. Gilmer had paid $500 for Israel in 1829. In 1844, Gilmer agreed to let Israel buy his freedom for the same price. Israel had served Gilmer for 14 years.
Secretary Gilmer died in an accident on the new warship U.S.S. Princeton. One of its large guns, called "Peacemaker," exploded during a test. This happened during a tour on the Potomac River with 400 guests. Gilmer had been in his new job for just over a week. President John Tyler was also on board but was not hurt.
Israel believed he would have been killed if he had gone with Gilmer to Washington. He said it would have been his duty to stay very close to Gilmer. Another enslaved man named Armistead was also on the ship and died in the explosion.
Virginia law required freedmen (freed enslaved people) to leave the state within 12 months. To avoid this, Israel was bought in his wife's name. He later said he did not feel truly free until they left Virginia for Ohio. When he registered as a free Black man in Ohio, a clerk suggested he take the name of his former master, President Jefferson. So, he did.
Marriage and Family Life
Israel Gillette married twice. His first wife was Mary Ann Colter, who was also enslaved. They had four children together. Mary Ann died young. Their children were sold from Monticello before Israel bought his freedom, and he lost touch with them.
Around 1838, while still enslaved by Gilmer, Israel met and married Elizabeth (Farrow) Randolph. She was a free woman of color and a widow with ten children. Elizabeth's mother, Martha Thackey, was white. This meant Elizabeth was born free, according to the law at the time.
After Israel bought his freedom, he and Elizabeth decided to leave Virginia. They moved with their family to the free state of Ohio. They settled in Cincinnati. When they arrived in Ohio, the Jeffersons renewed their marriage vows. They had been married for about 35 years when Israel wrote his life story.
Life in the North
In Cincinnati, Israel Jefferson learned to read and write. He first worked as a waiter in the city. Then he started working on steamboats, where he earned much more money. These riverboats traveled widely on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers.
After living and working for 14 years in Cincinnati, he and his wife bought a farm. Their farm was in Pike County. They became members of Eden Baptist Church, where Israel served as a deacon and treasurer.
After the American Civil War and the end of slavery, his brother Moses Gillette (born 1803) moved to Ohio. Moses and his family settled near Israel.
During those years, Israel Jefferson returned to Monticello more than once to visit. Around 1866, he met the elderly Thomas Jefferson Randolph at a nearby farm. Randolph had lost all his property during the Civil War and was very poor. (In 1829, Randolph had published the first collection of President Jefferson's writings.)
Sharing His Story
Israel Jefferson was a close childhood friend of Madison Hemings. Madison was a son of Sally Hemings at Monticello. Madison, his brother Eston Hemings, and their families also moved to Pike County, Ohio.
In 1873, both Madison Hemings and Israel Jefferson were established, older men. A journalist named Samuel F. Wetmore interviewed them. He published their stories one after another in the Pike County Republican. The series was called "Life Among the Lowly."
Madison Hemings said that he and his siblings were the children of Thomas Jefferson. He also stated that their mother had a long-term relationship with Jefferson. (This relationship had been talked about since the early 1800s.)
In his 1873 story, Israel Jefferson supported Madison's claim of being Thomas Jefferson's "natural son":
I know that it was a general statement among the older servants at Monticello, that Mr. Jefferson promised his wife, on her death bed, that he would not again marry. I also know that his servant, Sally Hemmings (sic), (mother to my old friend and former companion at Monticello, Madison Hemmings,) was employed as his chamber-maid, and that Mr. Jefferson was on the most intimate terms with her; that, in fact, she was his concubine. This I know from my intimacy with both parties, and when Madison Hemmings declares that he is a natural son of Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence, and that his brothers Beverly and Eston and sister Harriet are of the same parentage, I can as conscientiously confirm his statement as any other fact which I believe from circumstances but do not positively know.
Israel Jefferson noted that Sally Hemings and her four children had been freed when Thomas Jefferson died. Other members of the Hemings family were also freed.
Thomas Jefferson Randolph, the president's oldest grandson, strongly disagreed with Israel Jefferson's statement. He published an angry response in the Pike County Republican on December 25, 1873. He accused Israel Jefferson of spreading false stories. He denied that his grandfather had a relationship with Sally Hemings. He also denied that Jefferson had freed Hemings and her children.
(Note: Some facts are known: Randolph's mother gave Sally Hemings her freedom in a quiet way. This allowed Sally to live in Charlottesville with her two sons. Thomas Jefferson freed two of Sally's sons by name in his will of 1826, which was public. He had also allowed the other two to leave earlier in 1822 when they became adults. This was known by his overseer, Edmund Bacon, who wrote about it.)
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