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Here’s what is known: Thomas Jefferson owned a slave named Sally Hemings.

How much more likely then, that Jefferson fathered one of her children. If she lived on his property, it would have been very peculiar for other members of Jefferson's family to pay a visit to his slave. Can you just see them sneaking around back, on an ostensible visit to Jefferson - it just isn't plausible. And how would such a relationship with one of his relatives have been initiated? It just makes more sense that a relationship would have developed between Jefferson and his slave - though, with him being in a position of authority, how much of a relationship would that have been?

You have obviously not read very much about the Jefferson household or the Hemmings Controversy. There were always lots of people around, including other Jefferson male family members, coming and going more or less as they pleased, staying for week to month long visits. As Malone documents, at least one of them (I just can't remember whether it was Brother Randolph or one of the nephews) had a nortorious reputation as sleeping with many of the slave women, and this individual was also known to be around Monticello at the approximate times most of Hemmings' children were likely conceived. This has all been known for 50 years and more, some of it for more than 100 years, if anyone cared to look in the scholarly biographies. Any white male, especially the relative of a slave owner, and even more especially the relative of a slave owner when the master was away, could easily exercise authority over a female slave, and could probably have his way with her. The Jefferson male with the reputation as a rake-hell was known to be charming and would carouse with the slave women, plying them with liquor.

All this is much more plausible than the idea that a 60+ year old man (when that was quite old) was busy shagging the help.

Here’s what is known: Thomas Jefferson owned a slave named Sally Hemings.

How much more likely then, that Jefferson fathered one of her children. If she lived on his property, it would have been very peculiar for other members of Jefferson's family to pay a visit to his slave. Can you just see them sneaking around back, on an ostensible visit to Jefferson - it just isn't plausible. And how would such a relationship with one of his relatives have been initiated? It just makes more sense that a relationship would have developed between Jefferson and his slave - though, with him being in a position of authority, how much of a relationship would that have been?

If you have any evidence for the "wouldas/couldas" you just posited, I'm all ears. But until then, I think we should respect the crucial distinction between historical possibility and historical fact.