Enslaved woman and Ladies Maid who bore children of the 3rd U.S. President Thomas Jefferson. Her mother was an enslaved woman named Elizabeth (Betty) Hemings (1735-1807) and her father was likely John Wayles, Thomas Jefferson's father-in-law. Sally and her mother became Thomas Jefferson's "property" as part of his inheritance from the Wayles estate in 1774 and came to Jefferson's 5,000 acre estate Monticello by 1776. Her known children born at Monticello were Harriet, Beverly, a baby girl that died as an infant, another Harriet, Madison, and Eston. She is said to have had several children from Jefferson while at Monticello, though DNA evidence from a descendant of her last child, Eston, confirms only that Jefferson could be the father of Eston, and it is consistent with other male-line Jeffersons—e.g., Jefferson's younger brother, Randolph. There has been no further DNA testing done linking Jefferson with Hemings' other children. However, it is important to note that many historians accept the claim that Hemings' children were fathered by Jefferson. Additionally, while the Jefferson descendants claimed Hemings' children were not related, her own children's accounts contradicted this. Upon Jefferson's death in 1826, his will freed Hemings' sons Madison and Eston; they along with their mother moved to Charlottesville, Virginia, where Sally lived free until her death in 1835.
Enslaved woman and Ladies Maid who bore children of the 3rd U.S. President Thomas Jefferson. Her mother was an enslaved woman named Elizabeth (Betty) Hemings (1735-1807) and her father was likely John Wayles, Thomas Jefferson's father-in-law. Sally and her mother became Thomas Jefferson's "property" as part of his inheritance from the Wayles estate in 1774 and came to Jefferson's 5,000 acre estate Monticello by 1776. Her known children born at Monticello were Harriet, Beverly, a baby girl that died as an infant, another Harriet, Madison, and Eston. She is said to have had several children from Jefferson while at Monticello, though DNA evidence from a descendant of her last child, Eston, confirms only that Jefferson could be the father of Eston, and it is consistent with other male-line Jeffersons—e.g., Jefferson's younger brother, Randolph. There has been no further DNA testing done linking Jefferson with Hemings' other children. However, it is important to note that many historians accept the claim that Hemings' children were fathered by Jefferson. Additionally, while the Jefferson descendants claimed Hemings' children were not related, her own children's accounts contradicted this. Upon Jefferson's death in 1826, his will freed Hemings' sons Madison and Eston; they along with their mother moved to Charlottesville, Virginia, where Sally lived free until her death in 1835.
Bio by: Curtis Jackson
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