children of, 177, 178–79, 182–84, 224n177, 224n178
Christian faith of, 184–85
death of, 186, 226n186
family of, 8, 12, 102–3, 166, 204n8, 205n12
family tree, xii–xiii
father of, 9–12, 205n11, 205n11–12
lessons from her parents, 14
mother of, 9, 86, 205n9
as the “Mulatto girl,” 45
name of, 9, 12, 205n9, 205n12
—as enslaved woman
attends Southwark Theatre, 76
bequeathed to Eliza Custis Law, xv, 93, 95–96, 97, 98, 100, 108
brother, Austin and, 50, 85–86
childhood of, 13–14, 50, 206n13
decision to run away, 78, 93–95, 98, 100, 101, 108
as dower slave, 70
fear of sexual assault, 58, 97, 98
free blacks and, 77, 98, 107–8, 109, 110
hearsay about male suitor of, 139, 164
as house slave, 13, 50
monetary gift to, 76
Pennsylvania’s gradual abolition law and, 69, 78
preparation to run away, 108, 109–10, 218n108
purchase of new shoes, possible contact with Richard Allen, 108, 218n108
racial discrimination and, 85
relationship with Martha Washington, 36–37, 45, 62, 90, 95, 99–100, 109
risks faced by running away, 106–7, 109
servitude at Mount Vernon, 24, 38, 48, 49–50
servitude in New York (1789–1790), xvi, 19, 22, 29, 32, 36–42, 44–46, 206–7n19
servitude in Philadelphia (1790–1796), xvi–xvii, 54–57, 59, 65, 76–78, 82, 86, 99–100, 110, 122
sister, Betty Davis, 8, 49–50, 94
Washingtons as owners, 97
Washingtons’ plan to circumvent gradual abolition law and, 70, 74
yellow fever outbreak (1793) and, 84
—as fugitive
advertisements for, xi, 99, 111–12, 138, 218–19n111
allies for escape, 112, 114
allies in Portsmouth, 121, 146
birth of daughter, Eliza, 162, 222n162
boarders in home of, 161, 224n177
death of George Washington and, 176
death of her daughters, 184, 222n162
death of husband, 179–80, 181, 224n179
employment, 121–24, 127–29, 158, 161–62, 179
escape route and destination, 112–13, 117–19
family left behind, 155–56, 187–97
fears of, 118–19, 127, 162
first Christmas as free, 155
freedom of, 128, 129, 131
in Greenland, NH, xvii, 168–69, 181, 182, 185–86, 197
host family, 121, 128, 132, 161
interviews by, xvii, 110, 171, 178, 185, 187, 218n110, 223n167
Jack family and, 169, 180, 181, 182, 185–86, 224n178, 224n179, 225n182
literacy of, 103, 184
as maid to Bartlett family, 180, 224n180
marriage to Jack Staines and home, 155, 158–61, 222n160
obstacle to marriage license, 159–60
places daughters in indentured servitude, 182
in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 121–34, 140–45, 155, 158–69, 177–79, 224n177
poverty of, 182, 183
pregnancy of, 161–62
pursuit of, 110–13, 118–19, 129, 136
pursuit of, by Bassett, and flight to Greenland, NH, 164–69
pursuit of, by Lee, 112–13
pursuit of, by Whipple, 140–45
recognized by Elizabeth Langdon, 131–34, 164, 220n132
runs away (May 21, 1796), xvi, 110
secrecy as a fugitive and, xvii, 113, 119
wedding dress, 160
K
Kerr, Molly, 204n8
Kirkland, Caroline, 220n132
Kitt, Frederick, 111–12, 218–19n111
L
Lafayette, Marquis de, 149
Langdon, Elizabeth (Senator Langdon’s daughter), 130–34, 140, 164, 220n132
Langdon, Elizabeth Sherburne “Betsy,” 130, 140
Langdon, Senator John, 18, 129–30, 152, 164–65
abolition of slave trade and, 165
Bassett and pursuit of Ona Judge Staines, 164, 167–68
“Governor Langdon’s Mansion,” 127
slave-holding and, 133–34, 165
Washington and, 129, 130, 134, 164
Whipple as friend of, 141
Law, Elizabeth Parke Custis “Eliza,” xv, xvi, 88–91, 93, 96, 97, 136, 193–94, 195, 227n194
Custis inheritance received, 190
emancipation of some of her slaves, 194
first child, Eliza, born to, 163, 190
Ona Judge given to, xv, 95–96
Philadelphia as slave of, 188, 189–90
slaves bequeathed to, 192, 227n192
Law, Thomas, 88–91, 92, 97, 189, 193–94, 227n194, 228n194
