Never Caught

by Erica Armstrong Dunbar

  * * *

  The Wedding

  Elizabeth “Betsey” Parke Custis.

  The enslaved who lived at the Executive Mansion measured their triumphs in the smallest of ways. Victories were days marked by the first lady’s good mood and defeat was palpable when the president was angered. For Ona Judge and the other slaves who served the Washingtons, the future was never predictable, and the smallest of matters, such as an accidental overcooking of a meal or antagonistic political news, could change the mood of their owners with the snap of a finger. By his peers, the president was not considered a violent slave owner, but all of the slaves who worked for him in Philadelphia and at Mount Vernon knew that on occasion, he did lose his temper. And in February 1796, a letter arrived that prompted everyone, slave and servant, black and white, to tread lightly around George and Martha Washington.

  The president and the first lady enjoyed the correspondence they received from Virginia, especially the letters written by close family and friends. The stories and reports that arrived via the mail were reminiscent of a simpler life at Mount Vernon, and sometimes they remedied Martha Washington’s homesickness. However, the post could also bring the most dreadful news, such as death announcements or descriptions of poor tobacco harvests. When the president opened a letter from his step-granddaughter, he wished for good news, but he was disappointed.

  Nineteen-year-old Elizabeth Parke Custis (called Betsey by her family and Eliza by her adult friends) lived in Virginia. She had news to share, urgent news, that needed swift attention from her grandparents. Without their knowledge, Eliza had taken a suitor and, much to the surprise of everyone, the relationship quickly turned serious. The unknown boyfriend was named Thomas Law, a British businessman who had immigrated to America in 1794, and in a short period of time he had become heavily involved in land development in and around the Federal City. There was a lot of money to be made around the future site of the nation’s capital, and Law was determined to get in on the ground floor of land speculation and construction.

  He had lived in India for quite some time, serving as a policy maker on behalf of the British government, and now, Thomas Law found himself in the most peculiar of positions in his new country. He had fallen in love with the president’s granddaughter, a woman who was twenty years his junior. Thomas Law and Eliza Custis promised themselves to one another, but they both knew that their union would need to be approved by the most powerful man in the new nation.

  Though she initially concealed the relationship from her grandparents, Eliza now turned to them for support, asking the president to give the news of her engagement careful consideration before rushing to judgment. She also asked the president to wait until he had heard from her intended before he made a decision. Eliza knew that her grandparents, especially her grandmother, would be uneasy with this news.

  Ona Judge witnessed deep concern envelop the first lady, an unsurprising response for a woman who had outlived all of her children. For Martha Washington, her grandchildren were the only remaining connections to her deceased heirs. Two of her babies (Daniel and Frances) from her marriage with Daniel Parke Custis had been snatched by death’s indiscriminate hand before they reached their fifth birthdays. Young Patsy’s seizure had extinguished her life at the age of seventeen, and her brother John would succumb to illness at the age of twenty-seven. Martha Washington was middle-aged with no living children, so she turned all of her attention and care toward her grandchildren Nelly, Washy, Eliza, and Martha (called Patsy by her friends).

  George and Martha Washington’s marriage never yielded children. Although Martha Washington was only twenty-seven years old when she married the president (she was eight months older than George), she never bore him a child. This must have been a disappointment to the couple, especially for the president, but they would eventually receive an opportunity to share the experience of child-rearing. After the death of Martha’s only surviving son, John (affectionately called Jacky), Martha and George Washington welcomed two of his small children into their home. The president and the first lady became the caregivers for Nelly and little Washy Parke Custis while older siblings Eliza and Patsy remained with their mother in Virginia. Martha Washington was committed to the lives of all four of her Parke Custis heirs.

  Now, one of her grandchildren had made a monumental, life-changing decision, pending Washington’s approval, and there was much to be concerned about. Thomas Law arrived in America with two of his three children, both of whom were the offspring from a relationship with an Indian woman. His biracial children and his age most certainly raised concerns for the Washingtons; however, it was his British citizenship that gave Martha and George Washington reason to pause. Would their dear Betsey be taken away to a foreign country with her new spouse, or would Law agree to remain in America?

  Tension filled the rooms of the Executive Mansion. Although this was family business, everyone who lived within the walls of the President’s House knew exactly what was happening, including Ona Judge, who was, in some measure, responsible for her mistress’s happiness. Judge would have worked with care and caution as she tended to the needs of Martha Washington.

  The first lady had been busy with preparations for the upcoming “birth night” ball in honor of the president’s sixty-fourth birthday and was completely unprepared to deal with her granddaughter’s explosive announcement. Judge was accustomed to watching tense situations unfold in the President’s House, so she did what she was trained to do: be attentive, say little, but hear everything.

