A new Smithsonian DNA study has found strong genetic evidence linking former President Thomas Jefferson to descendants of Sally Hemings, an enslaved woman at his Monticello estate.
Smithsonian scholar Richard Kurin released the findings Tuesday, reporting a 99.9% probability that Jefferson fathered children with Hemings.
Previous genetic research relied largely on Y-chromosome markers, which could not definitively distinguish Jefferson from other male relatives, including his brother Randolph Jefferson. Researchers instead analyzed autosomal DNA using genetic material recovered from rootless hair samples found in the Jefferson Bible.
Kurin described the findings as a culmination of decades of research into the Jefferson-Hemings relationship. The results provide additional genetic evidence connecting descendants of the two families and may contribute to continued historical research into their shared ancestry.
Related Tweet:
Jefferson’s link to Sally Hemings’s children may have been settled by a hair https://t.co/63zijhmKZP
— WSHnow (@WSHnowDC) October 6, 2026
Also Read:
TIPP Staff
