When you think of 19th century America, you think of the Civil War, slavery, cotton, willow trees, plantation houses, old timey music, and racial conflict. Now, Mr. Jefferson was an interesting man. He was the grandson of our Founding Father, Thomas Jefferson, and his slave lover, Sally Hemings. John's father, Eston, was born a slave. Thomas Jefferson freed his slave son in 1826 after his death. As Eston was 7/8ths white, he was legally considered white in Virginia (This would change later on in the 19th century). He married a mulatto Jewish woman by the name of Julia Ann Isaacs. This branch of the Jefferson family passed into white society quite easily.
John grew up in the abolitionist North, surrounded by thriving free black communities for a time, prior to shifting back to an all white area of Madison, Wisconsin with his family. At the age of 26, he enlisted in the US Army on August 26th, 1861. He commanded the 8th Wisconsin Infantry and on n September 28, 1861 was promoted to Major; to Lieutenant Colonel on April 23, 1863; and to Colonel on June 16, 1864. John was wounded at Vicksburg and during the Siege of Corinth.
After the war, he moved to Memphis and founded the Continental Cotton Company.
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Originally Posted by Locke1740
