Disguised Room Found In Thomas Jefferson's Mansion

Thomas Jefferson: Is one of the most important historical figures in American history not only did he write the Declaration of Independence but he was also the third president of the United States. He was known for his moral ideas and forward-thinking intelligence there are plenty of monuments to honor Jefferson all over the US and one of the most popular is his home in Virginia. Recently archaeologists made an amazing find in Jefferson's home they found a secret room in the house it's a hidden room in the mansion that solves a long-standing mystery.

A Founding Father: Thomas Jefferson is one of America's founding fathers his legacy was drafting the Declaration of Independence and during his time as president Jefferson made the historic Louisiana Purchase which almost doubled the size of America at that time if it weren't for Jefferson America as we know it probably wouldn't exist if it weren't for him America could have returned to the role of a monarchy Thomas Jefferson was the governor of the state of Virginia and he purchased a plantation in Charlottesville they're known as Monticello plantation Jefferson inherited 5,000 acres of land from his father and Jefferson built Monticello which is Italian for little mountain in 1776 it's the home where Jefferson lived until 1801 when he moved to the White House he might recognize Jefferson's home because there's a picture of it on the back of a nickel.

Slaves: Back then it was customary for a plantation owner to have slaves to care for the home and tend to the fields Jefferson had hundreds of slaves who lived on his property it's an uncomfortable part of history for sure but there's no denying it did happen in fact there were rumors that Jefferson took a liking to one of his slaves which is why the discovery of this secret room is so incredible.

Numerous Restorations: over the years Monticello plantation had undergone plenty of renovations despite this that secret room remained secret in 1941 when the house was turned into a museum a modern bathroom that was built blocked entry into this secret room suddenly remained out of sight until very recently during the 60s the number of visitors to the museum increased and they had to rent the bathroom even further during this renovation the construction crew never uncovered that secret room when historians came across an old document about the plantation they started to wonder if the house held a secret and what the secret might be.

A Secret Room: A Secret Room: When students of history were exploring Monticello estates unique design they found a letter from Jefferson's biographer he portrayed a gathering he had with Thomas Jefferson Randolph Jefferson's grandson in the letter Randolph makes reference to a room that was obscure to antiquarians and present day guests of the house the room is said to have been situated in the south wing of the plantation archaeologists were a bit skeptical at first Randolph was known to be an unreliable source but why would he lie about a secret room the addition of that bathroom gave the archaeologists the inspiration to dig a bit deeper to see if the rumors were actually true if that secret room did exist the experts were sure that it would be the discovery of a lifetime.

2017: A restoration at Monticello was set to take place in 2017 the archaeologists plan to conduct excavations at the plantation and now that they knew that there was a secret room that could exist the experts had to find out if it was true the team used the original layout of Monticello plantation and they found where they believed the hidden room might be it turned out that it wasn't always as hidden as they thought it was located right behind the bathroom that had been renovated many times over the years.

Behind The Tile: Despite the many efforts to modernize that bathroom the experts made a decision to knock the bathroom down and expose the secret room it was then that the team found the secret that had been hidden for over 200 years they hoped the tiny room would hold answers to some of their biggest questions the room was only 15 feet by 13 feet there were no windows and there was a large brick oven in the center the location of the room is what had experts the most curious Monticello was very large and for some reason he put the secret room down the hall from Thomas Jefferson's bedroom was it because the scandal could be true.

The Scandal: A scandal dates back centuries into American history James T calendar was a journalist and pamphleteer from Scotland he had a vendetta against Thomas Jefferson while writing for a Richmond newspaper he wanted to stir up a scandal by attacking the president's character according to calendar when Jefferson's wife died he started another relationship with another woman and there was nothing scandalous about a widow starting over in life but what was so scandalous about the accusations was that the woman he had an affair with was supposedly one of his slaves the woman was said to have come to the plantation as a child and grew up there.

Children: As if the rumors of an affair with a slave weren't enough it was also said that Jefferson fathered illegitimate children with this woman to keep it a secret Jefferson's name was not included in the birth records despite these efforts in trying to keep things quiet people spoke about children who resembled Jefferson the discovery of that secret room made calendar story even more plausible the room is easy access from Jefferson's bedroom and it would be the perfect place for Jefferson and slave to meet in secret it could even have been the place that his illegitimate children were conceived.

John Adams: It's believed Jefferson's predecessor in the White House John Adams may have known about the affair and the secret room. In 1794 it had been eight years sans calendar published his allegations and Adams wrote a letter to his sons the letter mentioned that Jefferson had a relationship with a slave historians never weighed in on this because he didn't come right out and say it in the letter he used a reference to a Roman mythology to discuss the issue some believe that Adams knew Jefferson's secret and he wanted to share it with his sons.

Sally Hemings: The slave girl in question was named Sally Hemings she was the half-sister of Jefferson's wife Martha but that didn't grant her any special treatment it's believed the affair began when Sally was a teenager and she may have been the reason that secret room was built in the first place sally was half white and half african-american she was born into slavery and brought to Monticello as a young girl there she was forced in a household labor.

A Beautiful Woman: It's been said that Sally was a beautiful woman Isaac grains Jefferson a blacksmith's slave owned by Jefferson called her mighty near white and very handsome she had long hair down to her waist and worked as a seamstress and chambermaid these were less difficult jobs than other slaves had and she was able to stay indoors she continued to work for the family until Jefferson died in 1826 in the secret room historians found proof that Sally joined Thomas on a trip to France when she was 14 years old. Sally was joining Jefferson's daughter Maria to Paris it's believed the affair may have started then Sally going to France with Jefferson was very controversial because slavery was illegal in France. Under French law she could have stayed there to get out of slavery instead she chose to go back to the United States with Jefferson she might have refused to stay in France because the idea of starting over without her family would be too scary it's also possible that she was in love with Jefferson.

Building The Secret Room: Historians believe that the secret room was constructed when they returned home from France. Sally may have even become pregnant while they were in France. Sally had five children that were said to be Jefferson's it's also believed she gave birth in that secret room in the end Jefferson freed Sally and her family even after Sally was released though she remained working on the plantation if she didn't have anything going on with Jefferson why would she have stayed there even if she was freed.

DNA Evidence: Well the only way for historians to determine whether or not an affair really did take place would be to track down Sally's descendants and track their genetic lineage DNA evidence proved that Thomas Jefferson fathered Sally's children one died during childbirth one died very young. The link between Sally and Jefferson was carried on in Harriet Beverly Madison and Eston Hemings Eston was granted freedom as Thomas Jefferson died he had very fair skin and was three-quarters white that meant that one parent had to be white the other parent half white proof that the historians were looking for the secret room gave the historians everything they needed to discover the truth about Thomas Jefferson and his secret.

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