Saturday, October 3, 2026
Friday, October 2, 2026
“Uncle” Randolph Jefferson
Jefferson made 22 visits to Monticello during the relevant conception years, yet no conceptions occurred during 17 of those visits. When suggesting an ongoing relationship, is important to note that Jefferson did not bring Sally Hemings with other slaves to Washington DC where he spent 8 years as President 1801-1809. After his presidency, Jefferson returned to Monticello in 1809 and Sally Hemings stopped having children....
What is more likely, and a simpler explanation, is that Jefferson’s male relatives would visit Monticello and have much more freedom to “sneak off”, while all attention and responsibility was on Thomas Jefferson as he entertained guests as host. Among others, a highly likely candidate for such behavior was Jefferson’s brother Randolph Jefferson, who was 12-years younger, lived a mere 20 miles south, and carried the same y-DNA as his brother Thomas.
https://www.tjheritage.org/uncle-randolph-jefferson-thomas-jeffersons-younger-brother
Did Thomas Jefferson Father Sally Hemings’ Children? After More Than a Decade of Research, the Answer Is Finally Firmly in Hand
As expected, Foster’s study kicked up fresh debate. One letter to Nature questioned why Foster did not consider Thomas Jefferson’s brother Randolph or one of his nephews or cousins as the possible father of Eston Hemings, given that all of those men shared the same Jefferson-type Y chromosome. Another noted: “Any male ancestor in Thomas Jefferson’s line, White or Black, could have fathered Eston Hemings. ... It is possible that Thomas Jefferson’s father, grandfather or paternal uncles fathered a male slave whose line later impregnated another slave, in this case Sally Hemings.” Another major journal, Science, echoed the uncertainty with an article titled “Which Jefferson Was the Father?”
