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| Catherine Jane Hemings was born in 1844 as a daughter of Mary McCoy and Madison Hemings during the dynamic phrase of the abolitionist movement in Ohio, and indications are that she married at age 21 to John Butler who was killed in the Civil War along with his brother James Butler married to her sister Harriet. Researchers such as Beverly Gray have raised the question as to why Catherine left her father's home in Ross County and we agree it is a mystery worth pursuing in the context of extended family dynamics. The obvious birth of a James Butler in 1880 who died in 1887 adds to her mystery and even suggests that Catherine may have had a child out of wedlock since her husband and father of Mary Elizabeth Butler had died during the Civil War. The more likely case is the child named in photo was offspring of her son or daughter fathered by her husband John Butler who died in 1865.
It is our speculation based on research that she may have left the home her father Madison Hemings after her mother died in 1867, and married George Washington Ely of Washington, Pennsylvania, ... possibly her cousin via Harriet Hemings who married a White man after leaving Monticello and possibly relocated to western Pennsylvania. We do not know for sure but it is clear by virtue of Civil War enlistment records that Hemings offspring were never far and unknown to each other though not divulging who was passing for White and which ones lived where. This of course is and was one of the great issues during and after slavery wherein the color line was not the only means to define relationships but also secrecy that Hemings and Randolph family member learned to master long before Thomas Jefferson died. In a few Hollywood movies such as "Imitation of Life" and "Island In The Sun" the issue was gently treated by screen-makers who themselves may have had intimate knowledge of the 19th century dynamics relative to race. When we hear of see someone like Judge Scalia descended from Ellis Island immigrants in the early 20th century, ... make light of the African-American experience it is clear that his knowledge of America is contemptuous in understanding real affirmation action based on not only the color of one's skin but also sex. The reason so many of us seek to understand women like Catherine Hemings is because they are within us and their souls cry out for remembrance that many like her crossed the color line to be White, ... because life among the lowly with her father Madison was unbearable. With a son or daughter old enough to fend for themselves, Catherine likely left for a new beginning in Washington, Pennsylvania or on the other hand, ... George Washington Ely came to live in Ohio where he apparently died. Below are some of the link sources we have examined in attempting to learn more about Catherine.
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