Though hundreds of people were enslaved at Monticello, many of the details of their lives are lost to history. Enslaved African Americans were denied access to education and literacy, and their lives went largely unrecorded by white historians for centuries. Decades of archaeological, documentary, and oral research helped to uncover some of the histories of those held captive at Monticello.
Videos about individuals enslaved at Monticello
Mary Hemings Bell, an older sister of Sally Hemings, had a long-term relationship with her owner and came to be seen in Charlottesville as his common-law wife.
Harriet Hemings, the daughter of Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson, is allowed to leave Monticello.
While Jefferson often gets the credit, it was enslaved chefs like James Hemings and his successors, who created Monticello's famed "half Virginian, half French" cuisine.
Ursula Granger, a Valuable Cook
The Life of Nance Hemings - an Enslaved Monticello Weaver
A Blacksmith Slips Away - Joseph Fossett
A Enslaved Mother Leaves Monticello
Wormley Hughes - Master of Many Trades
The Life of Sally Hemings
Articles on individuals enslaved at Monticello
(mostly from our Thomas Jefferson Encyclopedia)
Domestic Workers
- Critta Hemings Bowles
- Burwell Colbert
- Elizabeth Hemings
- Martin Hemings
- Mary Hemings Bell
- Robert Hemings
- Sally Hemings
- Betsey Hemmings
Skilled Trade Workers
- Edith Fossett
- Joseph Fossett
- Peter Fossett
- Isaac Jefferson Granger
- Harriet Hemings
- James Hemings
- John Hemmings
- Peter Hemings
- Madison Hemings
- Eston Hemings
- Mary Hern
- James Hubbard
- Robert Hughes
- Wormley Hughes
Field Workers