You can't talk about American democracy without mentioning Thomas Jefferson, one of America’s Founding Fathers and USA's third president. Jefferson personally authored the Declaration of Independence and even authored his version of the Bible, The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth. His significance in forging the United States is beyond question.

Nevertheless, controversy swirled around Jefferson’s personal life. Like most plantation owners, he owned slaves, and rumors had it that he was particularly interested in one of them. The claims have always been debated over the years until finally, archaeologists discovered a hidden room in the former president’s mansion. What they unearthed there finally shed light into the 200-years-old mystery...

A Giant Among Men, But Not Without Flaws

The legacy of Thomas Jefferson still echoes today. Jefferson did much more for the country beyond his instrumental role in forming the American government. While in office, he doubled the size of the country with the strategic purchase of the state of Louisiana, which helped prevent the rise of a French colonial empire in North America.

Nevertheless, Jefferson was just a man and wasn’t immune to the temptations of the world. To this day, several controversial rumors about him still remain uncleared. One, in particular, stands out though; what was Jefferson's relationship with the slave girl called Sally Hemings and what does it mean for him and his descendants?

Who Was Sally Hemings?

Sally Hemings, born around 1773, is believed to have been the daughter of Elizabeth “Betty” Hemings, an African/European slave, and a European father, John Wayles. Her father was her mother’s owner and he was an attorney as well as a slave trader, who had emigrated to Virginia from England.

Sally is said to have been the youngest of her mother’s six children, and her probable name was Sarah. Throughout her childhood into her teenage years, Sally’s duties involve performing household tasks as a servant. After the death of John Wayles, his daughter Martha moved with Elizabeth and her children to the Monticello Plantation, where history would repeat itself through Sally Hemings.

She Was Related To Jefferson’s Wife

According to Sally’s suggested lineage, her father, John Wayles, also happened to be the father of Thomas Jefferson’s wife Martha Wayles Jefferson. This means that Sally and Martha were in reality half-sisters! When Martha moved to her husband’s residence at the Monticello Plantation, she took Elizabeth and her children along as they were part of her inheritance.

Sally was just three years old at that time and she practically grew up at the plantation in servitude. As a young teen, Sally ended up becoming a companion to Martha’s younger daughter Mary. However, this was not the only role she would play in the Jefferson family...

Martha Jefferson, The Almost First Lady

There's even less information available about Martha Jefferson's life at Monticello because her husband supposedly burned the letters they sent each other after her death. She was born in 1748 and she had previously been married to Bathurst Skelton who died in 1768.  She met Jefferson in 1768 and after their wedding, they spent two weeks at her father's Charles City plantation called The Forest.

Martha was the First Lady of Virginia when her husband served as the state's governor, but she wasn't meant to be the First Lady of USA. She passed away in 1782 which was nineteen months before Jefferson became president. She had six children with Jefferson, but only their daughters Mary and Martha lived into adulthood.

Sally Was 14 And Jefferson 44 When He Made His Advance

In 1787, Sally Hemings accompanied Mary, Jefferson's youngest daughter, to London and then Paris. Jefferson was 44 at that time serving as the U.S. Minister (now Ambassador) to France. He spent two years living in the French capital Paris, and so did Sally Hemings. Historians claim it was then that Jefferson began an intimate relationship with Hemings, who was just 14 at the time.

Upon Jefferson's return to the United States in 1791 she had the choice of petitioning for her freedom. France had abolished slavery by then and while in France, Sally earned a two dollar monthly salary for her services. However, she agreed to return to America with Jefferson where she continued being his slave.

Spellbound By Sally's Beauty

There aren’t any images that depict Sally Hemings’ physical appearance, but all historical references describe her as a rare beauty. Isaac Granger, Thomas Jefferson's enslaved blacksmith, described Sally as a “very handsome” woman with waist-length hair, beautiful to behold as “mighty near white” (cringe-worthy though it is today).

It is said that within their new residence at the Monticello Plantation she received preferable work never being assigned any hard labor. As destiny would have it, she also caught the eye of the plantation owner, and thus began the more than two-centuries-long mystery that spawned a hundred speculations.

The Cruel Life Of A Slave

Little is unknown about Sally’s personal life at the Monticello real estate except by the accounts of others who met her, and later through her son’s memoir. She is believed to have resided within the above-pictured quarter at Monticello. but don't be fooled by the pleasant exterior. Being a slave meant suffering unfathomable cruelty while sustaining both physical and emotional abuse.

