History is always interesting! A new twist to a founding father, perhaps...
By Kyle Alspach, Globe Correspondent | July 22, 2007
DOVER -- Bettye Kearse's ancestors had ties to President James Madison -- they were slaves owned by the Madison family. But she thinks there's more to the story.
She says that Madison fathered a child by one of those slaves, producing her family line.
Her assertion is a matter of much debate, and proof hasn't been found. Kearse, 64, of Dover, still believes it, certain there's truth in a story that has become part of her family's lore.
"It's been passed down from generation to generation, from parent to child," said Kearse, a pediatrician who works at Neponset Health Center in Dorchester and has lived in Dover since 1983. "We have a saying in our family: 'Always remember, you're a Madison.' "
Now she hopes that a team of researchers will help her prove a link between her family and the nation's fourth president.
2007-08-03
07:02:21
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