George Washington received a letter from Thomas Law: The letter from Thomas Law to George Washington has not been found.
the president sat down to write both his granddaughter and Thomas Law: Crackel, The Papers of George Washington Digital Edition, Diaries (11 March 1748–13 December 1799) “[Diary entry: 10 February 1796].”
“after a careful examination of your heart”: George Washington to Eliza Parke Custis, 10 February 1796, The Papers of George Washington, accessed June 13, 2015, http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/documents/george-washington-to-elizabeth-betsey-parke-custis-2/.
the president did nonetheless offer the approval: George Washington to Thomas Law, 10 February 1796, The Papers of George Washington, accessed June 13, 2015, http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/documents/george-washington-to-thomas-law/.
“be fixed in America”: Ibid.
“Betcy Custis is to be married next Month”: John Adams to Abigail Adams, 23 February 1796 [electronic edition]. Adams Family Papers: An Electronic Archive, Massachusetts Historical Society. http://www.masshist.org/digitaladams/archive/doc?id=L17960223ja&bc=%2Fdigitaladams%2Farchive%2Fbrowse%2Fletters_1789_1796.php.
a farewell address to the American people: Ellis, American Creation, 200. Washington thought about retiring after his first term but held on until the new nation was relatively stable. James Madison wrote a 1792 version of a farewell address, but the president turned to Alexander Hamilton to assist him in the writing of a new farewell address that was printed in September of 1796. Also see Chernow’s Washington: A Life, 752–54.
spent their days sewing for the Washingtons: See overseer John Neale’s “Weekly Report of Mount Vernon” written to George Washington July 30, 1796, in Crackel, The Papers of George Washington Digital Edition, Retirement Series (4 March 1797–13 December 1799), vol. 1 (4 March 1797–30 December 1797). Also see Washington’s farm reports April 23–29, 1797. Betty Davis and Philadelphia (Delphy) both spent close to six days making clothing.
“for a more lazy, deceitful & impudent huzzy”: George Washington to William Pearce, 8 March 1795, The Writings of George Washington, 34:135.
“she is more man than woman”: See Barratt and Miles, Gilbert Stuart and Chernow’s Washington: A Life, 748.
she refused to go to church: Ibid.
his quick engagement to the president’s granddaughter: Ibid.
“no shadow of law to protect her from insult”: Jacobs, Incidents in the Life, 34.
Chapter Eight
“fugitive slave problem”: Ibid. During the eighteenth century, slaves throughout the Mid-Atlantic and the Upper and Lower South always looked north for freedom. It is nearly impossible to chart exactly how many men and women were enslaved or fugitives in the Mid-Atlantic, but 1790 census takers (however flawed their numbers might be) listed a total of 16,422 slaves in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and in southern counties of New Jersey. Although slaves never formed more than 4 to 5 percent of Pennsylvania residents throughout the colonial period, their numbers in the port city of Philadelphia were significant. Black presence reached as high as 28 percent of the population in the early eighteenth century and dipped to about 7 percent by the beginning of the Revolution.
Many lost their lives to hypothermia: See Blacks Who Stole Themselves, 11. Smith and Wojtowicz note that only 11 percent of the 959 runaways advertised in Pennsylvania Gazette between 1728 and 1790 attempted to escape in December, January, or February.
drove vegetables and fruits into hibernation: Ibid.
the forests and wilderness protected: According to Ira Berlin, between one-half to three-quarters of young enslaved men in the Philadelphia environs fled their masters sometime during the 1780s. The revolutionary era as well as the gradual abolition laws of the North served as ample enticement for slaves to take leave of their masters. See Berlin’s Many Thousands Gone, 233.
South Carolina and parts of the Upper South: White, Ar’n’t I A Woman?, 70. According to White, 77 percent of the runaways advertised in the colonial newspapers of South Carolina were male. Of the 1,500 newspaper advertisements in Williamsburg, Fredericksburg, and Richmond, Virginia, from 1736 to 1801, only 142 were women.
“Abroad marriages”: Camp, Closer to Freedom, 25–29. Abroad marriages occurred when enslaved men and women lived on separate farms. According to Camp, it was often the male slave who visited his wife.
twenty-six advertisements appeared in the Gazette: Smith and Wojtowicz, Blacks Who Stole Themselves, 12. Ads ran frequently between 1728 and 1790.
