DNA analysis supports Jefferson fathered children with Sally Hemings
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Richard Kurin of the Smithsonian Institution led a fifteen-year investigation into whether Thomas Jefferson, the third US president, fathered children with Sally Hemings, a woman he enslaved.
Kurin and a team of scientists, genealogists, and forensic experts examined hair samples, beginning with those found in Jefferson’s Bible. Initial attempts to extract DNA proved inconclusive, as the hair did not belong to Jefferson.
The team later discovered a packet of hair at Monticello, Jefferson’s plantation in Virginia, labeled as having been cut on the day of his death. This hair provided the necessary DNA to compare with descendants of both Jefferson and Hemings. Scientists found that descendants of two of Hemings’ sons, Madison and Eston, possessed a significant amount of Jefferson’s DNA, more than some known Jefferson descendants. Kurin stated the DNA evidence conclusively shows Jefferson fathered Hemings’ children.
Researchers have been unable to locate descendants of Hemings’ other surviving children, Harriet and Beverly, who left Monticello and passed as white in Washington, D.C. Kurin intends to publish Jefferson’s genome publicly, potentially allowing others to trace their ancestry.
