Sally Hemings' Children

When James Thomas Callender published allegations in 1802 alleging that Thomas Jefferson not only enslaved Sally Hemings but also raped her, it was the beginning but not the end of public speculation on the parentage of Hemings' children.

Sally Hemings' Own Genealogy

Sally Hemings was enslaved by Jefferson; she came to him through his wife, Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson. She may have been Martha Jefferson's half-sister, fathered by Martha's father, John Wayles. Sally's mother, Betty, was herself the daughter of a White ship captain and an enslaved African woman, so Sally may have had just one Black grandparent. Nevertheless, the laws of the time meant that Sally, as well as her children regardless of their father, would remain enslaved.

Birth Dates

The birth dates of six children of Sally Hemings were recorded by Thomas Jefferson in his letters and records. Descendants of Madison Hemings and Eston Hemings are known.

The evidence is mixed for a son who may have been born to Hemings when she returned from Paris. Descendants of Thomas Woodson claims that he was that son.

One way to look at the likelihood of Jefferson as the father of the Hemings children is to see whether Jefferson was present at Monticello and whether that is within a reasonable "conception window" for each child.

The following chart summarizes the known birth dates and the dates of Jefferson's presence at Monticello within that "conception window":

What Happened to These Children and Their Descendants?

Two of Sally's documented children (a first Harriet and a girl possibly named Thenia) died in infancy (plus, possibly, the child named Tom who was born shortly after the return from Paris).

Two others―Beverly and Harriet―left Monticello in 1822; they were never formally freed, but they disappeared into White society. Beverly probably died after 1873, and Harriet after 1863. Their descendants are not known, nor do historians know what names they used after their egress. Jefferson spent minimal effort to track them after their departure, lending credence to the theory that he let them go purposely. Under an 1805 Virginia law, if he'd freed them (or anyone he enslaved), that person would not be able to remain in Virginia.

Madison and Eston, the youngest of the children, both born after the 1803 Callendar revelations, were freed in Jefferson's will and were able to remain in Virginia for some time, as Jefferson had requested a special act of the Virginia legislature to permit them to stay contrary to the 1805 law. Both worked as tradesmen and musicians and ended up in Ohio.

Eston's descendants at some point lost their memory of being directly descended from Jefferson and from Sally Hemings and were unaware of their Black heritage.

Madison's family includes descendants of three of his daughters.

Eston died on January 3, 1856, and Madison died on November 28, 1877.