What Happened to Thomas Jefferson's Children by Sally Hemings?

Researching Thomas Jefferson’s Children with Sally Hemings

Children:  Thomas, Harriet, Edy (Aggy), Beverly Hemings, Harriet Hemings, Madison Hemings, and Eston Hemings,

Thomas Hemings Jefferson

Madison Hemings mentions a child who died soon after birth but didn’t have the sex in his 1873 newspaper interview.

According to James T Calendar, Thomas Jefferson had a son named, Thomas, with his slave, “dusky Sally.” The purpose of the pamphlet he wrote in 1802 was to scandalize Thomas Jefferson so that he would lose the election. 

According to The Sable Curtain, a son named Thomas, worked on the Woodson plantation. The only mention of an original record, tax records, proved to be fabricated.  There is no genealogical record to support that Thomas Jefferson’s first child lived and grew on the Woodson plantation. 

When the DNA testing was done in the very early 2000s of possible Thomas Jefferson descendants, it was shown that descendants of Thomas Woodson, that were tested, did not have Jefferson ancestry.  I had previously left the idea open that there could still be some descendants not yet tested, because it was not known if all of Thomas Woodson’s descendants had been tested, and it was known that his wife had had more than one sexual partner prior to his marriage.  Because no one has come forward during the past 20 plus years with any DNA proof that shows a connection by any other children than those of Harriet, Eston and Madison, it is concluded that the Thomas Woodson story is incorrect.



Last modified: Sunday, 15 October 2023, 6:35 AM