Sally of Monticello: Founding Mother

Epilogue
Sally Hemings died in Charlottesville in 1835, age sixty-two.The cause of death and date are uncertain. One account has it that shelived past the May 8 birth to Julia Ann and Eston Hemings of JohnWayles Hemings, the family later taking the surname Jefferson. Thatchild became a Union Army Colonel, wounded in the Civil War.After Sally died, sons Madison and Eston and their familiesmoved to Ohio. Researchers believe Sally’s remains lie beneath theparking lot of the Hampton Inn on West Main Street in Charlottesville.Descendants of Sally Hemings’s children joined Jefferson familygatherings at Monticello in 1999, the year after DNA testing eraseddoubts of a Thomas-Sally liaison. While the Thomas JeffersonFoundation has accepted the relationship on the evidence, descendantsof Martha Randolph and Maria Eppes are not in full agreement.Jefferson Randolph spent the greater part of his life paying offdebts as executor of his grandfather’s will. Retirement of the debtsbecame final in 1878—three years after Jefferson died from injuries ina carriage accident.All dates in the text correspond with true events or actualexchanges depicted within those chapters, except for the Rivannascene. All named people—and animals—lived and were present forthe described episodes (with the Rivanna exception). The author’sreasoned speculation furnished dialogue, sentiments, and conclusions.


Appendix One: TimelineA Thomas Jefferson/Sally Hemings Timeline(including the times of Sally’s conceptions and births)
April 13, 1743 (New Style calendar) – Thomas Jefferson is born atShadwell in the County of Goochland, later Albemarle County,Virginia, third of ten children of Peter and Jane Randolph Jefferson, ofwhom eight reach adulthood.
January 1, 1772 – At 28 TJ weds widow Martha Wayles Skelton, 23,daughter of John and the late Martha Eppes Wayles, at The Forestplantation, Charles City County.
Spring, 1773, date unknown – Sarah (Sally) Hemings is born at TheForest, youngest of six children of John Wayles (by then three times awidower) and Elizabeth (Betty) Hemings, his mulatto slave.
May 28, 1773 – John Wayles, Sally’s and Martha Wayles Jefferson’sfather, dies in Charles City County. TJ and Martha inherit land, slavesincluding the Hemingses, and a large share of Wayles’s debts.
April 19, 1775 – Start of the American Revolution.
July 4, 1776 – The Continental Congress in Philadelphia accepts theTJ-authored Declaration of Independence, first of three achievementshe chooses later to include on his gravestone.
June 1, 1779 – June 4, 1781 – TJ serves two one-year terms asVirginia’s Governor, part of that time marked by Britons’ invadingVirginia and their unsuccessful search for him.
September 6, 1782 – Before dying at Monticello from childbirtheffects—and with family members present including half-sisterSally—Martha Wayles Jefferson exacts a promise from TJ never toremarry.
September 3, 1783 – Signing of the Treaty of Paris concludes theAmerican Revolution.
July 5, 1784 – With daughter Martha (nicknamed Patsy), then goingon 12, and with slave (and half-brother-in-law) James Hemings, 19, TJsails from Boston for Europe to join Benjamin Franklin and JohnAdams as a foreign commissioner.
January 26, 1785 – In Paris TJ learns from the Marquis de Lafayetteof the death of daughter Lucy, 2½, of whooping cough at Virginia’sEppington plantation the previous October 13.
May 2, 1785 – TJ receives notice Congress has elected him Ministerto the Court of Louis XVI of France, succeeding Franklin.
May 10, 1785 – TJ publishes his book, Notes on the State of Virginia.It carries strongly negative views of Negroes.
January 16, 1786 – James Madison rallies the Virginia Assembly toenact the Statute for Religious Freedom TJ authored in 1777, secondof three achievements TJ selects later for his gravestone.
October 12, 1786 – TJ writes a dialogue to the married artist MariaCosway, “My Head and My Heart,” in which he chooses reason overemotion to resolve their short-lived romance.