Slaves weren’t allowed to learn how to read in most states and they also weren’t allowed to hold religious gatherings for fear that they might form rebellious groups. They were considered their master’s property and they had little freedom, if any at all, to lead independent lives in the normal sense.

She Gave Up Her Freedom To Ensure Her Children Would Be Freed

It didn't make sense to most people why Hemings would return to slavery when she could have earned her freedom in France. Historians suggest that it could have been because of the fact that she couldn't support herself as a free woman or perhaps, she might have developed a real connection with Jefferson.

However, news about her pregnancy soon after led many to believe that was the reason she was compelled to move back to the States, based on Jefferson's promise that he would free her children when they became adults. It wasn't long before word got around about their illicit affair and give Jefferson's status it was very scandalous.

The Scandal Of Their Union Breaks Out

James  T. Callender, a political journalist, wrote a report about Jefferson with the intent to slander his name. The report claimed that Jefferson had started seeing a woman called Sally following the death of his wife, also mentioning the trip to France.

He went even further, implying that Jefferson exposed his two young daughters to the alleged relationship he had with Sally. It also stated that Jefferson had kept her as his concubine for years and their eldest son was called Tom. Sally went on to have five other children with Jefferson, and four survived to adulthood.

Jefferson Tried To Keep The Children Secret

Callender pointed out that Jefferson never listed himself as the father of any of Sally Hemings' children in public record. He said that Jefferson wanted to keep the indiscretions a secret. Everyone was talking about the rumors and it was widely agreed that Sally's children bore a striking resemblance to Jefferson.

Thomas Woodson was the first child claimed to have been sired by Hemings and Jefferson. Some accounts claim that he didn't live long beyond his childhood years, while others say that he left Monticello as a child just when the rumors of his parents' relationship began to spread.

Jefferson's Predecessor, John Adams, Probably Knew Everything

Eight years before Callender penned the latest celebrity news of the day, it seemed that John Adams, the second president of the United States had known about Jefferson's indiscretions. Adams wrote a letter to his sons back in 1794 hinting at a relationship between Jefferson and a slave girl.

However, he used Roman myths as a veil for his intended message which didn't serve as concrete proof of his knowledge about the alleged relationship. One line from his letter suggested that Jefferson might have resigned from being the Secretary of State because of the secret dalliance with Hemings.

All The President's (Illegitimate) Children

Sally Hemings' children included Harriet, born in 1797, Beverly, born in 1798, an unnamed daughter born in 1799 who died at infancy, Harriet, born in 1801, Madison, born in 1805, and Eston, born in 1808. Jefferson kept a record of the slave births in a Farm Book and each entry included the father's name.

However, in the case of Sally Hemings, he never listed their father's name. Madison would later publish a memoir about his mother's life at Monticello as well as his siblings. According to him, he was named after Jefferson's good friend James Madison who served as the fourth president of the United States.

Jefferson Released Sally's Children...

Besides the “preferential treatment” afforded to Hemings and the bits and pieces of information that conjured up speculations over the years, Jefferson’s family steadfastly disputed the rumors. However, Jefferson never publicly followed their lead and his own actions later in life also hint at a different story.

You see, Jefferson owned more than 500 slaves, whom he later sold, as part of a debt relief strategy to offset what he owed on the Monticello Plantation. However, he didn’t sell all his slaves. Instead, he handpicked a few and granted them their freedom. It just so happened that these few were all of Hemings’ children.

...As He Had Promised Her In Paris

Jefferson had promised Hemings that he would grant her children freedom once they came of age. Upon his death in 1826,  Jefferson’s last will and testament granted his sons Eston and Madison freedom. Harriet and Beverly who were the couple’s eldest children were allowed to leave the plantation once they both reached 21 years of age.

Jefferson is said to have also secretly arranged for Harriet’s transportation to Philadelphia when she left the plantation. In his Farm Book, he marked that the two girls had run away but he never made any attempts to capture and re-enslave them.

They Resembled Him So Much They Passed As White

Beverly and Harriet Hemings both managed to assimilate into the white community around the Washington DC area, and it's believed that they probably changed their names. The Hemings/Jefferson children were in part of European heritage and they could "pass for white." Eston also identified as a white adult, but Madison Hemings decided otherwise.

Both Eston and Madison were trained carpenters, something Jefferson had seen to so that they would able to make money as free men. Madison's 1873 memoir described his older brother Beverly and sister Harriet as having married well within the white community. Also in an 1873 interview for an Ohio newspaper, Madison stated that Jefferson was his father.

