John Hemmings (Hemings) (1776–ca. 1833), carpenter, was one of TJ’s slaves. His mother was Elizabeth Hemings, a slave TJ inherited in 1774 from his father-in-law, John Wayles, and his father was likely Joseph Neilson, a white carpenter employed by TJ from 1775 to 1779. Hemmings trained in carpentry and cabinetry at Monticello under hired joiners David Watson and James Dinsmore. He perfected his craft and gained TJ’s trust, eventually working independently on the houses at both Monticello and Poplar Forest. Also a skilled furniture maker, Hemmings made pieces for TJ and TJ’s grandchildren. Beginning in 1811 TJ paid Hemmings twenty dollars per year. Hemmings’s nephew Burwell Colbert was the only other slave to whom TJ gave an annual gratuity. In his will TJ freed Hemmings, allowing him the tools of his trade, an acre of land, and a log house on the Monticello estate. Until they were due to be freed at the age of twenty-one, TJ also bequeathed Hemmings the “service” of Eston Hemings and Madison Hemings, who were nephews of Hemmings and probably the children of TJ and Sally Hemings. There is no record of Hemmings and his wife, Priscilla Hemmings, having children of their own. Following TJ’s death in 1826, Hemmings struggled to deal with his own failing eyesight and health and the sudden death of his wife in 1830. He reportedly stopped working, began drinking heavily, and died by early in 1833 (MB description begins James A. Bear Jr. and Lucia C. Stanton, eds., Jefferson’s Memorandum Books: Accounts, with Legal Records and Miscellany, 1767–1826, 1997, The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Second Series description ends ; Lucia Stanton, “Those Who Labor for My Happiness”: Slavery at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello [2012]; Annette Gordon-Reed, The Hemingses of Monticello [2008]; Stein, Worlds description begins Susan R. Stein, The Worlds of Thomas Jefferson at Monticello, 1993 description ends ; Robert L. Self and Susan Stein, “The Collaboration of Thomas Jefferson and John Hemings: Furniture Attributed to the Monticello Joinery,” Winterthur Portfolio 33 [1998]: 231–48; TJ’s Will, 16–17 Mar. 1826; Martha Jefferson Randolph to Septimia A. Randolph [Meikleham], 27 Mar. 1833 [ViU: Septimia A. Randolph Meikleham Papers]).