July 15, 1787 – Daughter Mary (nicknamed Polly), two weeks shy of9, arrives with her slave and aunt, Sally Hemings, 14, at the AmericanMinistry in Paris.
April 24, 1788 – Likeliest date for start of intimacy between TJ andhalf-sister-in-law Sally, on his return from travel in the Netherlandsand Rhine valley. The affair continues through their stay in Franceand will last 38 years till his death.
March 4, 1789 – The ratified Constitution of the United States takeseffect. Addition of the Bill of Rights by amendment is under way.President George Washington will take the oath of office April 30.
April 20, 1789 – TJ withdraws daughters Martha and Mary fromconvent school, Abbaye Royale de Panthémont, after Martha declaresshe will turn Catholic and become a nun.
July 14, 1789 – The French Revolution takes its most significant turnwhen Parisians storm the Bastille, an event James Hemings witnesses.
October 8, 1789 – The Jeffersons, with James Hemings and apregnant Sally Hemings aboard, embark first from Le Havre on theAnna for England, then October 22 on the Clermont from Yarmouthfor Norfolk, Virginia.
December 23, 1789 – The returning party arrives at Monticello afterTJ receives news at Eppington that President Washington has offeredhim the position of Secretary of State.
January, 1790 – Sally gives birth to a son, Thomas, at Monticello.(First child.)
February 23, 1790 – Daughter Martha weds Thomas Mann Randolph,Jr.
March 21, 1790 – TJ reports to the capital at New York to beginservice as Secretary of State. His work in this capacity is the mostintense of his public career. James Hemings accompanies him asservant. For much of this time away he takes teen daughter Mary, nowcalling herself Maria. In the nearly four years of TJ’s Secretaryship hespends an accumulated total of only six months at home, September19-November 8, 1790, September 12-October 12, 1791, July 22-September 27, 1792, and circa September 25-October 25, 1793.
January 16, 1794 – TJ retires to Monticello after declining a secondterm in Washington’s cabinet. He will stay at home or in the regionuntil 1797.
December 24, 1794 – TJ frees Sally’s older brother Robert Hemings,who has completed paid service in Richmond to purchase his freedom.
October 5, 1795 – Sally gives birth to a daughter, Harriet. (Secondchild.)
February, 1796 – TJ begins reconstruction of the house at Monticello.
February 5, 1796 – TJ frees James Hemings on completion of a threeyearagreement outlining indentured service.
September 29, 1796 – James Madison launches promotion of TJ’scandidacy for President.
circa September, 1796 – Sally gives birth to daughter Edy, whodies in infancy. (Third.)
December 31, 1796 – Madison advises TJ to prepare to assume theVice Presidency, as electors are certain to choose John Adams asPresident.
March 4, 1797 – TJ is inaugurated as Vice President in the capital atPhiladelphia, returning to Monticello March 20.
May 5, 1797 – A special session of Congress draws TJ toPhiladelphia. He returns to Monticello July 11.
October 13, 1797 – Daughter Maria weds her first cousin, JohnWayles Eppes.
December 4, 1797 – TJ leaves for Philadelphia. The house is largelydismantled for reconstruction and will remain empty for the winter.
December 7, 1797 – Sally’s daughter Harriet, 2, dies of an unknowncause.
April 1, 1798 – Sally gives birth to a son, William Beverly. (Fourth.)
July 4, 1798 – TJ returns to Monticello to stay most of the remainderof the year. By letters he opposes the Federalists’ Alien and SeditionActs and expands his leadership of the Democratic-Republicans.
December 18, 1798 – TJ leaves for Philadelphia and returns homeMarch 8, 1799.
December 7, 1799 – Sally gives birth to a daughter, Thenia, whodies in infancy. (Fifth.)
December 21, 1799 – One week after the death of GeorgeWashington, TJ leaves Monticello for Philadelphia, returning homeMay 29, 1800.
November 24, 1800 – After a six-month stay at Monticello, TJleaves for the new capital at Washington City to await state electors’decision for President and Vice President among candidates TJ, AaronBurr, Adams, and Charles Pinckney.
