Isaac Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson's slave, was trained as a tinsmith and nailmaker. He and his wife Iris and two children were deeded to Jefferson's daughter Mary at the time of her marriage in 1797. By 1798, Isaac was hired by Thomas Mann Randolph, who was managing Monticello for his father-in-law Thomas Jefferson. Though it is not clear how he came to do so, Isaac left Monticello four years before Jefferson died, and later moved to Petersburg, Virginia, where this photograph was taken when Isaac was seventy-years old. (http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/jefflife.html)
Monticello.org does not provide any biographical information about Sally Heming's sons other than to say they were freed in Thomas Jefferson's will (Madison and Eston) or left Monticello with Jefferson's "tacit consent" (Beverly).
Full text of "Life Among the Lowly," by Madison Hemings, published in the Pike County Republican. The playwright used this text as source material for several scenes in the play.
