Hidden Room of Thomas Jefferson's Mansion Solves 200 Year Old Mystery

Hidden room of Thomas Jefferson's mansion solves 200-year-old mystery. But before we start, please make sure to subscribe to did you know and hit the bell so you never miss an upload from us Also leave a like right now Thomas Jefferson is often heralded as a wise and moral man who helped lay the foundations for American democracy He was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence and the third president of the United States We have memorials dedicated to him in the nation's capital and his home in Virginia is a popular tourist destination During some maintenance construction workers came across a secret room The room itself was one thing but its location in the house was peculiar and raised some questions The discovery reopened a controversy that's been swirling around the president's legacy for over 200 years Thomas Jefferson you may remember him as the country's third president He was highly instrumental in the formation of the American government while holding his position in office He doubled the nation's size with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 before his presidency his contributions to the Declaration of Independence Solidified Thomas Jefferson as one of the founding fathers We can thank Jefferson for helping preventing the establishment of another monarch in the United States and to that we raise a glass But as with many great leaders there were other parts of Jefferson's life that remain unclear to this day Before moving into the White House in 1801 Thomas Jefferson resided at his Monticello plantation in Charlottesville, Virginia A well-regarded historical landmark visited by thousands of tourists every year He had inherited 5,000 acres from his father, which required a lot of manpower to attend to in 1776 he built the Monticello plantation which translates to little mountain in Italian the heck do you do with 5,000 acres? Well, there's the plantation house for the owners and all the infrastructure needed to support it including quarters for slaves like most large plantation owners Jefferson had a number of slaves but there was one who was rumored to have caught his eye it was these rumors that made the discovery of the secret room all the more scandalous the Monticello plantation has seen a lot of Restorations throughout the years with projects picking up during the 20th century when it was converted into a museum The mystery room was completely hidden from sight even when a modern bathroom was installed over it in 1941 the bathroom was renovated again in the 1960s due to the high influx of visitors coming to the museum But once more the changes in construction did not reveal the long-lost room What ultimately gave archaeologists a clue that there was more than meets the eye came from a surprising source and from beyond the grave? historians wanted to determine the original layout of the Monticello plantation and in doing so they ran across a Document written by one of Thomas Jefferson's grandsons in his documents Jefferson's grandson describes a room that didn't fit in with the known layout Of the Monticello plantation He described a room in the south wing of the former plantation house at first archaeologists were skeptical about the information But then they remembered the restroom addition and that got the cogs in their heads turning though Jefferson's grandson was known to be unreliable It seemed odd that Jefferson jr. Jr. Would write about something like this if it wasn't true in 2017 archaeologists conducted excavations as part of a restoration effort for the Monticello plantation What they discovered seemed to support the rumors that have been swirling around our third president's legacy for centuries this time around They were aware of what Jefferson's grandson had written about in his diary as they worked to uncover the original layout of the Monticello South wing they finally discovered what Jefferson's grandson had referred to in his diary It had gone unnoticed for years, which was surprising given its location Oddly, it was in the very place that had been renovated over and over behind the bathroom knocking down the men's bathroom Which had been uneventfully renovated several times by now the team discovered a small room They were not aware of before other than the reference in Jefferson's grandson's writings The room had been sealed off and hidden from plain sight for hundreds of years The room was about 15 feet by 13 feet. It had a large brick oven in the middle and no windows But what raised historians eyebrows the most about the room was its location within the large house It was very close proximity to Jefferson's personal room just down the hall Let's rewind the clock 200 years to the time of Jefferson a political journalist who wrote for a Richmond newspaper James T Calendar wrote an inflammatory report on Jefferson with the intent to slander his name the primary allegation in the report suggested that Jefferson Had started a relationship with a woman after his wife died in and of itself That's not too bad of an accusation But things heated up as calendar further asserted that Jefferson had started a relationship with a slave girl who had been on the plantation From a very young age calendar referred to the girl as Jefferson's concubine calendar Also stated that Jefferson had children by her but did not list himself as the father of the children in public record in an attempt To keep his indiscretions hush-hush by this point in time Rumors had already been swirling that there were people out there who bore an uncanny resemblance to the president Was it possible that Jefferson's slave bore children in this small windowless room in the house hidden from the rest of the world? Historians believe this is a distinct possibility If so, who is this mysterious woman the mother of the founding father's children did this room prove calendar, right? There were other contemporaries during Jefferson's time that whispered about his personal affairs Among these people the second president of the United States John Adams in a letter. He wrote to his sons in 1794 eight years prior to the editorial calendar wrote Adams appears to be referring to Jefferson's relationship with a slave girl However, because the references are veiled in Roman myths Historians can't be sure but one line in particular is stood out as a possible reference to the Jefferson scandal when considering reasons Jefferson might have resigned his position as Secretary of State Adams speculates that Jefferson might be summoned from the familiar society of Egeria during the time familiar was an innuendo for being intimate and Egeria was a Roman