Sally Hemings

**Sally Hemings** (1773 – 1835) was an enslaved woman from Virginia, whom Thomas Jefferson owned. She is famous for her sexual relationship with Jefferson; they had six children together. Historians disagree over whether their relationship was consensual. Most of what we know about Sally Hemings comes from things her son, Madison, said and wrote about her.

## Early life and family
According to Madison Hemings, Sally Hemings' grandmother was a fully African woman and might have been born in Africa.  She was enslaved to the Eppes family in Virginia. Historians do not know for sure what her name was.  Papers with the names of enslaved women in the Eppes family include "Dinah," "Judy," "Abbie," "Sarah," "Parthenia," and others.  Historian Annette Gordon-Reed said that there were many girls named "Thenia" in the Hemings family, and they might have been named after Parthenia.  But she also says that "Sally" is a nickname for "Sarah," and there were many girls named "Sarah" and "Sally" in the Hemings family too.  The sea captain tried to buy Elizabeth Hemings from her owner, but the owner said no.  He said he wanted to see what a half-white, half-African child would look like.  Then Captain Hemings tried to take the child away from the owner without paying, but someone told the owner about his plan. Captain Hemings left Virginia and did not come back.

Jefferson told the relatives to choose one of the enslaved women to go with his daughter to France.  He said the woman should be older, already inoculated for smallpox, and of a steady personality.  He asked for an enslaved woman named Isabel, then twenty-nine years old.  But Isabel had just had a baby, so she could not come.  Jefferson's wife's relatives sent Sally Hemings instead.  Sally Hemings was not any of the three things Jefferson had asked for.  She was only fourteen, not inoculated for smallpox, and had a lively personality. Before the tests, about a third of historians believed Thomas Jefferson had been the father of Hemings' children, about a third did not, and about a third were undecided.  After the test, about two thirds believed Thomas Jefferson was the father of Hemings' children.

Because Jefferson's nephews were not of his same male line, none of them could have been Eston's father. Historian Gordon-Reed matched this against letters and other records showing when Jefferson and Hemings were in the same place, and said that Jefferson could have been the father of all Hemings' children.  For example, he was always at Monticello the right number of months before one of Hemings's children was born.

In 2000, the Thomas Jefferson Foundation said it was likely that Jefferson was the father of all Hemings's children.

In 2001, the Thomas Jefferson Heritage Society said Jefferson's younger brother must have been the father of Hemings's children.

## Appearance
We do not know what Sally Hemings looked like.  Newspapers making fun of Jefferson drew pictures of her as very dark-skinned, but most of those artists had never seen her.  People who saw Hemings and wrote about her said she was light-skinned with long, straight hair.

One visitor to Monticello said she was very beautiful.  She was 37 when he saw her and had already had many children.

## In popular culture
In 1995, the movie *Jefferson in Paris* showed Hemings as an older teenager who willingly seeks a relationship with Jefferson.  In this movie, she returns with Jefferson to Virginia because she wants to go home.

## References