February 17, 1801 – The 36th ballot by the House of Representativesis a tie-breaker, electing TJ President (with grudging support byAlexander Hamilton) over Burr. TJ will take the oath of office March4.
April 4, 1801 – TJ arrives at Monticello. He leaves again forWashington City April 26.
May 22, 1801 – Sally gives birth to a daughter, naming her for theHarriet she’d lost in 1797. (Sixth.)
August 2, 1801 – TJ returns to Monticello and remains untilSeptember 27, first of customary two-month summer stays at homeduring his Presidency.
c. October, 1801 – James Hemings commits suicide.
May 8, 1802 – TJ is home again until May 27, when he returns to thePresident’s House in the capital.
July 25, 1802 – TJ begins summer stay at Monticello.
September 1, 1802 – A series of articles by James Callender begins inthe Richmond Recorder exposing TJ’s affair with Sally and citing thepresence at Monticello of their son, Thomas, then 12. The onlymention of the boy in Jefferson literature after this period is in an 1873interview with Madison Hemings, who said his mother, Sally, had toldhim the child died shortly after being born.
October 1, 1802 – TJ leaves Monticello for Washington.
November 21, 1802 – Daughters Martha and Maria arrive in thecapital for a stay in the President’s House until January 5, 1803,presumably for a show of family unity in response to public scandal.
March 11, 1803 – TJ is back at Monticello, where he stays untilMarch 31 before leaving again for the capital.
July 4, 1803 – The National Intelligencer releases news of theLouisiana Purchase, the most significant achievement of TJ’sPresidency in company with the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
July 22, 1803 – TJ arrives at Monticello. He leaves September 22 forWashington, where he will stay through a severe winter.
April 4, 1804 – TJ arrives home and is present when daughter Mariadies April 17 from effects of childbirth. He stays at Monticello untilMay 11.
July 11, 1804 – Vice President Burr kills Hamilton in a pistol duel onthe New Jersey Palisades.
July 26, 1804 – TJ arrives at Monticello and remains until September27.
January 18, 1805 – Sally gives birth to a son, Madison, so namedfor the Secretary of State at the suggestion of Dolley Madison, who ispresent at Monticello. (Seventh.)
March 4, 1805 – TJ takes the oath as President at his secondinauguration.
c. March 17, 1805 – TJ returns to Monticello and leaves for thecapital again April 14.
c. June 18, 1805 – TJ comes home for the summer, a stay marked by abrief visit to Poplar Forest. He sets out again for the capital September29.
c. November 25, 1805 – Daughter Martha and her children arewintering in the President’s House, where she gives birth January 17,1806 to James Madison Randolph, first child born in what was latercalled the White House.
May 9, 1806 – TJ arrives at Monticello, remaining until June 4.
July 24, 1806 – TJ begins summer stay at home, visiting Poplar Forestin late August and remaining at Monticello until October 1.
October 24, 1806 – TJ learns of the Lewis and Clark party’s return toSt. Louis from its expedition to the Pacific.
Winter, 1806-07 – Supporters urge TJ to accept a third term asPresident, which he declines.
March 2, 1807 – Congress approves an act prohibiting importation ofslaves after January 1, 1808.
c. April 11, 1807 – TJ arrives at Monticello and stays until May 13,when he returns to Washington.
August 5, 1807 – TJ is home again until October 1, then he returnsto the capital.
January 23, 1808 – A Democratic-Republican Congressional caucusnominates James Madison for President, George Clinton for VicePresident.
May 11, 1808 – TJ returns to Monticello.
May 21, 1808 – Sally gives birth to a son, Eston. (Eighth.) On June 8TJ leaves to return to the capital.
July 23, 1808 – TJ arrives at Monticello to stay until September 28.On the return trip to Washington his grandson Thomas JeffersonRandolph, 16, accompanies him and will attend school in Philadelphia.
November 21, 1808 – Electors assure selection of Madison to succeedTJ.
February 25, 1809 – TJ’s letter to Henry Grégoire, French priest andabolitionist, recants negative references to Negroes TJ had made inNotes on the State of Virginia.
