James Hemings (1765-1801) was an enslaved man from Virginia. He is famous for being Sally Hemings' older brother and for being Thomas Jefferson's chef, or head cook, while he was in Paris. Jefferson freed him when he was 30 years old. He died at age 36. He may have killed himself.
Early life and family
James Hemings was the son of an enslaved woman called Elizabeth "Betty" Hemings and a white man named John Wayles. According to one of her grandchildren, Elizabeth Hemings was Wales' concubine. This means they had a sexual relationship, and she was not his wife.
According to James' nephew, Madison Hemings, Elizabeth Hemings' mother was an African woman who 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.
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 many other enslaved people went with Martha to Wayles' house as part of her marriage settlement. A marriage settlement was any property that a married woman could control and her husband couldn't. In Virginia in the 1700s, many marriage settlements had enslaved people in them. Technically, the Eppes family owned Elizabeth Hemings.
Elizabeth Hemings had 12 children. The father of most of those children, including James, was John Wayles. John Wayles also had children with his wife, Martha Eppes. This made James Hemings the half-brother of Martha Wayles Skelton, who married Thomas Jefferson.
When Martha Wayles Skelton married Jefferson, Hemings and 134 other enslaved people went with Martha Skelton to Jefferson's house at Monticello. They were part of her own marriage settlement. James Hemings was 9 years old.
The Hemings family was the largest family at Monticello. James grew up with his mother, brothers and sisters around him. Unlike other enslaved people, Hemingses did not do much farm work. The women sewed and made clothes. Jefferson hired teachers so the Hemings' boys would learn jobs to do. For example, he paid for Robert Hemings to learn to be a barber.
Historian Annette Gordon-Reed wrote that the Hemings brothers did not live the same way as other enslaved men: Jefferson spent a lot of time away from Monticello. He told his white overseers that, while he was away, they should leave the Hemingses alone. Jefferson let James and his brothers go where they wanted so long as they came back when he told them to. James was allowed to look for jobs in Virginia, choose where to work, and keep his money. There are papers showing James Hemings would rent a horse to ride from town to town. But it was Jefferson who made these choices: The law said James Hemings was a slave. It said James Hemings could only do these things because Jefferson said he could.
Revolutionary War
Jefferson was elected Governor of Virginia in 1779 during the American Revolutionary War. The capital of Virginia changed. First it was Williamsburg, Virginia and then it was Richmond, Virginia. James and his brother Robert went with Jefferson to Richmond to work for him. When Benedict Arnold led British troops to attack Richmond in 1781, James and Robert took Martha Jefferson and her daughters away from the city.