Betty's oldest daughter Mary Hemings became the common-law wife of wealthy merchant Thomas Bell, who purchased her and their two children from Jefferson in 1792 and granted them greater freedoms than other slaves were typically permitted.
10 Facts About Betty Hemings
1.
2.
Betty's daughter Sally Hemings had six children, all of whom are believed to have been fathered by Thomas Jefferson, between 1795 and 1808.
3.
The place of her birth is uncertain, but by 1746 Betty was recorded as the property of Francis Eppes IV of the Bermuda Hundred plantation.
4.
The family said Captain Betty Hemings plotted to kidnap his daughter, but Wayles took measures against this.
5.
Betty Hemings stipulated that Betty would always belong to Martha and her heirs.
6.
Betty Hemings was trained as a domestic servant at one of Wayles' plantations.
7.
In 1761, after the death of his third wife, Wayles and Betty Hemings began a relationship that produced six children.
8.
Betty Hemings had her own cabin at Monticello in the last decade of her life, from 1795 to 1807.
9.
Betty Hemings raised produce and sold it to the Jefferson household: cabbages, strawberries, and chickens.
10.
Betty Hemings was mentioned in John Wayles' will, which some take as an indication of a relationship.