mythical nymph whose story involves her meeting a king in a secret Grove the slave believed to be Jefferson's Concubine as calendar described her was 16 year old Sally Hemmings Sally Hemmings was the half-sister of Martha Jefferson Thomas Jefferson's wife much of Hemmings life was shrouded in mystery for over 200 years It wasn't until recently that historians looked a little closer into the life of the woman who lived on the Jefferson Plantation in Virginia Despite her connection to the first lady Hemmings was dealt a different hand in life. She was half african-american and half white unlike mrs Jefferson Sally was born into slavery She arrived at the Jefferson Plantation at a very young age as such she was tasked with labor within the Jefferson household Hemmings was described by Jefferson's enslaved blacksmith Isaac Granger Jefferson as Mighty near white and very handsome and it was recorded that Sally Hemmings and long hair that reached her waist It was noted around the estate that Hemmings received the preferable work and never had to work hard labor outside She served the Jefferson's until Thomas Jefferson's death in 1826 Historians, however uncovered hidden information in the mystery room of the Jefferson house That was only a rumor during the Revolutionary Period at 14 The young girl barely a teen accompanied Thomas Jefferson to France two years later Sally Hemmings life would drastically change Thomas Jefferson was the United States Minister to France in 1794 Jefferson a recent widower took a trip to France and took Sally Hemmings along with him France was considered a free country and it was illegal to own slaves while living under the French flag There's a belief that Hemmings had the choice to stay in France where she could have been protected under the law the French government But something motivated Sally to return to the u.s As a slave some possibilities included that Hemmings didn't have the means to start a life on her own in France or as a slave She didn't have much of a choice The last possibility might have been that she and Jefferson might have had a real connection Historians speculate whether widower Thomas Jefferson Martha Jefferson died due to health problems at the age of 33 and Sally Hemmings began an intimate relationship While Jefferson was well into his 40s Sally was only 16 whether or not Sally entered the relationship voluntarily remains under heated debate But one thing is clear Sally became pregnant She returned to the United States with Jefferson and continued to live on Monticello Plantation Hemmings would go on to have four more children that were rumored to be fathered by Jefferson Historians believe that she gave birth to them in the secret room that was recently discovered Sally Hemmings returning to the United States with Jefferson does not necessarily mean she was complicit in their relationship After all starting a life on her own in a foreign country as a teenage girl would not have been easy Especially coming from a slave background with no resources Additionally, she was pregnant the power dynamic of slave master She had grown up under may have influenced the way she saw her relationship with Jefferson as she was by all accounts given special treatment Compared to the other slaves on the plantation the 25-year difference between them also played a role in the nature of their relationship The room close to Jefferson's personal bedroom was one thing calendar solitious article was another John Adams letters seem suggestive But the most compelling piece of evidence that supports the theory that Jefferson was intimate with Sally Hemmings came from Jefferson himself Jefferson owned over 500 slaves on his plantation and of all those slaves He only ever granted freedom to a small handful that small handful was comprised of Sally Hemmings and her children as they came of age They were not only granted their freedom But also given a stipend as they left the estate so that they could start their lives on their own Jefferson himself contrary to his own practices was opposed to slavery as an institution still this did not prompt him to free all of His own slaves the fact that he granted Sally Hemmings and her children their freedom Suggested that he had a more personal connection with them than he did with the other slaves on his property Whether or not there are some verbal agreement between Jefferson and Hemmings regarding her freedom Hemmings stayed at Monticello plantation until Jefferson died in 1826 It's unclear if she couldn't leave or wanted to stay with Jefferson Some of her children had already left by that time when the hidden room was discovered at Monticello plantation It was revealed that Hemmings had five children while at the estate Assuming that Jefferson and Hemmings had some sort of relationship between them historians began to speculate that Jefferson could very plausibly Be the father of all of Hemmings children given that he was not listed as the father of their birth records Determining paternity wasn't going to be easy. However, historians did know the names of Sally Hemmings children from their birth records So they had a starting point in tracing the genetic lineage and solving the mystery of the Jefferson Hemmings controversy today Historians strongly believe Thomas Jefferson indeed fathered Sally Hemmings children out of the four surviving children two boys and two girls Historians were only able to track down to Easton Hemmings and Harriet Hemmings the fifth child died at an early age Easton Hemmings was freed upon the death of Jefferson as he had not yet come of age before his death being fair in skin tone He was able to integrate and pass as a white person in society He married and had three kids of his own as a free man However, his resemblance to Jefferson didn't go unnoticed Easton's arrival in Ohio where he went after he left The plantation was one of intrigue KPBS published an article which appeared in the Skyoto Gazette an Ohio newspaper describing Easton Hemmings as light bronze color Little over six feet tall and dignified his nearly straight hair showed a hint of Auburn and his face indistinct suggestion of freckles Rumors spread that he was the son of Thomas Jefferson one reporter decided to make it his issue and he wanted to hear what the mysterious man in town had to say about the prospect of being the son of a former president Easton was regarded as a gentleman as many people within the small town Thought he was an all-around good guy when the journalist managed to meet Easton face-to-face He asked if the rumors of his lineage were true Easton's response silenced the reporter Easton responded Well, my mother whose name I bear belonged to mr. Jefferson