The Paternity Myth

2020
Sally Hemings Living Quarters at Monticello

The Thomas Jefferson (Memorial) Foundation, which owns Thomas Jefferson’s home, Monticello, has reconstructed the recently-“discovered” Sally Hemings’ bedroom. Various reports describe it as “just steps away from”, “next to”, or “adjacent to” Jefferson’s own bedroom. It is the contention of Monticello that the room is further evidence of a relationship between the two. If there is evidence that Sally Hemings lived in this room (likely with sister Critta), she didn’t do so until after she turned 35 when she bore no more children. John Works provides a detailed look into this issue.

2010
THE JEFFERSON-HEMINGS CONTROVERSY: A NEW, CRITICAL LOOK

DRUMBEAT

In a detailed review of the Jefferson-Hemings controversy, John Works, former President of the Thomas Jefferson Heritage Society and former President of the Monticello Association, brings a unique understanding to the chain of events that led the media to assert Jefferson's paternity of slave children. The Jefferson-Hemings Controversy: A New, Critical Look appeared in Drumbeat, the quarterly publication of the Sons of the American Revolution.

who was sally hemings?

There are only glimpses of the historical figure of Sally Hemings. The Scholars Commission described her as an "enigma."

Madison Hemings and the Treaty Legend

Those who choose to believe that Thomas Jefferson fathered slave children rely for support on a newspaper interview of Madison Hemings and ignore that it is hearsay long removed and without independent verification.

Flawed Evidence

Absent any direct evidence that Thomas Jefferson had a relationship with Sally Hemings, a number of evdentiary fallacies have been advanced to support the conclusion of Jefferson Paternity.