Again, Gordon-Reed writes of a letter from Jefferson's granddaughter Ellen Wayles Randolph Coolidge to her husband James Coolidge (October 24, 1858). Writes Ellen, “No female domestic ever entered his chambers except at hours when he was known not to be there and none could have entered without being exposed to public gaze.” Gordon-Reed in the manner of Brodie states, “What she wanted to assert, but could not do so explicitly, was, The woman everyone is talking about, Sally Hemings, was my grandfather's chambermaid, but she never went into his room
