They would name her Eliza: We do not have an exact date of birth for Eliza Staines; however, the physician who reported her death in 1832 estimated that Eliza was thirty-four years old, placing her birth sometime around 1798. See “Certificate of Death for Eliza Staines, 16 February 1832,” New Hampshire Vital Statistics, Concord, NH. Ancestry.com. New Hampshire, Death and Burial Records Index, 1654–1949 [database online]. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
John Adams became the second president: See chapter 8 of David McCullough’s John Adams.
demand for freedom was denied: “From George Washington to Burwell Bassett, Jr., 11 August 1799,” Founders Online, National Archives (http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/06-04-02-0197 [last update: 2015-03-20]). Source: The Papers of George Washington, Retirement Series, vol. 4, 20 April 1799–13 December 1799.
“& dangerous precedent”: Ibid.
emancipated and rehired as paid laborers: Ohline, “Slavery, Economics, and Congressional Politics, 1790” in Onuf, Establishing the New Regime, 343. Also see Paul Finkelman’s Slavery and the Founders, 28–29.
She simply refused: Benjamin Chase, letter to the editor, Liberator, January 1, 1847.
Bassett sweetened the deal: Rev. T. H. Adams, Granite Freeman, May 22, 1845.
her final and fierce response: Ibid.
failed to complete the familial obligation: In Staines’s interviews she states that Bassett returned a second time to try to convince her to return to Virginia, but that the second time would be via force if necessary. Staines does not state how much time passed between the two attempted retrievals, and therefore we do not know if Bassett made two trips to New Hampshire. In any case, Bassett initiated two attempts at recapturing Staines.
Chapter Thirteen
before he retired to bed: Blanton, “Washington’s Medical Knowledge and Its Sources.” Also see Knox, “The Medical History of George Washington, His Physicians, Friends and Advisers.”
convulsions and near suffocation: Chernow, Washington: A Life, 806.
“my breath cannot last long”: Dorothy Twohig, George Washington’s Diaries: An Abridgement, 430.
“disagreeable consequences” among slave families: “George Washington’s Last Will and Testament, 9 July 1799,” Founders Online, National Archives (http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/06-04-02-0404-0001, ver. 2013-12-27).
“faithful services during the Revolutionary War”: Ibid.
William Lee died in the winter of 1810: See Mary V. Thompson’s “William Lee & Oney Judge: A Look at George Washington and Slavery” in the Journal of the American Revolution (June 2014). While there is no written source, oral tradition suggests that William Lee was buried in the slave burial ground on the estate of Mount Vernon.
“unhappy by the talk in the quarters”: Prussing, The Estate of George Washington, Deceased, 158.
“[in] their interest to get rid of her”: Fritz Hirschfeld’s George Washington and Slavery, 214. Also see Woody Holton’s Abigail Adams (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2009), 33.
George Washington’s slaves were set free: The transaction regarding the emancipation of Washington’s slaves is recorded in the abstracts of the Fairfax County, Virginia, Court records. Also see John C. Fitzpatrick, ed., The Last Will and Testament of George Washington and Schedule of his Property, to which is appended the Last Will and Testament of Martha Washington (Mount Vernon, VA: The Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association of the Union, 1939).
Ona Staines and her husband lived with their children: Many black men and women took in adult boarders to help keep costs to a minimum and to help out free and fugitive blacks in need. While this is a possibility for one of the Staines household members, it is probable that at least two of the occupants of the Staines household were their children.
the family welcomed little Nancy: Death certificates for Eliza and Nancy Staines place their births around 1798 and 1802. See “Death Certificate of Eliza Staines, 16 February 1832” and “Death Certificate of Nancy Staines, 11 September 1833,” Ancestry.com. New Hampshire, Death and Burial Records Index, 1654–1949 [database online]. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
a birth date around 1800: See Gerson’s documentation of Seaman’s Protection Certificates for Portland, ME, Washington, DC, National Archives in “A Thirst for Complete Freedom.” Also see the National Archives and Records Administration; Washington, DC; Quarterly Abstracts of Seamen’s Protection Certificates, New York City, NY 1815–1869, Ancestry.com. U.S., Seamen’s Protection Certificates, 1792–1869 [database online]. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
The only Portsmouth family with the surname of Staines: There is a possibility that William Staines was not the biological son of Ona Staines. If William was the product of an extramarital affair, his absence from census records under the Staines, and later Jack, household is understandable.