A four-dollar reward: Pennsylvania Gazette, September 1, 1790, which also appears in Blacks Who Stole Themselves, on page 158.
An eight-dollar reward: Ibid.
“I will ship him off”: George Washington to Anthony Whiting, 3 March 1793, The Writings of George Washington, vol. 32, March 10, 1792–June 30, 1793, 366.
In 1791, the enslaved Waggoner Jack was sold: Thompson, “Control and Resistance.”
Charlotte’s constant insubordination: “Anthony Whitting to George Washington, 16 January 1793,” Founders Online, National Archives (http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-12-02-0005, ver. 2014–05–09). Charlotte was married to Austin, Ona Judge’s brother.
“correction (as the only alternative) must be administered”: “George Washington to Anthony Whitting, 20 January 1793,” Founders Online, National Archives (http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-12-02-0013 ver. 2014–05–09).
“shall rescue such fugitive”: Proceedings and Debates of the House of Representatives of the United States at the Second Session of the Second Congress (November 5, 1792 to March 2, 1793).
aid or assistance to a fugitive: For more on the background of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1793, see Paul Finkelman’s Slavery and the Founders: Race and Liberty in the Age of Jefferson (Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 1996), chapter 4.
the Fugitive Slave Law protected their property rights: See Paul Finkelman’s “Chief Justice Hornblower of New Jersey and the Fugitive Slave Law of 1793” in Slavery and the Law (New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2002), 120–27.
soon climbed up the economic ladder: Newman, Freedom’s Prophet, 56–57.
services in March of 1796: Ibid., 127.
during the spring of 1796: See “Washington’s Household Account Book, 1793–1797,” in Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 31 (1907), 182. On May 10, 1796, Judge received money from Washington to purchase a new pair of shoes. Not only would the purchase of shoes be a necessity for a fugitive in the making, but it would also have offered Judge the opportunity to visit Richard Allen’s home because, in addition to his chimney sweep business, Allen’s home also served as a shoe shop.
a shoe shop in his home on Spruce Street: Newman, Freedom’s Prophet, 142.
$1.25 to purchase new shoes: “Washington’s Household Account Book, 1793–1797,” Pennsylvania Magazine of History Biography 31 (1907), 182.
“she should never have a chance to escape”: Rev. Benjamin Chase, letter to the editor, Liberator, January 1, 1847.
she knew that she had to flee: T. H. Archibald, Granite Freeman, May 22, 1845.
“never to be her slave”: Ibid.
“I never should get my liberty”: Two published interviews with Ona Judge Staines appeared in abolitionist newspapers during the 1840s, offering her opinion about the events of the eighteenth century. This citation appears in an interview penned by Reverend T. H. Adams entitled “Washington’s Runaway Slave,” in the Granite Freeman, May 22, 1845.
On Saturday, May 21, 1796: A ten-dollar reward for the capture of Judge was advertised in Claypoole’s American Daily Advertiser. The ad was published on Monday, May 24, 1796, and stated that Judge escaped on Saturday.
another ad in Claypoole’s American Daily Advertiser: Most of the existing secondary literature about Ona Judge’s escape mistakenly cite the Pennsylvania Gazette as the publisher of her runaway ad. No such ad exists in Ben Franklin’s newspaper; however, ads appear in both Claypoole’s American Daily Adver
tiser and the Philadelphia Gazette (also known as the Federal Gazette). Kitt’s ad appeared in the Philadelphia Gazette first, followed by an ad that appeared in Claypoole’s. The Washingtons stopped their advertising for her return in only a few days, with the last ad appearing in Claypoole’s on May 27, 1796.
“Absconded from the household of the President”: Claypoole’s American Daily Advertiser, May 24, 1796.
“many changes of very good clothes”: Ibid.
“she may attempt to escape by water”: Philadelphia Gazette & Universal Daily Advertiser, May 23, 1796.
“Ten dollars will be paid to any person”: Claypoole’s American Daily Advertiser, May 24, 1796.
notified law-enforcement authorities in New York: Thomas Lee Jr. to George Washington, 28 June 1796, George Washington Papers, Library of Congress, 1741–1799, ser. 4, General Correspondence, 1697–1799, http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mgw4&fileName=gwpage109.db&recNum=578.
