Sally Hemings (1773 – 1835) was an enslaved woman from Virginia. She is famous for her relationship with Thomas Jefferson. People say she was his mistress or his concubine or the girl he was raping, but we do not know for sure. We do know that they had six children together over many years. Most of what we know about Sally Hemings comes from things her son, Madison, said about her many years later.
Early life and family
According to Madison Hemings, Sally Hemings' grandmother was a fully African woman and might have been born in Africa. She was enslaved to the Eppes family in Virginia. Historians do not know for sure what her name was. Papers with the names of enslaved women in the Eppes family include "Dinah," "Judy," "Abbie," "Sarah," "Parthenia," and others. Historian Annette Gordon-Reed said that there were many girls named "Thenia" in the Hemings family, and they might have been named after Parthenia. But she also says that "Sally" is a nickname for "Sarah," and there were many girls named "Sarah" and "Sally" in the Hemings family too.
Sally Hemings' mother was called Elizabeth "Betty" Hemings. Madison Hemings told the story: Elizabeth Hemings' mother was an African woman and her father was an English sea captain named Hemings. The sea captain tried to buy Elizabeth Hemings from her owner, but the owner said no. He said he wanted to see what a half-white, half-African child would look like. Then Captain Hemings tried to take the child away from the owner without paying, but someone told the owner about his plan. Captain Hemings left Virginia and did not come back.
Captain Hemings tried to take his daughter from one of the men in the Eppes family, but historians do not know which one, because they do not know when Elizabeth Hemings was born. One paper says "about 1735."
Elizabeth Hemings lived at the Eppes family's house, which was called Bermuda Hundred, until 1746. That year, Martha Eppes married John Wayles. Elizabeth and other enslaved people went with Martha to Wayle's house as part of her marriage settlement. A marriage settlement was any property that a married woman could control and her husband could not. Technically, the Eppes family owned Elizabeth Hemings.
Elizabeth Hemings had many children. The father of most of those children, including Sally, was John Wayles. John Wayles also had children with his wife, Martha Eppes. This made Sally Hemings the half-sister of Martha Wayles Skelton, who married Thomas Jefferson.
When Martha Wayles Skelton married Jefferson, Hemings and many people in her family went with Martha Skelton to Jefferson's house at Monticello. Sally Hemings was about ten years old when Martha Wayles Skelton-Jefferson died. Historians think Sally Hemings and her mother Elizabeth may have helped take care of Martha Wayles Skelton-Jefferson when she was sick. Martha Wayles Skelton-Jefferson left Sally a present in her will: a small silver bell.
Youth and trip to France
When Thomas Jefferson went to France to be ambassador, he only took his oldest daughter with him. He also took Sally Hemings's older brother, James Hemings. Jefferson left his younger two daughters behind with his wife's relatives in Virginia. Then the youngest of the three girls died. Jefferson then wrote to his wife's relatives and asked them to send the middle girl, Maria, nicknamed "Polly," to him in France. It took two years for them to agree.
Jefferson told the relatives to choose one of the enslaved women to go with his daughter to France. He said the woman should be older, already inoculated for smallpox, and of a steady personality. He asked for an enslaved woman named Isabel, then twenty-nine years old. But Isabel had just had a baby, so she could not come. Jefferson's wife's relatives sent Sally Hemings instead. Sally Hemings was not any of the three things Jefferson had asked for. She was only fourteen, not inoculated for smallpox, and had a lively personality.
Abigail Adams met Hemings when the ship stopped in London. Abigail Adams wrote to Jefferson and said he should send Hemings back to Virginia on a ship, but he did not. She said Hemings would probably be as much work to take care of as Polly was. She wrote that Hemings was running around, laughing, and playing with Polly. At the time, Adams thought Hemings was sixteen years old, but she was really fourteen years old. We do not know for sure why Abigail Adams wanted Jefferson to send Hemings back to Virginia.