Strom Thurmond's family confirms paternity claim
By David Mattingly
CNN Washington Bureau
 |
Strom Thurmond and his illegitimate daughter Essie Mae Washington-Williams.
Story Tools
VIDEO
|
A family attorney confirmed that former U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond fathered a child with a teen-age African-American housekeeper in 1925. CNN's David Mattingly reports.
|
|
(CNN) -- An attorney for the family of former U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina on Monday confirmed that at the age of 22, Thurmond fathered a child with a teenaged African-American housekeeper in 1925.
Thurmond, the longest-serving senator in U.S. history, died in June at age 100. His illegitimate daughter's story was published Sunday by the Washington Post.
Essie Mae Washington-Williams, now 78 and a retired school teacher in Los Angeles, publicly revealed her relationship to the former segregationist after a lifetime of silence.
According to reports, her attorney, Frank Wheaton, said Williams came forward at the urging of her children and had no plans to ask the Thurmond estate for any money.
Monday's statement from the Thurmond family reads: "As J. Strom Thurmond has passed away and cannot speak for himself, the Thurmond family acknowledges Ms. Essie Mae Washington-Williams' claim to her heritage. We hope this acknowledgment will bring closure for Ms. Williams."
The Thurmond family attorney, J. Mark Taylor, declined further comment.
Glenn Walters, a South Carolina attorney also representing Williams, told CNN he was happy that the matter had been resolved in this manner. Walters was reportedly prepared to provide documentation and undergo a DNA test to prove her claim. Her attorney tells CNN no DNA test was done.
According to the Washington Post report, Washington-Williams' mother, Carrie Butler, worked as a maid at the Thurmond family home in Edgefield, South Carolina. At the time the girl was born in 1925, Butler was 16 and Thurmond was 22, unmarried and living in his parents' home.
Butler's sister took the girl to live in Pennsylvania when she was six months old, and she did not meet Thurmond until returning to South Carolina in 1941, when she was 16, the Post reported.
Her mother, who was ill and died a short time later, had insisted on introducing her to Thurmond, who acknowledged her as his daughter, the newspaper reported.
