History is usually messy, but the Sally Hemings family tree is on a whole different level. It’s not just a list of names. It’s a map of how the United States was actually built—behind closed doors, across racial lines, and inside the "Big House" at Monticello.
Most people think they know the story. Thomas Jefferson, Sally Hemings, a scandalous rumor that turned out to be true. But when you look at the actual branches of this tree, things get weird. Fast.
The Half-Sister in the Shadows
Let’s start with the part that usually makes people double-take. Sally Hemings wasn't just an enslaved woman at Monticello. She was actually the half-sister of Martha Wayles Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson’s wife.
Basically, Sally’s father was a guy named John Wayles. He was a wealthy planter and slave trader. After his third wife died, he took an enslaved woman named Elizabeth "Betty" Hemings as his concubine. They had six children together. Sally was the youngest.
When John Wayles died in 1773, his "property" was divided. Martha Jefferson inherited her own half-siblings. That is how a toddler-aged Sally Hemings ended up at Monticello.
Think about that for a second.
The woman who would eventually have six children with Thomas Jefferson was the biological sister of his late wife. This wasn't some distant connection. It was an tight-knit, incredibly complicated family web where everyone was related to everyone else, but only some people were legally "people."
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The Matriarch: Betty Hemings
You can't understand this family tree without looking at Elizabeth (Betty) Hemings. She is the root. Betty herself was the daughter of an African woman and an English sea captain named Hemings.
She was legendary at Monticello. By the time she died in 1807, she had over 70 descendants. Her children—Sally’s brothers and sisters—held almost all the "elite" positions on the plantation.
- Robert Hemings was Jefferson’s personal servant.
- James Hemings was a classically trained French chef.
- John Hemings was a master woodworker.
The Hemings family was a "dynasty" within the enslaved community. They were literate, highly skilled, and often light-skinned enough to pass for white. This status gave them a tiny bit of leverage in a world designed to give them none.
The Children of the "Secret" Family
Between 1795 and 1808, Sally Hemings gave birth to at least six children. According to her son Madison, Jefferson was the father of all of them.
The records are pretty clear on the timing. Every time Sally conceived, Jefferson was at Monticello. When he was away in Washington or Philadelphia, she didn't get pregnant. It’s a pattern that’s hard to ignore once you see it on paper.
Four of those children lived to adulthood:
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- Beverly Hemings (born 1798): He was a carpenter and a fiddler. In 1822, he basically just walked off the plantation. Jefferson didn't send slave catchers after him. He just let him go.
- Harriet Hemings (born 1801): She left shortly after her brother. Jefferson’s overseer actually gave her $50 and put her on a stagecoach to Philadelphia. That’s not how you treat a "runaway." That’s how you treat a daughter you’re secretly setting free.
- Madison Hemings (born 1805): He stayed at Monticello until Jefferson died in 1826. He was freed by Jefferson’s will. Later, he gave a famous interview in 1873 that blew the lid off the family secret for the public.
- Eston Hemings (born 1808): Like his brothers, he was a skilled woodworker and musician. He eventually moved to Wisconsin, changed his last name to Jefferson, and lived his life as a white man.
Honestly, it’s wild to think about. Beverly and Harriet vanished into white society. They married white partners, had children, and never told their kids about their African ancestry. For over a century, their branch of the Sally Hemings family tree was "lost" because they had to hide to be free.
The DNA Turning Point
For a long time, the "official" word from historians (and Jefferson's white descendants) was that the Hemings children were fathered by Jefferson’s nephews, the Carr brothers. It was a convenient way to keep the Great Man's reputation clean.
Then came 1998.
A DNA study led by Dr. Eugene Foster changed everything. They couldn't test Thomas Jefferson’s direct DNA because he had no surviving legitimate sons. But they could test the "Y" chromosome of the Jefferson male line.
The result? A perfect match with the descendants of Eston Hemings.
It didn't match the Carr family at all. While some skeptics still point to Jefferson’s brother Randolph as a possibility, the Thomas Jefferson Foundation and most serious historians now consider the paternity a settled fact. The evidence from the "Farm Book"—where Jefferson meticulously recorded births—shows a level of care for the Hemings children that he didn't show anyone else he enslaved.
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Where the Descendants Are Now
The tree didn't stop at Monticello. Today, there are thousands of descendants.
Some identify as Black, like the descendants of Madison Hemings. They kept the oral history alive for generations, even when nobody believed them. They knew who they were.
Others identify as white, like many of Eston’s descendants. In fact, many of them didn't even know they were related to Sally Hemings until the DNA results were published in the late 90s. Can you imagine getting a phone call telling you your great-great-grandfather was actually a "passed" son of a Founding Father?
It’s a lot to process.
Why This Tree Still Matters
Kinda makes you realize that the American story isn't as black-and-white as the textbooks say. The Sally Hemings family tree is a reminder that the "founding" of this country happened in the bedrooms and the kitchens, not just the halls of Congress.
If you’re interested in tracing this further, here is how you can actually engage with this history:
- Visit Monticello’s "Life of Sally Hemings" Exhibit: They finally gave her a dedicated space in 2018. It’s located in the South Wing, where she likely lived.
- Read "The Hemingses of Monticello" by Annette Gordon-Reed: Honestly, this is the gold standard. She won a Pulitzer for it, and it treats the family like real people instead of just historical footnotes.
- Explore the Getting Word Project: This is an oral history project by Monticello that has interviewed hundreds of descendants of the enslaved families. It’s a powerful way to see the "living" version of these family trees.
The reality is that Sally Hemings’ story isn't just about a "scandal." It's about a woman who negotiated freedom for her children in a system that gave her zero rights. She used the only connection she had to ensure her kids could walk away from the plantation as free people.
That's not just a family tree. That's a legacy of survival.