following in the shoes of his father: No other documentation links William Staines to his parents, and census records provide nothing in the way of absolute proof of his familial connection.
the death of her husband: I cannot find any evidence that offers a cause or exact date of death for Jack Staines. A death announcement appeared on May 3, 1803, in the New-Hampshire Gazette. Later, Ona Staines is counted with her two children (daughters) among those living with the Jack family in the 1810 census. They are listed among the six free blacks living in the household, but they are not named.
death notice appeared in the New-Hampshire Gazette: See New-Hampshire Gazette, May 3, 1803. The section of the newspaper noted all of the reported deaths at home and abroad. The death announcement stated, “In this town . . . Mr. Jack Staines, (a man of colour).”
a maidservant position: The account of Ona Staines living with the Bartlett family comes from Gerson’s “A Thirst of Complete Freedom,” 113. Gerson’s footnotes are a bit murky regarding this employment agreement, making verification quite difficult.
border between Greenland and Stratham: The town of Greenland claimed the property lived on by the Jacks family, but the final border between the two towns was not established until 1860. See Bouton, Documents and Records Relating to the Province of New Hampshire, 12:64, 13:480, 25:552.
the stream that ran through the property: See Charles Nelson’s History of Stratham, 200.
The patriarch of the Jack family was enslaved: Gerson, “A Thirst for Complete Freedom,” 114. There were many names used for the Jack family, especially for the patriarch. Daughters Nancy and Phillis Jr. recorded a surname of Jack.
Phillis Jack’s funeral: See Town Records of Greenland, New Hampshire, 1750–1851 and Hammond’s Vital Records. Gerson also cites this in “A Thirst for Complete Freedom,” 116–18. Gerson states that Jonathan Dockum received $1.90 for digging Phillis Warner’s grave and for offering the family three pints of rum. Municipal funds were also used to reimburse Joseph Clark for making a coffin, and Samuel Dearborn was repaid $0.25 for ringing the town bell. My visit to the Greenland Town Vault fifteen years after Gerson’s revealed some missing records.
fusing two desperate and grieving families: The Jack family was indexed anonymously in the 1810 census, counting six free blacks in the household, most likely Jack; his daughters, Nancy and Phillis Jr.; Ona Staines; and her daughters, Eliza and Nancy. Young William was not reported in this census, perhaps because he was under the age of ten, or maybe worse, he had been indentured out. Existing documentation leaves us with little evidence.
Ona Staines said good-bye to her daughters: This information comes from the Town Records of Greenland, New Hampshire, 1750–1851 and Hammond’s Vital Records.
the death of the Jack patriarch: Jack died on October 19, 1817.
known around the town for their artistic abilities: See Charles Brewster’s “Washington and Slavery: From Mrs. Kirkland’s Life of Washington.” The addendum appears in the Portsmouth Journal of Literature and Politics (7 March 1857).
Little changed in their material lives: T
here are two articles that appear in the Greenland section of the Exeter News-Letter that give childhood recollections of the property called home by the Jack Staines family. The first article was published on December 18, 1874, by an author who used only the initial “M.” The second article was written by Mary Izette Holmes and was published on January 2, 1917. Both of these articles were written many decades after the death of Ona Staines.
Eliza Staines died at the age of thirty-four: New-Hampshire Gazette, February 28, 1832.
followed by her sister Nancy: Ancestry.com. New Hampshire, Death and Burial Records Index, 1654–1949 [database online]. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Unlike her sister, Eliza, no obituary appeared in the New Hampshire newspapers for Nancy. Original data: “New Hampshire Death Records, 1654–1947.” Index. FamilySearch, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2010. New Hampshire Bureau of Vital Records. “Death Records, 1654–1947.” Bureau of Vital Records, Concord, NH.
“mental or moral instruction”: Liberator, January 1, 1847.
the ability to read the Bible: Granite Freeman, May 22, 1845.
“She never heard Washington pray”: Ibid.
“I do not call that praying”: Ibid.
the sermons of Elias Smith: Reverend Roland D. Sawyer of Kensington, “New Hampshire Pioneers of Religious Liberty,” in Granite Monthly. Also see Liberator, January 1, 1847.
