Betty Hemings was John Wayles’ female slave. She was of mixed ethnicity and lived between 1735 and 1807. John Wayles was an American lawyer, slave trader, and planter best known as the father-in-law of the third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson.
Betty and his owner, John Wayles, had six children together, including Sally Hemings, who was later inherited by Thomas Jefferson. Given that Betty was a slave, all her children were considered slaves, irrespective of who their father was. As a result of their father, Betty’s children were the half-siblings of Martha Jefferson, who served as the first lady of Virginia. However, despite this connection, they were just slaves and were passed down from one owner to another.
After the death of John Wayles, Betty, and her descendants were inherited by Martha Wayles and her husband, Thomas Jefferson.
Life After the Death of John Wayles
Upon the death of John Wayles, Betty and her children became Thomas Jefferson’s slaves. They were forced to work on his plantations in Monticello. As slaves, Betty’s children and grandchildren had various positions, including butlers, chefs, blacksmiths, seamstresses, carpenters, and musicians.
Love Life
Slaves had no love life; they were taken as slaves by anyone who could buy them. It was no different for Betty Hemings. However, before becoming John Wayles’s slave, she had a relationship with a male slave with whom they had four children. She had these children in the 1750s, and they include Mary, who was sold to Thomas Bell, who made her his common-law wife. The other is Martin Hemings, who was inherited by Thomas Jefferson and became a butler. The others were Betty Brown and Nance Hemings.
After this, she was taken by John Wayles as a slave, and the two sired six children, namely Robert, James, Thenia, Critta, Peter, and Sally Hemings. After John Wayles died, Betty had two more children; she had these children with two different slaves. The two worked as slaves for the Jeffersons.
Notable Descendants
Through Betty Hemings, there have been several notable descendants. Some of her great-grandchildren became respectable members of the society. Through her daughter Sally Hemings, her descendant Frederick Madison Roberts became the first African-American politician in California. Her descendant, John Wayles Jefferson, was also accepted as White, and he served as a colonel during the Civil War. He was also a cotton broker. Through Sally Hemings, Betty had another notable descendant, Walter Beverly Pearson, who was an industrialist.
Through her daughter Mary Hemings, Betty had another notable descendant. Her descendant, William Monroe Trotter, was an activist for African-American rights. Besides that, he was also a businessman and newspaper editor.
Later Years and Death
In her later life, Betty Hemings lived in a cabin at Monticello. She used to plant produce and sell it to the Jefferson household. She sold cabbages, chickens, and strawberries. Her cabin was later investigated as an archaeological site; archeologists were trying to study how slaves lived. Betty Hemings died in 1807, having lived a life of service. Her body was buried at Monticello.
