Oral histories of the Fossett family
Learn more about the lives and stories of the Fossett family after slavery in our Getting World African American Oral History Project.
Joseph Fossett was the son of Mary Hemings, Elizabeth Hemings’s oldest child. In 1794, Fossett was one of the more efficient of the nine nailboys working in the new nailery on Mulberry Row. He also worked in the main house, where he made fires, carried firewood and water, ran errands, or waited at table. While a part-time nailer , he learned the blacksmithing trade from George Granger, Jr. in 1796. Fossett became a foreman in the nailery in 1800, and then received more training from the new hired white blacksmith, William Stewart. When Stewart was dismissed, Fossett succeeded him. Overseer Edmund Bacon described Fossett as “a very fine workman; could do anything it was necessary to do with steel or iron.”1 Fossett married 15-year-old Edith (Edy) Hern in 1802, just before she was sent to the Washington, D.C. to learn French cooking. In July 1806, Jefferson considered Fossett a runaway when he journeyed to see his wife; they were finally reunited in 1809 when Jefferson left office. Fossett was freed in Jefferson’s will but Edith and their children were sold at the dispersal sale to different buyers. It took at least 10 years for Fossett to buy back his family. They moved to southern Ohio by 1842.
Videos about Joseph Fossett
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A brief bio of Joseph Fossett
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A brief look at Joseph Fosett's wife, Edith Hern Fossett
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Joseph Fossett's Mother Leaves Monticello
The above account is compiled from Lucia Stanton, “Those Who Labor for My Happiness:” Slavery at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello (University of Virginia Press and Thomas Jefferson Foundation, 2012).
More on Joseph Fossett in the Thomas Jefferson Encyclopedia »