Phillis Jack, had died: For Phillis Jack’s obituary, see the New-Hampshire Gazette, January 6, 1846. For information about Dr. Odell’s visit, see Hammond’s Vital Records and Gerson’s “A Thirst for Complete Freedom.” Dr. Odell received $13.16 for his house call.
Ona Maria Staines was carried away: There were many published death notices for Ona M. Staines, many of which appeared in the spring of 1848. For a few examples, see the Portsmouth Journal, April 1, 1848; the New-Hampshire Gazette, April 4, 1848; and the Pennsylvania Freeman May 11, 1848.
Epilogue
“ ‘No, I am free’ ”: Granite Freeman, May 22, 1845.
Philadelphia was still spinning at Mount Vernon: Philadelphia is noted among the spinners, sewers, and knitters in the farm reports at Mount Vernon. The last report of “Delphia” spinning was for the week of April 23–29, 1797. Betty Davis (often noted as Betsey Davis) is also listed. Philadelphia spun, while Betty sewed. See “Farm Reports, 23–29 April 1797,” Founders Online, National Archives (http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/06-01-02-0047 [last update: 2015-03-20]). Source: The Papers of George Washington, Retirement Series, vol. 1, 4 March 1797–30 December 1797.
Located at the southern tip of the District of Columbia: Brown, “Residence Patterns of Negroes in the District of Columbia, 1800–1860” in Records of the Columbia Historical Society 47:66–79.
three hundred free blacks: Ibid. According to the United States Census Bureau, there were a total of 3,244 enslaved people living in the District of Columbia with 783 free blacks. More specifically, in Georgetown there were 277 free blacks in 1800, while Alexandria counted 367.
Enslavement and liberty wrestled each other: The District of Columbia counted an increase in slavery as noted by the 1810 and 1820 census reports. The number of slaves increased from 5,505 in 1810 to 6,277 in 1820. But by 1830, the number of enslaved people began to decrease and for the first time was smaller than the number of free people. In 1830 there were 6,119 enslaved people and 6,152 free blacks. See Letitia Woods Brown’s Free Negroes in the District of Columbia, 1790–1846, 11.
nephew and the grandson of the first lady: The story of Martha Washington’s interracial sister, Ann Dandridge, and her son, William Costin, is still a debated topic. Henry Wiencek addresses this possible relationship in his text An Imperfect God, 283–87. While I find this to be a somewhat plausible account, I have not found existing documents to prove that Dandridge was the half sister of Martha Washington nor that William Costin was the son of Jacky Custis. It is possible that the oral history surrounding this relationship has changed over the years, leaving historians with little in the way of ironclad proof. This is the case for many interracial children born during the era of slavery in Virginia and throughout the South. Pioneer black historian George Washington Williams, the first to write a comprehensive history of African Americans, hesitated when discussing Costin’s paternal lineage. An additional account from the 1860s, penned by the Union spy Elizabeth Van Lew, states that Jacky Custis was William Costin’s father. See Elizabeth Van Lew Album 1845–1897, in the Manuscripts Collection at the Virginia Historical Society, in Richmond, Virginia.
The bondman from the Prosser estate: See Doug Egerton’s Gabriel’s Rebellion.
Eliza Custis Law was bequeathed forty-three slaves: The Washington Family Papers (Container 3, Box 4, Folder 1), Library of Congress. The documents in Box 4 of the Washington Family Papers pertain to Martha Washington. Included in the container are copied images from a private collection that was in the possession of Walter G. Peter and offered to the Library of Congress in 1931. Although the slave inventory list is undated, the majority of the files in this folder are dated between 1800 and 1803. The slave inventory was divided into four sections and clearly designates which slaves were sent to the Custis grandchildren. Philadelphia (who was recorded as Delphia) was among forty-three recorded names who were assigned to “Mrs Law.”
Nelly Custis Lewis was bequeathed thirty-three: Ibid.
Lucinda was worth twenty pounds: Ibid. In this slave inventory, Betty Davis, Nancy, Oney (spelled Anney on this list), and Lucinda were all listed. The value of Davis’s younger children, Oney and Lucinda, was significantly lower than that of her daughter Nancy, and this was due to their age. By 1802 Oney was approximately nine years old, and Lucinda was close to six years of age, while Nancy was close to twelve years old. Davis and her children most likely lived at Arlington, an estate that GWP Custis began building in 1802. The other plantations owned by GWP Custis (White House and Romancoc) have existing slave inventories that do not list Betty Davis or her children.
