Martin Hemings
Jefferson was away from Monticello a lot.  After his wife died, he wanted to be somewhere else.  He even went to Paris for years when he was the United States Ambassador to France.  During these times, enslaved people in the Hemings family were allowed to come and go as they wanted.  The Hemings men lived almost like free black men: They could find jobs where they wanted and keep all the money they earned.