![]() ![]() ![]() James Hemings was the only slave who in 1784 accompanied TJ to France, where he learned the art of cookery well enough to serve as TJ’s chef starting in late 1787, and continued in that capacity at New York, Philadelphia, and Monticello. TJ freed five other slaves in his will-one outright and the others after various terms of service-all men with trades who belonged to the Hemings family, a clan he had inherited through marriage from the Wayles estate. James Hemings (1765–1801), the sixth of twelve children of the slave Elizabeth (Betty) Hemings who can be documented from TJ’s papers, and the second of six she is alleged to have had by TJ’s father-in-law, John Wayles, was one of two bondsmen TJ formally freed during his lifetime, the other being his brother Robert Hemings, who in 1794 arranged to purchase his freedom. PrC ( MHi) in TJ’s hand except for Petit’s signature endorsed by TJ in ink: “James.”
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