  Three days later, George Washington received a letter from Thomas Law announcing his intentions of marrying Eliza and undoubtedly asking for approval and a blessing. The president and Mrs. Washington discussed the situation, and as the snow began to fall, the president sat down to write both his granddaughter and Thomas Law. In his letter to Eliza dated February 10, 1796, Washington acknowledged that he had obeyed his granddaughter’s request; he had not responded to her letter until he heard from her intended. He asked Eliza if she was certain that Law was the man of her choice. The president wrote,

  If Mr Law is the man of your choice, of wch there can be no doubt, as he has merits to engage your affections, and you have declared that he has not only done so, but that you find, after a careful examination of your heart, you cannot be happy without him—that your alliance with him meets my approbation. Yes, Betsey, and this approbation is accompanied with my fervent wishes that you may be as happy in this important event as your most sanguine imagination has ever presented to your view.

  Responding to Thomas Law’s letter with a cool hint of annoyance, Washington made it clear that the intended union between Law and his granddaughter was a complete surprise. But the president did nonetheless offer the approval of both grandparents, adding that he offered “best wishes that both of you may be supremely happy in the alliance.”

  He closed by emphasizing his family’s desire that Eliza stay stateside, saying, “We shall hope that your fortunes (if not before) will, by this event, be fixed in America; for it would be a heart rending circumstance, if you should seperate [sic] Eliza from her friends in this country.” The president’s not-too-subtle suggestion that Law remain in America with his granddaughter was followed by an invitation for a visit at the Executive Mansion.

  The years that Martha Washington spent as first lady taught her the art of public appearance. She refused to make her concerns public knowledge, and instead acted as though she could not have been more pleased about her granddaughter’s impending marriage. The first lady told all who would listen about the upcoming wedding, pretending to be a proud and excited grandmother. It was clear, however, that the Washingtons’ inner circle of friends and family viewed the upcoming nuptials as anything but normal. The tongues of political insiders began to wag, and even ally and vice president John Adams contributed to the presidential gossip when he wrote to his wife Abigail:

  I have a great deal of News to tell you.- Mrs Washington told me the last t
ime I dined at the Presidents that Betcy Custis is to be married next Month, to Mr Law the English East India Nabob. The good Lady is as gay as a Girl and tells the story in a very humerous stile. Mr. Law says he is only 35 Years of Age and altho the Climate of India has given him an older look Yet his Constitution is not impaired beyond his Years. He has asked Leave and a Blessing of the President & Mrs W.- He is to finish a House in the Federal City and live there. He has two Children born in India: but of whom is not explained.

  As politicians and acquaintances talked about the president’s granddaughter, Martha Washington went from concealing her concerns to making peace with the worrisome union. Always the protective grandmother, she diminished the irregularity of Eliza’s marriage through humor and cheerful conversation as she entertained friends and dignitaries at Washington’s birthday celebration. Yet behind her forced smiles and merriment, Martha Washington was devising a plan for her granddaughter’s future, plans that would upend Judge’s life.

  Eliza’s engagement distracted George Washington from his own concerns: the disappointment he was sure to provoke when he announced his future plans. He had been wrestling with the question of whether or not to run for a third term in office, and early in 1796, against the strong desires of many, the president decided to retire from public life and began to prepare a farewell address to the American people. With the decision settled, Martha knew that it would be but a short matter of time before she found herself back in Virginia, connected to her friends and family, perhaps helping Eliza navigate married life.

  Judge most certainly knew that her time in Philadelphia was therefore limited, too. By the time of the wedding of Eliza Custis—which took place on March 21, 1796, in Virginia at Hope Park, an estate built by Eliza’s stepfather, Dr. David Stuart—the news that Washington would retire from office was no longer a secret among family members. The slaves living at the Executive Mansion would have understood that their time in Philadelphia was drawing to a close. Judge thought long and hard about her seven-year residency in the North, and the thought of returning to Mount Vernon was not an easy sell. Indeed, Judge had no real desire to return to Virginia, nor did she possess strong feelings of attachment to Mount Vernon.

  Was this not the time for Ona Judge to seize the day, leave the Washingtons, and never look back? Could she find the bravery, the grit, and the power to leave everyone and everything that she knew? Several factors influenced her decision and tipped the balance sheet in one direction over the other.

  Judge’s biggest concern would have been the likelihood of never seeing her extended family at Mount Vernon again. Her living siblings remained at Mount Vernon with the expectation of being reunited one day with their sister. Philadelphia and Betty Davis continued in the tradition of their mother and spent their days sewing for the Washingtons, but the welfare of Betty Davis probably weighed on Judge’s mind. She knew that Philadelphia was at the Mansion House, but Betty Davis moved around a bit more. Davis spent time at both the Mansion House and Dogue Run (another farm on the Mount Vernon estate). She had tested the patience of her owners on a couple of occasions so that by 1795, Washington wrote about her with animosity. He simply disliked Davis.

  The president had grown tired of the excuses, the obstinacy, and the laziness that Davis openly displayed. Many slaveholders would never tolerate such behavior and used violent punishment or the threat of sale to cure disobedience. The president cautioned his farm manager William Pearce to keep a close eye on her, believing that she would use any excuse to avoid working. Washington wrote, “If pretended ailments, without apparent causes, or visible effects, will screen her from work, I shall get no service at all from her; for a more lazy, deceitful & impudent huzzy, is not to be found in the United States.” The likelihood of Betty Davis fetching a high price at auction was relatively high, as she was only twenty-five years old and still considered reproductively fit. Judge no doubt knew some if not all of this, and worried about her sister.

