Thomas Jefferson Slave Paternity Rumors: New Study Questions Evidence That Former President Fathered Sally Hemings' Child

Thomas Jefferson stamped his place as a founding father with a slew of political and scholarly accomplishments. From his authoring of the Declaration of Independence, to his founding of the University of Virginia, Jefferson's fingerprints are all over America's successes.

Professional points aside, Jefferson's personal life has come with its share of questions. Conventional wisdom has linked the third president of the United States to one of his female slaves, Sally Hemings. While the accusations against Jefferson date back to attacks during his presidency, The Thomas Jefferson Heritage Society has compiled information pointing away from perceived connections as the father of one of Hemings' children.

The new scholarly report could refute those rumors. Using a combination of DNA evidence and documentation, these findings suggest that a different member of the Jefferson family could have fathered Hemings' child.

Comments

[V-Bottom]

09:59 PM on 09/04/2011

Everybody is created equal...... Get some...

[staylor422]

09:42 PM on 09/04/2011

DO tell. The prez was telling very body he was born on that farm.

[Nosyhuman]

08:00 PM on 09/04/2011

Oh my God; who cares? One simply has to compare the appearances of African Americans to Africans to see something was going on on those slave farms and it wasn't peace and love.

Those old founding father's were no different than the rest of society back then. Run all the test you choose to run but you'll never run from the fact that humans were treated as animals; Christians!

[fritobandav]

05:13 PM on 09/04/2011

come on huff im a runnin outta smart aleck things ta say

[fritobandav]

05:11 PM on 09/04/2011

isnt he george jeffersons daddy

[quartrol]

05:08 PM on 09/04/2011

SLAVES OF TE WORLD UNITE,
TRY TO FIND SOLUTIONS FOR THIS MALADY THAT CREATE JOBS AND Clook at other forms of slaveryincluding to drugs, alcohol, cigarettes,marriage, sex,
and so many things one must do or is exposed toand will surely enslave him or her,
with partial or total loss of freeedom.

discuss this among all of you,
look for ways to recognize and ways to avoid or reduce the efffect.
It will never be eliminated,
we can only hope for less pain, lesssuffering,
a way to enlighten ourslvs
and get out of the bondage.
if possible.ASH FOR MANY.

[wyrdotter]

09:51 PM on 09/04/2011

You missed a dose of something, didn't you?

[douttfire]

05:08 PM on 09/04/2011

I was subbing in a High School advanced history class last year and we watched a video which pointed to Jefferson's FATHER as the step-father of Sally's child.

[Michelle Lilting]

10:56 PM on 09/04/2011

Douttfire, you were confuses. Thomas Jefferson WAS the father of ALL of Sally Hemings's children. And Sally Hemings HERSELF was the daughter of Thomas Jefferson's father-IN-LAW. Jefferson's white wife died pretty early in their marriage -- after 10 years. HER father had been a widower and had taken an enslaved woman as a long-time paramour. Sally Hemings was one of their children. So that means that Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson's white WIFE were half-SISTERS. Sally Hemings was 9 years-old when Thomas Jefferson's wife died. As she grew older, their resemblance probably became more pronounced. Some speculate that maybe one of the reasons Thomas Jefferson began to fall in love with her.

[quartrol]

05:07 PM on 09/04/2011

Slave ownership is a universal phenomenon,
then, now and in the future.
xcept the victims or those defined as slaves,
will change characteristics,
People are deceived by the only published idea of slaves ,within a very narroe time frame.
most of the world was not aware of this,
and the parts palyed by the traders,
who made money ,is not often portrayed.
It is harvesting a weakness in humans to make money
pay less,
retain as much control as they can, on the person or group defined as slaves.
Captues were taken, and forced into slave labour, or kept as sex slaves,
then and Now.

in jobs many are slaves of the industry
and the product,
many salesmen areSlaves to the people who emplythem,
often given a lesser chance than the published image ofSlaves,
to exercise their judgment or break free.
how manySlaves are created by politicians[modern day ,hearless, mindless rulwers ,Emperors,who hide ,for a while under the partypolitics]

New forms or modifications toslavery emerge daily,
but often ,as we fail to see a clearly definedMasterSlave, flogging,
weFail to see theConnection,
even withEconomicSlaves who mustSlave hard to payBillsBillPayingSlaves]
or beKilled viaStress,
by repeatedJail termsNewSalveMaster][no floggingCan be subject toAny type ofSexAbuse while in prison]
A PERSON IS FORCED TO DRIVE A CAR TO SURVIVE,
AND THIS TRANSPORT ENSLAVES THE PERSON,
BUT THE SYSTEM CAN DESTROY THE PERSONS INDEPENDANCE,
VIA REGULATIONS, LAWS THAT SHALL IMPRISON THE PERSON,
WHO IS UNABLE TO OVERCOME THIS CURSE, CREATED FOR HIM,
BY A DIFFERENT SLAVE MASTER.

