Member Login | My Account | Guest Registry

Getting Started | Learning Center | Reference | Publications | Articles & Columns

Shaking Your Family Tree

February 25, 1999
	Presidential Sex Scandal -- The Tom and Sally Affair by Myra Vanderpool Gormley, C.G.
Presidential sex scandals are nothing new. The first one occurred back in 1802 when James Thomson Callender accused then President Thomas Jefferson of fathering illegitimate children by one of his slaves, Sally Hemings. The story was first published in the Richmond (Virginia) Recorder and created quite a stir. However, Jefferson was not impeached over it. Hemings -- a beautiful quadroon was the half sister of Jefferson's wife, Martha (Wayles) Skelton -- the daughter of Elizabeth "Betty'' Hemings and, allegedly, John Wayles, Thomas Jefferson's father-in-law. She became the property of Jefferson as part of his inheritance from the Wayles estate in 1774 and came, along with her mother and siblings, to Monticello by 1776. Sally Hemings was only 14 when she traveled from Virginia to France accompanying Jefferson's young daughter Mary. In Paris, Hemings was taught the skills of a lady's maid, learning to dress hair, stitch decorative hems and launder fine silks. After the Jeffersons returned to Virginia in 1789, Hemings remained at Monticello. There, according to her son Madison in "Reminiscences of Madison Hemings", Pike County (Ohio) Republican, 13 March 1873 one of her duties was "to take care of (Jefferson's) chamber and wardrobe, look after us children, and do light work such as sewing &c.'' For years most historians and Jefferson scholars did not believe that the third president fathered children by Sally Hemings. They discounted the powerful oral histories of her descendants. They dismissed such circumstantial evidence that Jefferson was found to have been present at Monticello nine months before the birth of each of Hemings' children with the exception of Thomas Woodson, her first child. This child, born in 1790, apparently was conceived in Paris -- when Jefferson was the minister to France and Hemings, then 16, was his daughter's maid. Last November, the British science journal Nature (http://www.nature.com/) presented the results of scientific tests that show a conclusive DNA match between a male descendant of Sally Hemings and another man who can trace his lineage to Thomas Jefferson's paternal uncle. Genealogists must rely on circumstantial evidence in many instances to make links on their family trees. It is ironic that until DNA tests became available (and there's still controversy about this one) it really was almost impossible to prove what's called a biological pedigree. That is, to prove the paternity of any of our ancestors, although the maternity of a child is rarely questioned. According to "Founding Father,'' an article by Eric S. Lander and Joseph J. Ellis in Nature magazine's Nov. 5 issue, "The new findings give blacks and whites alike an opportunity to confront a largely secret, shared history.'' This and numerous other articles can be found on the Web about Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings. They include: "The Tom-and-Sally Miniseries'': (cont.) http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/990118/18tom.htm "Jefferson's Secret Life'': http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/981109/9tom.htm "Founding Father'': http://www.nature.com/ "Holding Out for an Icon'': http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/981109/9hist.htm "The Hemings-Jefferson Controversy: A Brief Account'': http://www.monticello.org/Matters/people/hemings-jefferson_contro.html "Technology Uncovers Thomas Jefferson's DNA Link to Sally Hemings' Son'': http://home.earthlink.net/Igacurtis/av02nov98.htm "Matters of Fact: Sally Hemings'' http://www.monticello.org/Matters/people/Sally_Hemings.html You may enjoy some books on this subject -- check your local library, bookstores and online booksellers such as http://www.amazon.com and http://www.barnesandnoble.com/ for these: -- "Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy,'' by Annette Gordon-Reed. -- "Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History,'' by Fawn M. Brodie. -- "Sally Hemings: A Novel,'' by Barbara Chase-Riboud Click Here  for Myra's Archive (c) 1999, Los Angeles Times Syndicate Myra Vanderpool Gormley and Julie Case are co-editors of Missing Links, a free weekly genealogy e-zine. To subscribe, send your request to: Missing Links Newsletter   Return to Myra Vanderpool Gormley Main Page Return to Columns Main Page
Copyright 1998, 1999, Ancestry.com Inc. and its subsidiaries. Terms and Conditions | Privacy Statement