and after a slight pause he added and she was never married He his wife and children moved on and eventually ended up in Wisconsin where they settled on a property They later owned Easton didn't know it at the time But he would ultimately be the piece of the puzzle that would put the Jefferson Hemmings controversy to rest Is it true? Did Thomas Jefferson have children with Sally Hemmings? Thankfully today we have the technology to answer these questions in 1998 scientists tracked down the descendants of Easton Hemmings and Obtained a DNA sample to determine if the lineage traced back to Jefferson the New York Times reported new evidence Suggesting Jefferson fathered at least one of Sally Hemmings children and it was likely he fathered all of Hemmings children Easton Hemmings and Harriet Hemmings had children to whom they passed down the story of their heritage through generations The DNA results had America at a standstill after taking blood samples from a descendant of Easton Hemmings Jefferson. Dr Eugene a foster a university professor of pathology analyzed the blood He reported the Y chromosome of a descendant of Easton Hemmings Jefferson made a perfect match to Jefferson's Thomas Jefferson was most definitely the father the team reached out to the descendants of Sally Hemmings who were not the least bit surprised by the results the power of Storytelling and kept the truth intact for generations in their family The results of the DNA test were only confirming what they already knew about their family's history But others still were unconvinced one such group the Thomas Jefferson Foundation They believe there was another possible explanation for the presence of Jefferson DNA in Sally Hemmings descendants in 2000 the Thomas Jefferson Foundation formed a research committee made up of nine members of the foundation staff four of which had PhDs After looking over all documentation pertaining to the Jefferson Hemmings ordeal They came to a completely different conclusion The foundation asserted that Sally Hemmings was only a minor figure in Thomas Jefferson's life and that it was unlikely that he fathered any of Sally Hemmings children instead they asserted that Thomas Jefferson's brother Randolph Jefferson was the real father of Sally Hemmings children the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Continued to believe that Thomas Jefferson was not in Monticello at the time that Sally Hemmings would likely have her children This was part of their case as they believe that Sally Hemmings was elsewhere at the points in the timeline That would have required them to be together Still this evidence feels flimsy when taking all the other factors into consideration Well, some of it is circumstantial the room the rumors the letter from John Adams The DNA test does seem pretty conclusive and the general consensus is that there was something going on between Sally Hemmings and Thomas Jefferson Most historians agree that Jefferson likely fathered all five of Sally Hemmings children Harriet Hemmings was well known as a beauty just like her mother She had considerably darker hair and eyes But her skin was light enough for her to pass as a white woman and she successfully integrated into white society She married a white man who had good standing and he never suspected her African heritage Sally's other mother Madison Hemmings was also freed by Jefferson and lived with his mother Sally who moved to Charlottesville, Virginia After Jefferson's death. He worked as a farmer and a carpenter He got married had children and moved to the free state of Ohio after his mother's death Uncovering Sally Hemmings room reopened a conversation about the relationship between Jefferson and his alleged lover Archaeologists can't help but question the nature of their relationship seeing how Sally Hemmings was within arm's reach or just one door down the hall This room is a real connection to the past said Fraser Neiman the director of archaeology at Monticello We're uncovering and discovering and we're finding many many artifacts His insight gives the public a glimpse into the interesting life of Sally Hemmings as well as the personal life of former president Thomas Jefferson these details had long been swept under the rug There's a lot to consider when weighing the social dynamics of the 18th century The public was uncomfortable with the revelation that the person who wrote the Declaration of Independence Was also having an affair with a young probably underaged Enslaved woman and then denying the children he had with her on public record yet at the same time Knowing the reality of the circumstances helps us step away from the rose-colored lenses We often view the past with and that's troublesome for some one can never know for sure the true nature of the relationship Our founding fathers and certainly our presidents were not perfect Perhaps one of the more troubling aspects of the situation is that the man wrote words that we hold in such high regard That all men were created equal which contradicted the way he lived his own life in such an obvious way Contrary to the way he lived in his personal life Jefferson used his platform to denounce the practice and institution of slavery for most of his lifetime he actually submitted a bill to Congress to ban slavery in the new territories as early as the 1780s a full 80 years before the Civil War would decisively end it in the United States despite his personal viewpoints Jefferson held on to his slaves with the exception of Sallie Hemings children only five of his Hundred odd slaves at the time of his death were freed in his will Including Sally Hemings remaining two children and three other men who had worked for him for decades and presumably had a personal relationship with him Later in his life Jefferson had incurred quite a bit of debt slaves at the time were considered property and therefore assets Other than the few freed above the remaining slaves were sold to pay the debt incurred by the Monticello plantation What we do know for sure is that Thomas Jefferson did want to hide his relationship with Sallie Hemings from the public as well As the fact that he fathered children by her perhaps what makes the story resonate so much is the literal Intersection of an American idealist and the ugly legacy of slavery Sallie Hemings told her kids They were the children of Jefferson, but otherwise didn't speak on the matter But the only people who truly know what went on in that room in the Monticello Plantation took the full truth with them to the grave All we have left are pieces of a puzzle that when put together paint an unsettling picture of an American icon That's hard to ignore and raises some tough questions