April 1820 Summary

Harriet records more family history, writing about her grandmother, Elizabeth, who was John Wayles's mistress when she belonged to him. After John Wayles's death, Thomas Jefferson inherited more than a hundred of his slaves, since his wife was John Wayles's daughter. Since John Wayles was both Jefferson's wife's father and Sally Hemings's father, Sally Hemings is Martha Jefferson's half-sister. One of five brothers and sisters, Sally came to Monticello as a toddler with a brother and a sister. Two of her older brothers, Robert and James, were granted freedom by Jefferson, although James later killed himself. Sally's older sister, Thenia, went to James Monroe, a neighbor. Harriet writes all this down so that she can keep track of it for herself.

Beverly, Harriet's older brother who has already passed the age of twenty-one, has refused to take his freedom because he wants Jefferson...