New DNA results have been announced in the Jefferson-Hemings controversy. The paper has not been published yet, but reportedly they did autosomal DNA testing of some locks of hair said by family tradition to have been taken from TJ on his deathbed.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/18/arts ... -hair.html
There seems to be a cottage industry now of DNA studies on historical figures. As a general rule, caution is advised (especially as reported in the media). But at a glance these results do not seem as dodgy as some of the others.
Hitler
viewtopic.php?t=599
Columbus
https://www.codohforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=54
For background see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson ... ontroversy
Rumors about this go back to Jefferson's day. Historians had by and large discounted these claims as being politically motivated slanders coming from interested parties. The controversy resurfaced in 1974 when historian Fawn Brodie argued in favor a TJ and Sally relationship in her Jefferson biography. Brodie had no DNA evidence obviously but based her conclusions primary on circumstantial evidence, correlating the births of Sally's children with TJ's presence at Monticello, and argued against the suitability of alternative candidates (at the time usually Peter Carr or someone from the Carr family). Brodie's position however did not gain broad acceptance at the time.
In the late 90s, the issue reemerged with the work of Annette Gordon-Reed. In 1998, a DNA study was done on surviving male descendants of the Hemings and the Jeffersons. The Y-DNA match suggested a common paternity. Those arguing against Thomas's paternity generally began arguing at this point that TJ's brother Randolph (or some other Jefferson other than Thomas) had been the father. This seems to have killed the Carr theories.
The newer results are autosomal which is not as limited as the Y-DNA and can distinguish between brothers.
We should of course await the full paper, and see if anyone who knows what they're talking about has any substantive challenges. Naturally there will be questions about the provenance of the hair, but it seems to me like the results fit with TJ and would be hard to mimic.
The Thomas Jefferson Foundation (and Monticello) acknowledged a likely relationship around 2000 and they have endorsed this position more and more strongly since. There's apparently now a "Life of Sally Hemings" exhibit at Monticello.
In 2000, some holdouts formed the Thomas Jefferson Heritage Society, largely in protest of the TJF's endorsement of the 1998 DNA study. They argued that the Y-DNA results did not conclusively establish TJ's paternity.