emancipation of Philadelphia and her children, 227–28n194
Lear, Benjamin, 55, 58
Lear, Mary “Polly,” 55, 58, 83
Lear, Tobias, 17, 21, 27, 28, 38, 53, 55, 58, 136, 149
death of Washington and, 172–73
Hercules proves his loyalty to, 72–73
opinion that Washington should liberate his slaves, 73–74, 213n74
Pennsylvania’s gradual abolition law and, 61–64, 69–70, 212–13n69
as Portsmouth native, 132
Washington’s plan to circumvent gradual abolition law and, 73, 74
wife’s death, 83
Lee, Thomas, Jr., 112–13
Lee, William (slave, Washington’s valet), 25–27, 29, 54, 76, 208n25, 213–14n76
in American Revolution, 175
death and burial of, 175, 223n175
emancipation of, 174–75
Leigh, Thomas, 113–14, 219n114
Lewis, Howell, 58
Lewis, Robert, 22–23, 58
Liberator (newspaper), xvii, 178, 185
M
Madison, James, 51, 216n93
Maryland, slavery’s laws in, 191
Massachusetts
abolitionism in, 24
slavery in, 124
Methodists, 43
Moll (slave), 29, 54, 57, 70, 76, 86, 120, 131
Morgan, Philip, 213n74
Morris, Mary, 30
Morris, Robert, 30, 55
Mount Vernon, xvi, 23–24, 54, 211n54
Custis dower slaves at, 7–8, 29, 70, 174, 176–77
death of Martha Washington and dower slaves’ fate, 176–77, 191–92, 227n192
death of Washington and fate of his slaves, 171–76
Dogue Run, 94
escaped slaves from, 24, 188–89
escape of Ona Judge, impact of, 110–11, 136, 153, 188
house slaves at, 5, 8, 12–13
list of slaves, 3
Mansion House, 5, 12, 13, 94, 138, 188, 206n12
news of Washington’s election, 18
number of slaves at, 4, 173, 219n121
punishment of slaves at, 104–5
size of estate, 8
slave burial ground at, 175, 223n175
slave children at, 12–13
slave inventories, 204n8, 205n9, 210n49, 211n54, 215n84, 215n85, 215n86
slave quarters, 4, 12, 38, 206n12
slaves’ religious practices and beliefs, 4
snow of June 1773, 3–4, 9
Washington returns from war, 15, 16–17
Washington returns after presidency, 163
as Washington’s sanctuary, 61
white indentured servants at, 10
N
Nancy (ship), 114, 117, 118, 219n114
Ona Judge aboard, 114
Negro Seamen Act of 1822, 158
New England. See also specific states
antislavery sentiment in, 147–48
journey to, from Africa, 124–25
slavery in, 124
New Hampshire, 136. See also Green
land, New Hampshire; Portsmouth, New Hampshire
antislavery sentiment in, 147–48, 152, 167, 168
free blacks in, 120, 219n120
gradual emancipation of slaves, 125–26
revised tax code of 1789 and, 125
slavery abolished, 126
slavery in, 120, 124–25, 219n120
New-Hampshire Gazette, 219n114
death of Jack Staines, 179, 224n179
Judge-Staines marriage, 155, 160
Washington’s Farewell Address, 160
New Jersey, slaves in, 216–17n100
New York City
black women (slave and free) in, 44
danger for fugitive slaves in, 113
description of (1789), 20, 207n20
farewell procession for Washington, 51
“fourteen mile round,” 41
fugitive slave, Molly, and rescue, 33–34
influenza epidemic (1790), 47–48
life in (1789), 40
Mrs. Graham’s School, 39
mutual aid organizations, 182
as nation’s capital, xvi, 17, 51
Ona Judge in, xvi, 19, 22, 29, 32, 36–42, 44–46, 206–7n19
population (late 1780s), 20, 207n20
postilions (carriage drivers), 28
presidential residences, 20, 21, 37–38, 47, 49
president’s levees, 40–41
slave for sale, advertisement, 33
slave laws in, 33–34, 35, 42
slave owners, 42, 43–44
slave population in, 43
slaves accompanying the Washingtons to, 19, 42, 206–7n19
Washington’s illness in, 45–46
Washington’s oath of office, 15, 21
New York Manumission Society, 34–35, 42
O
Odell, George, 185–86, 226n185
Oracle of the Day (newspaper), 114
Osgood, Samuel, 37
P
Paris (slave), 28, 54, 59, 81–82
Pearce, William, 94
Penn, Richard, 55
Penn, William, 55, 65