DNA Tests Reveal The Trail Of Blood

Eston Thomas created ripples when he moved to Ohio after leaving the plantation. Once again, rumors started circulating and an article published in the Scioto Gazette described him as over six feet tall with a light bronze color and near straight hair. Everyone agreed that his resemblance to Jefferson was uncanny. Little did he know that he would help solve the mystery about whether or not Jefferson was his father.

In 1998 scientists managed to trace Eston Hemings descendants and a DNA test traced them right back to Jefferson. The New York Times published the story reporting that Jefferson fathered at least one of the Hemings children. They added that it was likely that Jefferson fathered the rest of the Hemings children.

Critics Dispute The DNA Findings

Even with the proof from science, there were still groups of people who didn't believe that Jefferson sired the Hemings children. The Thomas Jefferson Heritage Society was one such group, and in 2001, they argued vehemently against the DNA test results, claiming to have reached different conclusions.

According to their findings, it was, in fact, Randolph Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson's brother, who was the actual father of the Hemings children. They also claimed that Jefferson wasn't present in Monticello during the time that Hemings supposedly became pregnant. Their arguments came across as flimsy and the general consensus agreed with what science had proven.

Sally Hemings Spent 50 Years In A Room Without Windows

The windowless room where Hemings lived for about 50 years offers more insight into her life at the Monticello Plantation. "The Sally Hemings" exhibit opened up the journey to a hidden past shining a light on America's dark history. It also gives a definitive stance and legitimizes the children Hemings had with Jefferson.

Leslie Green Bowman, the Monticello president, said that the project aimed at helping to heal wounds. Bowman explained that they were also working on a site that would provide therapy taking visitors on a contemplative journey about slavery and freedom.

A Hidden Room In Monticello Plantation Raises More Questions

In 2017, archaeologists unearthed even more evidence that could put the whole matter to rest. While conducting excavations as part of ongoing restoration work on the Monticello Plantation they discovered a hidden room. Surprisingly, it had gone unnoticed for hundreds of years despite rumors of its existence.

One of Jefferson's grandsons had written in his diary about a hidden room that wasn't originally part of the Monticello layout. Historians believe that it is the same one Jefferson's grandson had described. The room was located down the hall from Jefferson's own bedroom which further raised eyebrows.

Jefferson's Sixth Great-grandson Appears On Oprah

The Hemings children told their own children about their father, and the story was passed down generations. The Thomas Jefferson Foundation opened up historical records allowing families to conduct genealogical research and genetic testing to determine their lineage.

Lucian Truscott found out that he is related to Jefferson being his sixth great-grandson. Truscott grew up telling everyone about his relationship to the former president, but no one believed him. In 1998, Oprah Winfrey hosted him on her show and introduced him to four of his Hemings cousins.

300 Hundred Descendants Of Slaves Track Their Roots Back To Monticello

In June 2018, the Monticello estate opened a new exhibit that brought together descendants of the enslaved community.  It marked the largest of such gatherings at Monticello with about 300 descendants attending the reunion.

Diana Redman, who found out 20 years back that she came from the Hemings lineage, explains that it allowed her to appreciate her roots. Most of the people in attendance appreciated that the property now spoke for the unspoken past unlike a few years back when slavery was never mentioned in relation to the estate and its famous owner.

 The Truth Is Finally Revealed 200 Years Later

A lot of research has been done, many tests have been taken, and many books have been written about the Hemings-Jefferson controversy. After all that's been done to settle the age-long debate, still, not everyone is convinced. Even today, there are people who refuse to believe that the man who wrote the Declaration of Independence engaged in a decades-long tryst with an under-aged slave girl.

It's hard to stomach that the man who wrote that all men are equal, had a hidden history of secret deeds which stood in stark contrast to his words. Although many things that are unacceptable today were common back then, it's still painful to come to terms with the fact that America's greatest heroes were also just flawed men in the end.

The Complete Legacy of Thomas Jefferson

Sally Hemings story is a sad one by all accounts and history has found a way to back up what she had always told her children who in turn told theirs. The ugly history of slavery makes hard to tell but very, very necessary if we are to ever manage to truly abolish this inhuman practice completely from the face of the earth.

However, the only people who can truly piece the puzzle together are long gone. It doesn’t make the truth any less true and it offers the descendants of both the Hemings and Jefferson families some closure. For our collective well-being, it’s even more crucial to remember past mistakes so that we may never repeat them. And that is a worthy addition to Thomas Jefferson's legacy.