Martin Hemings''' (1755-????) was a man from Virginia. He was the oldest male child of Elizabeth "Betty" Hemings. History does not say who his father was, but it was not John Wayles. Martin Hemings was the half-brother of Sally Hemings and James Hemings. He was enslaved to Thomas Jefferson. He worked as Jefferson's butler at Monticello.
Family history and early life
According to Madison Hemings, Sally Hemings' grandmother was a fully African woman and might have been born in Africa. She was enslaved to the Eppes family in Virginia. Historians do not know for sure what her name was. Papers with the names of enslaved women in the Eppes family include "Dinah," "Judy," "Abbie," "Sarah," "Parthenia," and others. Historian Annette Gordon-Reed said that there were many girls named "Thenia" in the Hemings family, and they might have been named after Parthenia. But she also says that "Sally" is a nickname for "Sarah," and there were many girls named "Sarah" and "Sally" in the Hemings family too.
Martin Hemings' mother was called Elizabeth "Betty" Hemings. Martin Hemings' nephew Madison Hemings told the story: Elizabeth Hemings' mother was an African woman and her father was an English sea captain named Hemings. The sea captain tried to buy Elizabeth Hemings from her owner, but the owner said no. He said he wanted to see what a half-white, half-African child would look like. Then Captain Hemings tried to take the child away from the owner without paying, but someone told the owner about his plan. Captain Hemings left Virginia and did not come back.
Captain Hemings tried to take his daughter from one of the men in the Eppes family, but historians do not know which one because they do not know when Elizabeth Hemings was born. One paper says "about 1735."
Elizabeth Hemings lived at the Eppes family's house, which was called Bermuda Hundred, until 1746. That year, Martha Eppes married John Wayles. Elizabeth and other enslaved people went with Martha to Wayle's house as part of her marriage settlement. A marriage settlement was any property that a married woman could control and her husband couldn't. Technically, the Eppes family owned Elizabeth Hemings.
Elizabeth Hemings had many children. Martin Hemings was born on a plantation called The Forest that belonged to John Wayles. History does not say who his father was. John Wayles was the father of most of Elizabeth Hemings' other children.
When Martha Wayles Skelton married Thomas Jefferson, Hemings and many people in her family went with Martha Skelton to Jefferson's house at Monticello. Martin Hemings was 17 or 18 years old. He later became the butler of Monticello and lived there for many years. When Thomas Jefferson became governor of Virginia and lived in houses in Richmond, Virginia and Williamsburg, Virginia, Martin Hemings went with him.
Personality
We do not know what Martin Hemings was like when he was around other black people. This is because no writings about this survive. But many of Thomas Jefferson's letters have been saved and copied. Thomas Jefferson wrote about the enslaved people a lot. Thomas Jefferson wrote about Martin having a fiery temper.Jefferson's granddaughters said he had a gloomy temper and became angry if anyone but Jefferson gave him orders.
During the American Revolutionary War, the British army captured Monticello. Martin Hemings hid the valuable silver tableware—forks, knives and other items for eating. He hid them under the floorboards. Another enslaved man, called Caesar, hid with them and could not get out for days. Martin did not tell the British soldiers where the silver was, not even when they hit him.
Jefferson's granddaughters told historian Henry S. Randall the family story: A British officer pointed a gun at Martin Hemings and told Hemings to say which way Jefferson had gone. "Fire away, then," answered Hemings.
White people wrote about how this showed Martin was loyal to his master and his country. Historian Annette Gordon-Reed writes that perhaps Martin just did not like being told what to do.
Later life
Jefferson was away from Monticello a lot. After his wife died, he wanted to be somewhere else. He even went to Paris for years when he was the United States Ambassador to France. During these times, enslaved people in the Hemings family were allowed to come and go as they wanted. The Hemings men lived almost like free black men: They could find jobs where they wanted and keep all the money they earned.