In 1830, after Thomas Jefferson's death, Martha Randolph "informally freed" Sally Hemings. Jefferson's will, freed two of her sons and asked the state of Virginia for permission for them to live in the state. Sally Hemings, and her sons, Eston and Madison were listed as "white" in the 1830 census, living in a rented house in downtown Charlottesville, Virginia. In 1833 Sally Hemings appeared in the census of "free Negroes & Mulattoes" for Albemarle County, Va. She died in 1835.
Designations were varied and depended on who was the census taker and other factors.