Anne Pemberton wrote: "Sally told her children who their father was. .
. . She told Eston a different story from Madison. . . . Madison said
his mother said that Thomas Jefferson was his father . . . "

There are no primary sources regarding what Sally Hemings told her
children about anything. In his 1873 newspaper account Madison Hemings
refers to Thomas Jefferson as his father but never says "my mother
told me" in that context or any context.  He never quotes his mother
nor does he describe her conveying information to him. There are no
sources regarding Sally Hemings telling her son Eston anything. One
may assume or infer that Sally Hemings spoke to her children about the
identity of their father, but it should be made clear that we have no
direct testimony from any Hemingses on this point and anything we say
is based on assumptions or inferences.

Henry Wiencek

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