18. More Discoveries
Discovering the floor beneath the floor only made the archeologists curious. They proceeded to excavate flooring further into the wing, making their way towards the main section of the mansion. It was in that area they found two heated rooms; former living quarters for domestic servants. That wasn’t all. They also discovered the room of a single female slave, which made everyone on the project start to ask questions.
17. Sally Hemings
Artists Impression of Hemings | geni.com
We don’t know what Sally Hemings looked like as nobody took pictures of her or the sands of time consumed them, but it’s more likely there never were any. What historians do know of Sally Hemings is that she was born in 1773, and a slave to Jefferson after he married. She had five siblings of whom she was the youngest, born to a man named John Wayles, Jefferson’s Father-in-law, and John’s slave Betty Hemings. Mom Hemings was of mixed heritage, making Sally and her siblings three-quarters European, not to mention the half-siblings of Jefferson’s legitimate children. Despite this, those children would spend their lives as slaves, without any privileges.