ExclusiveThomas Jefferson & Sally Hemings_ Scandalous History Revealed

Even more controversial is the relationship he is reported to have had with Sally Hemings, one of his slaves. The history of her with his family is quite fascinating because she was, you could say, his property through his marriage to his wife, and she was a half-sister of his wife because his father-in-law, after having three wives, all of whom died, ended up taking a slave woman as a mistress, and he had several mixed-race children with her, and one of these was Sally Hemings. And it's believed that Thomas Jefferson had a similar relationship with Sally Hemings after his wife died, having vowed to her that he would never remarry. We can't be 100% sure one way or another, although there are some claims that there's been DNA testing that, in fact, her children are related to him. It is known, though, that he had an agreement with her that when all her children reached the age of 21, he would free them. And it was also noted that there were a lot of servants or slaves around Monticello who were so fair-haired and skinned with auburn hair that they could easily pass for white, and that the children did so since they were only one-eighth African by that point.