Jefferson-Hemings Controversy - DNA Study

DNA Study

In 1998 Dr. Eugene Foster with researchers at the University of Leicester tested the Y-DNA of male descendants of the Jefferson, Carr and Eston Hemings lines in an attempt to determine whether Thomas Jefferson or one of the Carrs had fathered Sally Hemings' children. Questions raised by the analysis of Annette Gordon-Reed prompted re-evaluation of the issue. There are no living male-line descendants of Madison Hemings, and Beverley Hemings' descendants have been lost to history. Descendants of Madison Hemings declined to have the remains of his son William Hemings disturbed to extract DNA for testing (he was buried in 1910 in a VA cemetery), just as Wayles-Jefferson descendants declined to have Thomas Jefferson's remains disturbed.

Researchers tested Y-chromosomal DNA from living male claimed descendants of Jefferson and Hemings. The study concluded that the descendant of Eston Hemings had a Y-chromosome that matched the Y-chromosome of the Jefferson male line. Given historic evidence supporting Thomas Jefferson's paternity, according to the report of the study in Nature, the team concluded he was the likely father of Eston, and probably the other Hemings children. Eight weeks later, in Science, Foster is reported to have "made it clear that the data establish only that Thomas Jefferson was one of several candidates for the paternity of Eston Hemings."

The president's grandson and granddaughter had identified one of his Carr nephews as the biological father of Hemings' children. Three Carr male descendants of Peter and Samuel Carr, the nephews in question, were tested. The results showed a consensus Carr haplotype for the male line. It was conclusively different from that of the Hemings descendant and the Jefferson male line. Foster said, "The simplest and most probable explanations for our molecular findings are that Thomas Jefferson, rather than one of the Carr brothers, was the father of Eston Hemings Jefferson. . ."

Descendants of Thomas Woodson were also tested, as they have had a long family tradition of descent from Hemings and Jefferson. In his 19th-century reports, Callender had referred to a "Tom" as one of Jefferson's children with Sally. The Thomas Jefferson Foundation had earlier written that historic evidence regarding Thomas Woodson did not support his descent from Hemings and Jefferson, but the family has persisted in their belief. The DNA study showed conclusively that there was no match between the Woodson descendants and the Jefferson male line. Four of the five Woodson descendants had a common haplogroup suggesting a common ancestor of Thomas Woodson; it is typical of European origin. The fifth descendant showed a different haplogroup, indicating adoption or illegitimacy in that paternal line (a break in descent between Thomas Woodson and this descendant.) His DNA was also indicative of paternal European origin.

Because the Jefferson male line was found to be the K2 haplogroup (since 2008 referred to as haplogroup T (Y-DNA)), relatively rare in Europe, researchers in 2007 did additional studies to determine if it was represented among other Jefferson-surname males in England. As it was found among other Jefferson males unrelated to Jefferson's family, they concluded that the haplotype had likely become "indigenous" to England after some random, ancient migration. Researchers suggested that the rare haplogroup was most likely carried to Europe and England by ancient migrants. Less likely is the possibility that it was carried by a Sephardic Jew migrating to England in the 15th and 16th centuries from the Iberian peninsula or other parts of Europe.