James Hemings was the first American to train as a chef in France.
Hemings was born into slavery in 1765 and lived much of his life enslaved. He was brought to Monticello as a nine year old boy, along with several of his siblings and their mother. They were a part of the Wayles estate, and among the many enslaved people who came into Thomas Jefferson’s possession through his wife’s inheritance.
Hemings and his brother were taken to Williamsburg and then Richmond as personal attendants to Thomas Jefferson, following his election as wartime governor of Virginia in 1779.
In May 1784, Hemings received a summons to join Jefferson in Philadelphia. From there they traveled to Paris, as Jefferson had been appointed an American minister to the French court. While in Paris, Hemings was trained in the art of French cooking. He studied first with the caterer and restaurateur, Monsieur Combeaux, and with a cook in the household of the Prince de Condé. After three years of study he became the head chef at the Hôtel de Langeac, Jefferson’s residence that functioned also as the American embassy. He also gained some facility in speaking and reading French, using part of his salary to hire a tutor.
On February 5, 1796, Jefferson agreed to free Hemings after one of his brothers completed his training as chef at Monticello. But when Jefferson was elected President of the United States in 1800, he asked Hemings to be White House chef. Hemings refused to join him in the White House and cooked his last dinner for the Jeffersons at Monticello in September 1801.
A few months later Hemings committed suicide in Baltimore, Maryland. He was 36.
Source:
https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/james-hemings
https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/james-hemings-1765-1801/
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