Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, August 15, 1994                   TAG: 9408150076
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: RICHARD FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

POPLAR FOREST HOLDS SECRETS OF JEFFERSON'S SLAVES' LIVES

At any given time, between 50 and 100 slaves lived on the plantation and kept it running in Jefferson's absence. Yet, because most of the slaves were illiterate, there is very little written about their everyday lives.

"We know some real basic things about the slaves who were living here," such as names, ages and family structures, from tax records and business documents, said Barbara Heath, director of archaeology at Poplar Forest, "but we don't really know what their private lives were like."

Sheryl Kingery, director of interpretation at Poplar Forest, conveys Poplar Forest's history to visitors through tour guides and exhibits. She said archaeological study of Poplar Forest slave quarters by field classes will "further our understanding of how the whole plantation lived, worked, existed.

" ... We're looking at Jefferson and his establishment of this community [at Poplar Forest]. We are not only looking at Jefferson but relationships between Jefferson and his slaves, relationships between Jefferson and his overseers.

``We want to know, `How did people interact in this community?'''

The man who wrote "all men are created equal" is generally considered to have been fairly liberal in his treatment of slaves.

Business records and letters show that Jefferson issued each slave two sets of clothing and a blanket annually, and when female slaves married, Jefferson gave them a cooking pot and a bed.

The slaves of Poplar Forest performed important tasks for Jefferson, such as raising cash crops that kept him wealthy and making butter for Monticello.

From letters to overseers, it is known that he paid slaves to perform particularly unpleasant jobs, such as digging a sunken garden in his back yard at Poplar Forest. He encouraged literacy among slaves and corresponded occasionally with the few slaves at Poplar Forest who could read and write.

Hannah, who was the hostess of the house at Poplar Forest, once sent a letter to Jefferson at Monticello while he was ill, hoping that he was in good spirits. Jon Hemmings, a talented carpenter who did most of the woodworking at Poplar Forest, frequently wrote Jefferson for building instructions and money for materials.

Historians have even speculated that Jefferson may have sired five illegitimate children through liaisons with Sally Hemings, a slave at Monticello.

Yet, being a slaveowner, Jefferson also gave away slaves as wedding presents and gifts, sometimes separating families. He never gave any slaves their freedom. At least one slave was flogged for stealing, and at least four Poplar Forest slaves ran away several times.

In 1821, five years before Jefferson's death, a Poplar Forest overseer was beaten and stabbed. Jefferson had the slaves responsible for the attack shipped to Louisiana, where life for slaves was perilous.

Yet knowing Jefferson's attitudes toward slaves doesn't give a clear picture of them.

Kingery said another problem in understanding slave life is the lack of research and exhibits about it.

In the past, she said, slavery "was not a comfortable topic. It's still not comfortable now, but we're trying to examine the placement of people in history."

So at Poplar Forest, archaeologists are trying to reach out to slaves through the ground they walked on. It yields precious little. They know slaves had inexpensive dishes. They know they carved pipes and had brass buttons for their clothing. They know slaves raised some domestic animals and hunted wild game.

They know slaves had blacksmithing capabilities. They know the slaves probably had clay chimneys and built log cabins with metal nails.

But, not for a lack of trying, those studying the slaves still cannot hear their voices.