Look closely at the two family trees on the first pages of the book. Does anything strike you as unusual or strange about these families? What can we infer about the names, birth dates, or death dates of the family members?
Why do you think this information is being provided at the beginning of this book? What do you expect the story to be about?
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Something that automatically strikes me as unusual about these families is the name John Wales appearing in the beginning of each family first. I can infer that John Wales must have cheated on Martha Eppes. By the dates, i can infer that some of the family members didn't live long because their years are short. According to their names, i can infer that the members in the family whose names are repeated twice are repeated for a reason. I think that, since one person doesn't live long, the next child would be named after them, according to their sex.
The unsual think that "strikes" me is John Wayles. He appeared on both family trees. I can infer that he may have cheated on Martha Eppes with Betty Hemings. Some of the children died young or at birth. Those who did, if there was another child of the same sex, that child would have the deceased child's name.
I think the information kind of gives the story a little bit of background information. I would expect that maybe Harriet would find out more of her family.
You both mention John Wayles cheating on his wife. Do you think this was common at that time?
The first thing I noticed was that John Wayles was in both the Jefferson Family Tree and the Hemings Family Tree. So John Wayles was related to Sally Hemings. So John Wayles must have cheated with Betty Hwmings in order to have all of the Hemings Family and the children.
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