“I never told his name”: Granite Freeman, May 22, 1845. Also see Portsmouth Journal, July 15, 1837. Bowles died on the evening of Saturday, July 8.
boots, bridles, and saddles: Bowles and his partner Leigh repeatedly advertised in the New-Hampshire Gazette. See June 4, 11, and 25, 1796, for a description of the goods they listed for sale.
his own ship, the Nancy: Ibid.
Bowles’s arrival in the city on May 10: Philadelphia Gazette & Universal Daily Advertiser, May 10, 1796. Two New York newspapers announce the Nancy’s arrival in Philadelphia. See Argus, or Greenleaf’s New Daily Advertiser, May 12, 1796, and Minerva, May 12, 1796.
a sloop that carried molasses, coffee, potatoes: John Bowles advertised in Philadelphia Gazette & Universal Daily Advertiser from May 11 through May 17.
Chapter Nine
black men and women living in New Hampshire: See Valerie Cunningham’s “The First Blacks of Portsmouth.” There were 630 free blacks and 158 slaves living in New Hampshire.
along the sea and the rivers: William D. Pierson, Black Yankees: The Development of an Afro-American Subculture in Eighteenth-Century New England (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1988), 14.
It wouldn’t take long: The number of slaves at Mount Vernon continued to grow. By 1799 there were 318 slaves who lived and labored for the Washingtons.
“lodged at a Free-Negroes”: Joseph Whipple to George Washington, 22 December 1796, George Washington Papers, Library of Congress, 1741–1799, ser. 4, General Correspondence, 1697–1799. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mgw4&fileName=gwpage110.db&recNum=395.
age-old method used in Africa: Adams and Pleck, Love of Freedom, 41.
Judge and other domestics: Ibid.
dangerous and terribly hot task: See Tera Hunter’s To ’Joy My Freedom, 56–65.
did not live beyond the age of forty: Pleck and Adams, Love of Freedom, 42. Also see Susan Klepp’s “Seasoning and Society.”
Smith sold one human: Cunningham and Sammons, Black Portsmouth, 16–17.
captive who arrived in New England: Ibid.
The extreme cold: Piersen, Black Yankees, 5.
“slaves cease to be known and held as property”: Cunningham and Sammons, Black Portsmouth, 77, and Melish, Disowning Slavery, 66.
human bondage disappeared by 1805: Cunningham and Sammons, Black Portsmouth, 77.
It wouldn’t be until 1857: Ibid.
Chapter Ten
senator and a governor of New Hampshire: For an extensive biography of the New Hampshire senator and governor, see Lawrence Shaw Mayo’s John Langdon of New Hampshire (Concord, NH: The Rumford Press, 1937).
“contains about 5,000 inhabitants”: The Diary of George Washington, from the first day of October 1789 to the tenth day of March, 1790.
before one of the Washingtons’ friends: Caroline Kirkland, Memoirs of Washington, 469. Kirkland’s biographical account of Washington’s life includes a version of the encounter between Eliza Langdon and Judge. Known for her contributions to American literature, Kirkland produced the biography written for juvenile readers with a slant toward young women. Her description of Judge and Langdon’s meeting in Portsmouth took dramatic license with the facts and was not in alignment with George Washington’s description of the meeting between Langdon and Judge.
the buying and selling of slaves: Cunningham and Sammons, Black Portsmouth, 41.
Chapter Eleven
six letters that would change hands: There are five letters dated between September 1, 1796, and December 22, 1796, that revolve around the attempted capture of Ona Judge. A sixth letter between Secretary of the Treasury Oliver Wolcott and the customs collector in Portsmouth, Joseph Whipple, is missing.
more like a family member than a slave: George Washington to Oliver Wolcott, 1 September 1796, Connecticut Historical Society (Box 4, Folder 4).
a freckle-faced ten-year-old: Ibid.
Someone else must have lured her away: Washington to Whipple, 28 November 1796. Washington states that a Captain Prescot reported seeing Ona Judge and that she had tried to obtain employment in his household. According to the president, Ona Judge was homesick and wanted to return to her family and friends.
French boyfriend abandoned Ona Judge: Ibid.
anyone who captured a fugitive: Proceedings and Debates of the House of Representatives of the United States at the Second Session of the Second Congress (November 5, 1792 to March 2, 1793).
a formal identification of the runaway: George Washington to Oliver Wolcott, 1 September 1796.