March 4, 1809 – Madison takes the oath of office as President.
March 15, 1809 – TJ returns to Monticello in final retirement, fromthis day forward confining travel to places in Virginia.
June 18, 1812 – United States declares war on Great Britain. Treaty ofGhent ends the war December 24, 1814, but British defeat at NewOrleans January 8, 1815 gives U.S. decisive victory.
c. April 18, 1815 – TJ sells and ships his personal library toWashington to replace that of the Library of Congress, which theBritish burned while invading the capital.
May 5, 1817 – The Board of Visitors of Central College,Charlottesville, VA, holds its first meeting. TJ’s involvement willculminate in founding of the University of Virginia.
August 5, 1819 – TJ learns of the financial failure of Wilson CaryNicholas, for whom he had cosigned a loan.
1822, before October 15 – Twice TJ goes into $50 debt to overseerEdmund Bacon, first to give that amount to his son William BeverlyHemings, 24, to help him “run away” to freedom, then to help hisdaughter, Harriet Hemings, 21, do the same.
November 5, 1824 – The unfinished Rotunda of the University ofVirginia is the scene of a dinner honoring the Marquis de Lafayetteupon his visit and reunion with TJ.
March 7, 1825 – The University of Virginia opens, third achievement(as “father”) TJ specifies for gravestone inscription.
March 17, 1826 – In his will TJ frees sons Madison and EstonHemings as well as Joseph Fossett, Burwell Colbert, and JohnHemings. He arranges informal emancipation for Sally and forWormley Hughes and arranges to let all remain in Virginia.
July 4, 1826 – TJ dies at Monticello on the 50th anniversary ofpresentation (some historians record it as “adoption”) of theDeclaration of Independence. Adams dies the same day inMassachusetts.
Late spring, 1835, date unknown – Freed after TJ’s death, Sally diesin Charlottesville. She had lived with sons Madison and Eston andtended TJ’s grave on the mountain.



Appendix Two: Family ConnectionsJohn Wayles (1715-73) – (1) Martha Eppes (1721-48)                                          (2) Tabitha Cocke (1724-60)                                          (3) Elizabeth Lomax (?-1761)                                          (4) Elizabeth Hemings (1735-1807)Children of John Wayles and Martha Eppes        Martha* (1748-82) and twins who did not surviveChildren of John Wayles and Tabitha Cocke        Elizabeth (1752-?)** and three other daughtersNo children were born to John Wayles and Elizabeth LomaxChildren of John Wayles and Elizabeth Hemings        Sally (1773-1835), two other daughters, and three sons
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) – (1) Martha Wayles                                                      (2) Sally HemingsChildren of Thomas Jefferson and Martha Wayles        Martha*** (nicknamed Patsy) – (1772-1836)        Jane (1774-75)        Unnamed son (1777-77)        Mary**** (nicknamed Polly, and later renamed herself Maria) – (1778-1804)        Lucy (1780-81)        Lucy (1782-84)Children of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings        Thomas (1790 – whereabouts unknown after 1802)        Harriet (1795-97)        Edy (1796-96)        William Beverly (1798-?)        Thenia (1799-1800)        Harriet (1801-?)        James Madison (1805-77)        Thomas Eston (1808-56)*At the time she wed Jefferson in 1772 Martha Wayles was the widow of BathurstSkelton and had lost a son by that union. (Sally Hemings, born 1773, was MarthaWayles’s half-sister.)**Elizabeth Wayles wed first cousin Francis Eppes. They had two sons, JohnWayles Eppes and his brother Richard. (Sally Hemings was Elizabeth Wayles’s halfsisteras well.)***Martha Jefferson wed Thomas Mann Randolph, Jr. in 1790. They had 12children, 11 reaching adulthood. (Martha Jefferson Randolph was the niece of SallyHemings.)****Mary Jefferson wed first cousin John Wayles Eppes in 1797 and had threechildren, only one reaching adulthood. (At this wedding Sally Hemings was aunt toeach the bride and groom.)