alence of this custom. Such an effort,
however, means little in the face of the facts that one seventh of the
Negroes in the United States had in their veins any amount of
Caucasian blood in 1860 and according to the last census more than one
fifth of them have this infusion. Furthermore the testimony of
travelers in this country during the slavery period support the
contention that race admixture was common.[488]

So extensive did it become that the most prominent white men in the
country did not escape. Benjamin Franklin seems to have made no secret
of his associations with Negro women.[490] Russell connects many of
these cases with the master class in Virginia.[491] There are now in
Washington Negroes who call themselves the descendants of two
Virginians who attained the presidency of the United States.

The abolitionists made positive statements about the mulatto offspring
of Thomas Jefferson. Goodell lamented the fact that Jefferson in his
will had to entreat the legislature of Virginia to confirm his bequest
of freedom to his own reputed enslaved offspring that they might
remain in the State of their nativity, where their families and
connections were.[492] Writing in 1845, the editor of the _Cleveland
American_ expressed regret that notwithstanding all the services and
sacrifices of Jefferson in the establishment of the freedom of this
country, his own son then living in Ohio was not allowed to vote or
bear witness in a court of justice. The editor of the _Ohio Star_
said: "We are not sure whether this is intended as a statement of
actual fact, or of what might possibly and naturally enough be true."
_The Cincinnati Herald_ inquired: "Is this a fact? If so, it ought to
be known. Perhaps 'the Democracy' might be induced to pass a special
act in his favor." _The Cleveland American_, therefore, added: "We are
credibly informed that a natural son of Jefferson by the celebrated
'Black Sal,' a person of no little renown in the politics of 1800 and
thereafter, is now living in a central county of Ohio. We shall
endeavor to get at the truth of the matter and make public the result
of our inquiries."[493]

A later report of miscegenation of this kind was recorded by Jane Grey
Swisshelm in her _Half a Century_, where she states that a daughter of
President John Tyler "ran away with the man she loved in order that
she might be married, but for this they must reach foreign soil. A
young lady of the White House could not m