  On the other hand was the question of Ona Judge’s future once she returned to Virginia after the retirement of the president. Her duties were likely to change once she returned to Mount Vernon, and might include new tasks, ones that were more physically taxing and required for rural Southern living. Judge also understood that the small amounts of private time she enjoyed in the North would be hard to come by in Virginia. While in Philadelphia, the Washingtons’ social calendar was filled with dinners and social gatherings, events that allowed Judge moments of stolen privacy where she could sew, talk with house slaves and staff, take a trip to the theater, or simply rest. This life, as she knew it, would come to an end once she returned to Virginia.

  None of the slaves at the President’s House knew what the future held. For Ona Judge, however, the uncertainty vanished with a startling piece of news. The marriage of Eliza Law was to cut her post in Philadelphia short. Those who served the president in Philadelphia were likely to return from the traditional summer family trip to Mount Vernon, all of them except Ona. Her time in Philadelphia appeared as though it had come to a close.

  Martha Washington knew that her granddaughter was completely unprepared for her new marriage with Thomas Law. She understood that Eliza knew nothing about the duties that accompanied a new marriage, let alone about setting up a new household in the Federal City. In an effort to help Eliza ease into her new matrimony, Martha Washington stepped in, and offered Eliza the support she needed: she would bequeath Judge to Eliza Law as a wedding gift.

  If Judge ever believed that her close and intimate responsibilities for her owner yielded preferential treatment, she now understood better. The bondwoman now knew for certain that in the eyes of her owner, she was replaceable, just like any of the hundreds of slaves who toiled for the Washingtons. Judge may have overheard a conversation between Mrs. Washington and Eliza Law, or maybe Mrs. Washington simply mentioned the news in passing to her slave. No matter how the information was conveyed, Judge learned that she would eventually be given to the newlywed. Every slave understood that the death of a master signaled a change in ownership, so Judge knew that one day she would no longer serve the Washingtons. But it was Eliza Law’s wedding that made Judge realize that her departure from Mount Vernon might come sooner than she ever imagined, a prospect that gravely concerned her.

  The bondwoman knew that nothing would change the first lady’s mind. Even though Judge had claimed one of the most revered positions within the Executive Mansion, she would always be a slave, and her feelings did not matter to Martha Washington or to anyone else in power. Surprise gave way to anger, which quickly turned to fear.

  The pangs of anxiety she felt were based not only on having to leave Philadelphia but also on having to work for and with Eliza Custis Law, a young woman with a stormy reputation. All who were acquainted with the president’s granddaughter commented upon her stubbornness and complete disregard for protocol. Eliza was unlike many elite eighteenth-century women in that she was assertive and refused to shrink from male authority. Family members joked that in “her tastes and pastimes, she is more man than woman and regrets that she can’t wear pants.” Eliza did what she wanted to do, often appearing irritated and labile. On occasion, she refused to go to church and other obligatory social functions, and her quick engagement to Thomas Law was a reminder to everyone that Eliza would be the architect of her own life.

  George Washington often found Eliza’s antics amusing. But the enslaved men and women who served Eliza would have found her temperament difficult at best. There is no question that Ona Judge would have had plentiful interaction with her as she assisted Eliza during her visits to the Executive Mansion, most certainly experiencing the wrath of the mercurial granddaughter.

  Although human bondage was horrific under any owner, there was always room for slaves to make comparisons. George and Martha Washington were not known for flying into unprovoked rages and were relatively stable and predictable owners. For Judge, a shift to the irritable and volcanic Eliza Custis Law could doom
her to a life of poor treatment.

  Ona Judge would have also worried about the newest member of the Washington family, a man with a shadowy reputation. Thomas Law grew his fortune in India before arriving in the District of Columbia. The land speculator purchased close to five hundred lots around the new city, expecting to line his pockets with cash once the nation’s capital moved South. While his quick engagement to the president’s granddaughter painted him as an opportunist, Judge would have worried more about his principles and behavior, especially given his sketchy familial past. The new member of the family had arrived in America with two of his three sons, both illegitimate and both the children of an Indian woman. While there were many biracial children at Mount Vernon (Judge herself was one of them), Law’s children spoke to every slave woman’s fear: Thomas Law slept with nonwhite women, and wasn’t concerned about the gossip.

  Judge must have worried that she might be the next target of Thomas Law’s sexual interest. She was young, attractive, and would now be a slave working within his household. It would be nearly impossible to avoid his advances, a reality of female enslavement that stoked the fears of young girls and women alike. Rape and forced breeding torturously enlarged the institution of slavery, reminding every enslaved woman that she was never safe from sexual attack. The mothers, aunts, and sisters of young girls warned their female kinfolk about the sexual dangers that came with enslavement. Knowledge of what might happen to their growing prepubescent bodies prepared them for a vulnerable future. Author and fugitive slave Harriet Jacobs knew this vulnerability too well, and described her encounters with her new owner:

  No matter whether the slave girl be as black as ebony or as fair as her mistress. In either case, there is no shadow of law to protect her from insult, from violence, or even from death; all of these are inflicted by fiends who bear the shape of men.