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cognac. The entire French culinary world was undoubtedly quite an eye-opener for the young Hemings, who worked assiduously for his first three years in Paris, going from apprenticeship to apprenticeship. By 1788, he was considered accomplished enough to be placed in charge of Jefferson’s kitchens at his residence on the Champs-Élysées. There he oversaw the meals that were served to the notables of Europe; it was a far cry from the kitchens at Monticello, where the lifestyle, although lavish, was closer to that of an English country squire than of a French prince of the blood.

Much about Hemings, though, remains an enigma. He could have declared his freedom while on French soil. He was literate, had used his wages to hire a French tutor, and given his culinary training, was highly employable in Paris or elsewhere in Europe. Yet, unlike Washington’s Hercules, Hemings elected to remain enslaved. Perhaps because of his attachment to his sister, he chose, instead, to return to America with Jefferson. There he served as his chef in both Monticello and in Philadelphia when Jefferson became secretary of state of the fledgling republic under George Washington. No doubt Hemings knew the other black chefs in Philadelphia. Washington’s residence, presided over by Hercules, was only three blocks away from his own.

Hemings clearly chafed under the bonds of slavery, and witnessing the fires of liberty in France surely made him fixed in his resolve. In 1793, four years after his return from Paris and four years before Hercules’ escape, he petitioned Jefferson for his freedom. Jefferson granted his request, but his manumission was contingent on his training another slave to take his place. In a letter that hid no legal force, but that placed him on his honor to free Hemings, Jefferson wrote:

Having been at great expence [sic] in having James Hemings taught the art of cookery, desiring to befriend him and to require from him as little as possible, I do hereby promise & declare, that if the said James shall go with me to Monticello in the course of the ensuing winter, when I go to reside there myself, and shall there continue until he shall have taught such person as I shall place under him for that purpose to be a good cook this previous condition being performed, he shall be thereupon made free, and I will thereupon execute the proper instruments to make him free. Given under my hand and seal in the county of Philadelphia and the state of Pennsylvania this 15th day of September one thousand seven hundred and ninety three.

Characteristically for the period, where Big House privileges were carefully guarded familial perquisites, the person selected to be trained by James Hemings was his brother, Peter. With Peter’s selection, the Hemings culinary dynasty continued its hold on the kitchens of Monticello. Peter continued the work begun by his brother and ultimately added brewing to his culinary portfolio, having studied the art under the tutelage of an English brewer. James and Peter were not the only Hemings to take on the role of Monticello chef; other relatives also labored in the kitchens of the Virginia plantation, where the family became a parallel sepia culinary dynasty.

On February 26, 1796, Hemings left for Philadelphia with thirty dollars from Jefferson “to bear” his expenses. He was free. He was also restless. He lived in Philadelphia, then traveled—probably to Spain—and finally settled in Baltimore, where in 1801 Jefferson contacted him again. Following his election as the nation’s third president, Jefferson chose for his chef the emancipated James Hemings, who initially accepted the position. However, a wrangle over Hemings’s request for a formal letter of confirmation of his duties from Jefferson ensued. Communication through third parties and Jefferson’s refusal to send such a letter resulted in Hemings declining the post, thereby depriving the country of its first official black White House chef.

The job went instead to a Frenchmen, Honoré Julien, but slaves from Monticello worked under him and tended the pots in the