Thomas Jefferson’s Secret Native American Grandson
According to the church’s history, First Antioch Baptist Church was organized on August 10, 1867, the fruits of former slaves, who grew out of Fine Creek Baptist Church of Powhatan. A long list of people contributed money for the purchase of 1 acre of land in the county, bought from John Lewis Ellis. Initially, a brush arbor was erected and the Rev. Alfred Morris was the first pastor. — Richmond Times-Dispatch
Note that in his death certificate Alfred’s birthplace says Powhatan, not Virginia. Judging his appearance from his portrait, he’s clearly a Native American or Indigenous Virginian. However, his race changes from Mulatto to Black to Colored depending on the census-takers fancy: he couldn’t read or write English.
In 1705, the General Assembly articulated specific racial groups and restricted the rights of African Americans, Indians, and “mulattoes,” defining the latter as anyone who was the child of an Indian or the child, grandchild, or great-grandchild of an African American. In 1785, that definition was simplified: a mulatto was anyone with one-fourth or more “negro blood.” In 1860, the definition stayed the same. Six years later, however, “mulatto” was replaced by the word “colored,” and Indians were now defined as being not colored and having one-fourth or more “Indian blood.” That definition remained the same in 1887 and 1910. But in the latter year, the assembly broadened its definition of a colored person to someone with one-sixteenth or more “negro blood.” — Racial Integrity Laws (1924–1930), Encyclopedia Virginia
Alfred’s birth date is said to be some time in June 1812 or as early as 1810. He had quite a few offspring, presumably. However, no birth or death certificates in Powhatan mention Alfred as a father beyond the few children he had in his senior years with his wife Gabriella.
My third great-grandfather, Thomas Morris Jefferson, confirmed with a long chain of census records, and birth and death certificates, was proven via 23andMe to be a direct male descendant of Thomas Jefferson:
There are no surviving photos of Thomas Morris Jefferson. Although he moved to Dallas, Alabama and started a new family in his 80s; there may be some surviving photographs elsewhere.
Given his proximity to Alfred Morris and their mutual decision to take their original master, who died decades before the 1865 Declaration of Independence, Brockenbrough Starke Morrison’s name, even partially, it is easy to come to the conclusion that Alfred is the elder brother or father of Thomas Morris Jefferson.
If the picture of Alfred is any indication of what his brother or son looked like, it was clear that Thomas Morris Jefferson was actually Thomas Jefferson’s secret Native American son. In Spanish, we would call him a mestizo, mixed white and Indigenous. A foil to his secret Black sons Madison, Eston, and Beverly Hemings Jefferson while he owned French’s tavern.
There was also a James and Edward Morris living nearby. Edward had a son named Alfred, suggesting that Edward, at the every least, was a son of Alfred Morris, the Monacan Sioux man pictured above. And, there was another Morris man named Jos. living in nearby Huguenot, Powhatan categorized as white.
Edward and Thomas Morris Jefferson were around the same age; making Alfred a likely candidate for Thomas’ father. Therefore making Thomas Jefferson the father of Alfred and grandfather of Thomas (Morris) Jefferson IV.
Thomas decided to leave a message behind for Monticello instead of giving his parents’ name on his marriage certificate with his second wife, Eliza Perkins, so we can’t be sure without further DNA research into any of the surviving descendants of Alfred if he’s actually Thomas Jefferson’s son or not. If any of them are alive and receive T-M70 (the Jefferson chromosome) as their y-haplogroup, then Alfred would be a confirmed Jefferson.
In 1880, however, Thomas Jefferson IV is reported to have been unable to read or write while marrying his second wife. They spoke the Tutelo — Sioux — language at home.
This is proof that the census takers of Virginia exploited indigenous people who could not speak, write or understand English with the goal of obscuring, and eventually changing their race, and racial designation on paper, whether by social pressure, or by force via slavery, to genocide the aboriginals of Virginia and steal their land.
Morris: a monolingual Tutelo household
Just 30 years before Alfred was born, Thomas Jefferson published his findings on the remainder of the Powhatan Empire in his Notes on the State of Virginia.
The area Thomas Jefferson lived in from the 1870s until his death, was in Monacan territory. Our capital was at the “fork of the James R[iver]”. Fierce enemies of the Powhatan Empire, The Monacans were a rival Sioux speaking empire.
The Monacan clan that controlled the area 200 years prior to Alfred’s birth were called the Mohemenchoes.
My paternal great-grandmother, Estelle Johnson (Pocahontas) married a man named James R. (Luis); his name probably reminded her of the James River she used to bathe in.
James Russell came from Louisa, which was originally belonged to the Monacan Monasiccapanoe clan. They married in Cumberland, which originally belonged to the Monacan Massinacae clan.
This marriage record details, my ancestor, a Powhatan man marrying a Powhatan-Mexican Mayo; Mayo as in the original Powhatan clan from Richmond, Virginia, referencing the table from Thomas Jefferson’s notes. He died in Richmond, traditionally known as Powhatan, proper.
The Annes are named after Queen Anne of the Pamunkey.
From 1726–1865, Richmond’s well-known Mayo family lived in a house east of Richmond overlooking the James, called Powhatan’s Seat. The land on which it stood was connected with the Powhatan tribe, and on it rested a stone reputed to be the marker for King Powhatan’s grave when he died in 1618. — Rocket Werks RVA Postcards
The Powhatan people spoke Algonquian whereas the Monocan people spoke Sioux languages like Tutelo and Saponi. It should be noted that Tutelo was claimed to sound like Welsh. The Morris surname means dark-skinned in Welsh. Presumably, we can think of the surname Morris as a case of Virginian bastardy for nameless Indian savages.
The Tutelo language went extinct in 1982 with the death of a man named Albert Green (Marianne Mithun, The Languages of Native North America), who was a boarder at the residence of Thomas Jefferson IV.
Albert Green worked for Thomas Jefferson IV as a laborer. Further research must be done to determine whether these two Alberts were the same man.
The Morris household was almost a monolingual Tutelo one. But, they spoke enough English to answer census questions and interact socially with other races.
Now, what kind of woman would Thomas Jefferson’s Tutelo-speaking indigenous son or grandson marry? A Princess Ann. In two different generations.
Now let’s compare the phenotypes of the Native Americans of Virginia against each other and against natives outside of Virginia.
Monacans
A Sioux man and three Pamunkey
Powhatan men
A Pamunkey man with European admixture and Benito Martinez, stage name, Bad Bunny. A Puerto Rican of Taino ancestry.
Powhatan, New Jersey
There also exists a cadet branch of Rappahannock Powhatans that were taken in by the Lenape of New Jersey.