[fritobandav]

05:07 PM on 09/04/2011

im jus waitin for the next earth shaking news they post sos i can make fun of it too lol

[buddbo1]

05:01 PM on 09/04/2011

A DNA test was performed in 1998 by Dr. Eugene Foster, which showed the genetics of Eston Hemings decendants matched that of Jefferson, not his nephews as some claimed. Sally and Jefferson daughter Martha met Jefferson in Paris, Sally was around 16 yrs. old at that time, and she returned pregnant. She had six children by Jefferson two of them died. According to her son Madison, Jefferson promised Sally to free all of their children at the age of 27.

[Michelle Lilting]

11:06 PM on 09/04/2011

Buddbo1, you are absolutely correct about everything except the last, I believe. Jefferson DID promise to free all of their children, but I believe the age was 21, not 27. And isn't it interesting how for centuries people tried to refute the REALITY of their relationship by pretending that one or other of the Carr brothers ( Jefferson's nephews by his sister) was the father. Jefferson's relatives centuries ago KNEW that Thomas Jefferson was all of Sally Hemings's children's father but they DELIBERATELY told a LIE on two of their other relatives to "protect" his reputation! They could not have foreseen that one day there would be a test that would prove their dishonesty. They picked the WRONG relatives to tell a LIE on! Brilliant Annette Gordon-Reed, the Harvard Law graduate and history buff, predicted long ago that if science proved the Carr brothers "theory" wrong, then Jefferson defenders would rush to name another Jefferson -- ANY Jefferson but Tom -- as the father. Gordon-Reed has proven brilliantly prescient -- AGAIN!

[fritobandav]

04:18 PM on 09/04/2011

the statement made by t jefferson in a press conference just in.....i did not have sex wit dat girl...and monica lewinsky either

[douttfire]

05:09 PM on 09/04/2011

LOL..stop it! I'm dying over here!!

[zhanaya]

09:23 PM on 09/08/2011

@fritobandav CONTINUE TO TAKE YOUR MEDICINE and wash your sheet & POINTY HOOD while you're at it.

[fritobandav]

04:15 PM on 09/04/2011

only maury povich can tell him if hes da daddy or not

[douttfire]

05:10 PM on 09/04/2011

Ha ha ha ha ha ha

[quartrol]

03:47 PM on 09/04/2011

why encourage this national past time,
of finding some totally irrelevant,acinine point of view,
just to denigrade
any persons character?
who care whether he fathered many?
supposing he clone many more Jeffersons,
from a better gene pool.

look at the posive
and for the positive.
if jurnalism wants popularity via their own creation of smut[when there is nothing wrong with ones origin]

first cite all the positives,
and if at the end,
there is room for the low level gossip,
then include,
but disclaim clearly,
this type of gossip is for the consumption of media and individuals,
very hungry for ratings
and will always prostitute journalism,
to achive this low level,
and find people who will join the smut campaign.

Humans, male and female
are polygamous,
and is seen in the many dating experiences,
so common in all cultures,[except for the artificially, cult restricted group, that try to survive the strict codes imposed as One man or one Wonam from birth to death,
andthe rest are likely to be villified]

[Rich1950]

03:30 PM on 09/04/2011

I Went to Yahoo!

[globalviper]

03:06 PM on 09/04/2011

lol, so funny to hear after so many years they are looking into who did who : ) makes me laugh. As for someone being a slave owner I dont agree with owning anyone, and my background roots never owned slaves and I am white and hate to see people say white people are slave owners... If you study history even black people owned slaves and still today in africa blacks own other blacks or will trade for them, even when getting a wife the guy with the most goats etc will win over the girls parents even if she doesnt want to be married, so as for blacks calling whites slave owners go look into your roots before you make such big judgement on saying whites.... not all white cultures had slaves, and same goes for asians and latins and any race, culture etc.... doesnt matter what color you are, there is bad and good in all races and cultures, but for those pointing a finger to all whites or any other race for something shows your the true hater. As for this long debate on who did who in this family hate how people rush to say it was rape.... and if it wasnt? Whos to say she didnt like Sleeping with the Jeffersons.

[buddbo1]

03:23 PM on 09/04/2011

You made the asumption that she was a willing slave to sleep with Jefferson after saying it's wrong for anyone to say all whites were slave owners. I've never heard it said, all whites were slave owners but we do know that many whites own slaves in this country, and the civil war was the reason for ending such ownership. You made your statement about her being willing to sleep with her owner, as if she could as a slave make such a decision. Others like you, can also make silly statements !

[Rich1950]

03:31 PM on 09/04/2011

The New is better at Yahoo!