“put her on board a Vessel”: Ibid.
his annoyance with Ona Judge was evident: Ibid.
“treated more like a child than a Servant”: Ibid.
“with great pleasure execute the Presidents [sic] wishes”: “Joseph Whipple to Oliver Wolcott, Jr., September 10, 1796,” in Martha Washington, Item #20, accessed 15 July 2013, http://www.marthawashington.us/items/show/20.
he was an entrepreneur: Joseph Foster’s The Soldiers’ Memorial. Portsmouth, N.H., 1893–1921: Storer Post, No. 1, Department of New Hampshire, Grand Army of the Republic, Portsmouth, N.H., with record of presentation of flags and portraits by the post to the city, 1890 and 1891 (Portsmouth, 1921), 20–26.
appointed Whipple as Portsmouth’s customs collector: “John Langdon to George Washington, 17 July 1789,” Founders Online, National Archives (http://founders.archives.gov/?q=john%20langdon%20to%20george%20washington%20july%2017%201789&s=1111311111&sa=&r=4&sr=ver.2013-06-26). Whipple had held this position as the new nation was being formed.
his wife, Hannah Billings of Boston: See Blaine Whipple’s History and Genealogy of “Elder” John Whipple of Ipswich, Massachusetts: his English ancestors and American descendants (Victoria, BC: Trafford; Portland, OR: Whipple Development Corporation, 2003).
under no circumstances would she return: “Joseph Whipple to Oliver Wolcott, Jr., 4 October 1796,” in Martha Washington, Item #21, http://marthawashington.us/items/show/21 (accessed May 6, 2014).
“the Vessel sailed without her”: Ibid.
“a thirst for compleat freedom”: Ibid.
“her willingness to return & to serve with fidelity”: Ibid.
“in favor of universal freedom”: Ibid.
best for the president to hire a lawyer: Ibid.
“it is with regret that I give up”: Ibid.
“enter into such a compromise”: George Washington to Joseph Whipple, 28 November 1796, The Writings of George Washington, 35:296–97.
“to reward unfaithfulness”: Ibid.
The president’s attitudes regarding African slavery: George Washington to the Marquis de Lafayette, 5 April 1783, The Writings of George Washington, 26:300. For more on Washington’s evolving sentiments regarding human chattel, see Philip D. Morgan’s “To Get Quit of Negroes,” 403–29.
“will be forgiven by her Mistress”: Ibid.
“would excite a mob or riot”: Ibid.
“be in a state of pregnancy”: Ibid.
hunting Ona Judge and her unborn child: On
a Judge never made mention of any pregnancy during the first few months after her escape to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and there are no existing records to support Washington’s claim. Judge did not give birth to a child in 1797. Unless she miscarried the baby, the president’s suggestion was simply speculation.
“restore to your Lady her servant”: Joseph Whipple to George Washington, 22 December 1796, George Washington Papers, Library of Congress.
let go of human bondage: Ibid.
Chapter Twelve
capable of assisting fathers and mothers: Clark, The Roots of Rural Capitalism, 24.
slavery prohibited the legal marriages: For more on early slave marriages, see chapter 4 of Betty Wood’s Slavery in Colonial America, 1619–1776.
black jacks suffered racial discrimination: Bolster, Black Jacks, 1–6.
Negro Seamen Act: See Douglas Egerton’s He Shall Go Out Free.
imprisoned during their stay: Edlie L. Wong, Neither Fugitive nor Free, 183–84.
application for a marriage certificate: Joseph Whipple to George Washington, 22 December 1796, Papers of George Washington, Library of Congress.
county clerk Thomas Philbrook: See Priscilla Hammond’s Vital Records of Greenland, New Hampshire: Compiled from the Town’s Original Record Books, earliest and latest dates recorded, 1710–1851 (Salem: Higginson Book Company, 1997). See January 8, 1797. Thomas Philbrook, the clerk of Greenland, New Hampshire, recorded that John Staines and Oney “Gudge” were registered or “published” in the town of Greenland in Rockingham County and that they were married by Samuel Haven. John Staines was also known as Jack Staines.
as the head of household: See Year: 1800; Census Place: Portsmouth, Rockingham, New Hampshire; Series: M32; Roll: 20; Page: 903; Image: 513; Family History Library Film: 218679. Ona Judge’s husband is listed as “Jack Stains.”
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