Thomas and Eliza agreed upon a legal separation: Thomas Law’s offer of real estate to Eliza Law was temporary, for in the separation agreement, it stated that upon her death, the property was “to be re-conveyed to Thomas Law and his heirs.” See Adams v. Law 58 U.S. 417 (1854).
“they are both at fault”: See letter from Rosalie E. Calvert to her father, H. J. Stier, in Calcott, Mistress of Riversdale, 97.
Custis purchased a small home: See Sarah Booth Conroy’s “Hoxton House’s Secret: The Origins of the Elegant Gray Stucco Mansion Were Obscured Until Researchers Digging Through Old Records Found the Owner: A Granddaughter of Martha Washington.” In the Washington Post, June 29, 1995.
Thomas Law gave Philadelphia her freedom: Philadelphia, Louisa, and Ann’s manumission agreement was recorded as Liber R No. 17 pg. 409 by the Recorder of Deeds in Washington, DC. Helen Hoban Rogers compiled thousands of names of enslaved people and slaveholders from deed books and certificates of freedom. Her book Freedom & Slavery Documents in the District of Columbia lists the manumissions of most of the Costin family. The original handwritten libers from 1792 through 1869 are located in Record Group 351, Records of the Government of the District of Columbia, Deed book 112 at the National Archives in Washington, DC. Philadelphia, Louisa, and Ann’s manumission was signed on June 13 and recorded on June 26, 1807.
his belief in gradual emancipation: See Thomas Law’s correspondence regarding a belief in gradual emancipation and the support of African colonization in an undated letter in the Thomas Law Family Papers, Box 5, Maryland Historical Society.
taken the surname Holmes: See Deed book 112, Liber R, no. 17, 1807, signed May, 1, 1807, and recorded on May 5, 1807. This manumission released Margaret Costin (age 19) Louisa Costin (age 17) Caroline Costin (age 15), Jemima Costin (age 12), Mary Holmes (age 8), and Eleanor Holmes (age 6). The Costins and the Holmeses were emancipated together by Thomas Law under one agreement for ten cents. Law also emancipated George Costin, the only male relative, in the same year. O
ral tradition suggests that Ann Holmes, who was emancipated by Thomas Law shortly after Martha Washington’s death, was the mother of William Costin. For her emancipation, see Washington, DC, Deed book, Liber H, no. 8, p. 382, National Archives.
an exit from human bondage: The Costins had eight biological children (six daughters and two sons). While the Costin daughters Louisa and Ann were born enslaved, I have found records indicating that the Costins welcomed biological daughters Martha, Frances, and Harriet, as well as a son named William G., into the fold, all of whom were born free. According to obituaries for William Costin, there were at least four adopted Costin children. Philadelphia Costin died on December 13, 1831. Her obituary appeared in the Daily National Intelligencer (also known as the National Intelligencer) on the day of her funeral, December 15, 1831. Costin’s death announcement states that she had seven children.
secure his own family’s freedom: See letters from Eliza Parke Custis to John Law, 12 October 1808, and letter from Eleanor Parke Custis Lewis to William Costin, 12 June 1816.
imposed twenty-dollar peace bond: See Costin v. Washington (October 1821), Case No. 3,266, Circuit Court, District of Columbia.
a chance to buy her own freedom: See Rogers’s Freedom & Slavery Documents in the District of Columbia 3:114. Originals are recorded as Liber A Z, no. 50, 1820 (23 October 1820) in Record Group 351, Records of the Government of the District of Columbia, Deed book 112 at the National Archives in Washington, DC. Leanthe’s surname appears as “Brannin” and not “Branham.” It was very common for last names to be misspelled on formal documents.
Washington grandchildren to borrow money: See letter from Eliza Parke Custis to John Law, 12 October 1808, in the Peter Collection, Thomas Peter Box: MSSVII Papers of John Law. Also see letter from Eleanor Parke Custis Lewis to William Costin, 12 June 1816, Peter Collection, Thomas Peter Box: MSSXI. Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington at Mount Vernon.
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