John Wayles

John Wayles (January 31, 1715 – May 28, 1773) was a colonial American planter, slave trader and lawyer in colonial Virginia. He is historically best known as the father-in-law of Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States. Wayles married three times, with these marriages producing eleven children; only five of them lived to adulthood. Through his slave Betty Hemings, Wayles fathered six additional children, including Sally Hemings, who was the mother of six children by Thomas Jefferson and half-sister of Martha Jefferson.

Early life and education Wayles was born in the city of Lancaster on January 31, 1715. the couple's only child to survive to adulthood. of Malvern Hill, also of the planter class. They had several children: Sarah, did not survive to adulthood. or nephew of John Wayles first wife, Martha Epps Wayles. Elizabeth and Francis Epps had two sons, Richard and John Wayles Eppes, the latter of whom married Thomas Jefferson's second daughter, Mary Jefferson. and Anne, born August 26, 1756, After the death of his third wife, Wayles began a relationship with 26 year-old Betty Hemings. Betty already had four children: Mary, Martin, Betty Brown, and Nance.

Wayles fathered six children with Betty Hemings. Children that were the offspring of enslaved women and the slave owner were sometimes called "a shadow family": Robert (1762-1819) James (1765-1801) Thenia (1767-1796) Critta (1769-1850) Peter (1770-after 1834) Sally (1773-1835)

As their mother was enslaved, the children were all born into slavery under the principle of partus sequitur ventrum, which had been part of the law since 1662. They were three-quarters European in ancestry and half-siblings to Wayles's daughters by his wives.

Wayles was not known to acknowledge his children by Betty, nor did he free her or them in his will. To do so would have communicated his relationship with Betty and would have required a change in Virginia manumission laws at that time. He did, though, allow certain freedoms for his children. For instance his two oldest children were taught to read and write, allowed to earn their own money, and allowed to travel by themselves. The youngest boy, Peter, was three years old when Wayles died. Upon Wayles's death, Betty Hemings and her six children with John Wayles were moved "without hesitancy" to Monticello to prevent the Hemingses from being separated.

The estate was worth £30,000, but Wayles was in debt to Farrell and Jones for £11,000. Wayles's three sons-in-law, including Thomas Jefferson, decided to break up the estate and its debts. Martha and her husband Thomas Jefferson inherited the Willis Creek and Elk Hill plantations and a total of 135 slaves, including members of the Hemings family. Jefferson and other co-executors of the Wayles estate worked for years to clear the debt.