Pennsylvania. See also Philadelphia
abolitionism in, 24
gradual abolition law, 69, 212–13n69
slave population in, 216–17n100
Pennsylvania Abolition Society, xvi, 31, 61
Pennsylvania Gazette, 103, 210n48, 217n101, 218–19n111
Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery, 31
Pepperell, William, 124–25
Peter, Martha Custis, 192, 214n81
Philadelphia, 49, 50–52, 54–59. See also President’s House on High Street
Bethel A.M.E. Church, 75
black poverty in, 77, 80
celebratory greeting of First Lady, Martha Washington (May 1789), 30
celebratory greeting of President-Elect Washington (April 1789), 20
emancipation of slaves and, 78, 80
employment for black women in, 79–80
as epicenter of emancipation, xvi, 43, 65
Free African Society in, 77
free black community in, xv–xvi, 30, 75, 77, 84, 107, 110, 114, 215n84
free black population, 30, 79, 208n30
fugitive slaves in, 79
Independence Hall, 51
Judge’s first encounter with the North, 30
mutual aid organizations, 182
as nation’s capital, xvi, 49, 50–51, 52, 203nxvi
Ona Judge living in, xvi–xvii, 57, 59, 76–78, 82, 86, 99–100
Pennsylvania’s gradual abolition law in, 62–64, 66
population, 30, 79, 208n30
Quakers and abolition of slavery in, 43
racial tension, 84–85, 215n84
runaway slaves from, 78–79, 214n79
slave population, xvi, 203nxv, 216–17n100
slaves accompanying the Washingtons, 52–54, 211n54
Southwark Theatre, 75
spring (1796), xvi
Washington’s Farewell Address, 136
Washingtons’ plan to circumvent gradual abolition law, 66–68, 69, 70, 73
yellow fever (1793), 82–84, 215n84
Philadelphia Gazette
advertisement for runaway slave, Ona Judge, xi, 111, 138, 218–19n111
arrival of the Nancy, 114, 117, 219n114
Philbrook, Thomas, 160, 222n160
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 120, 121, 132, 135
black community of, 126, 129, 177–78, 180
black population, 120–21
collector of customs, 140–45, 221n141
Customs office, 142
earliest African in, 124
evening curfews for black residents, 129
fugitive slaves in, 121
history of slavery in, 124–26
Langdon family in, 127, 130–34
Ona Judge arrives, 120
Ona Judge living in, 121–34, 140–45, 155, 158–69, 177–79, 224n177
as Ona Judge’s destination, 113
Ona Judge’s employment, 121–24, 127–28, 158, 161–62
Ona Judge’s host family, 121, 128, 132
as port for Captain Bowles, 114
South Church, 160, 185
Washington visits (1789), 130
Postillion Joe (slave), 211n54
President’s House on High Street, Philadelphia, 49, 52, 54–60, 211n56
changes in enslaved staff at, 81–82, 86
enslaved staff, unpredictable future of, 87–88, 95
free and enslaved servants able to share information, 59
gifts and entertainment for slaves, 76
Ona Judge at, 55–59, 77–78, 82, 86, 99–100, 109–10, 122
Ona Judge’s escape, impact of, 137
servants’ quarters, 56, 57, 211n56
slaves occupying, 55
white servants at, 55
yellow fever outbreak and, 82
Q
Quakers (Society of Friends), 31, 43, 65–66, 83
R
Randolph, Edmund, 62–64, 67
Rawlins, George, 172, 173
Reinagle, Alexander, 36
Revolutionary War. See American Revolution
Richardson, Joe (slave), 86, 215n86
Richmond (slave), 53–54, 59, 69, 70, 72, 86
Richmond, Virginia, 191
Rogers, Helen Hoban, 227–28n194
Rush, Benjamin, 83, 84
S
Sall (slave), 215n86
Seaman’s Protection Certificate, 178
Second Continental Congress, 130
Shag, Harry, Tom, and Will (slaves), 188–89
Sheels, Christopher (slave), 28–29, 54, 59, 69, 70, 76, 82
slave catchers, 111, 120, 137–38, 157, 166, 184, 195
slavery. See also enslaved women; fugitive slaves; specific people
abolition laws in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, 24
abolition of, New Hampshire, 126
abolition of transatlantic slave trade advocated by Langdon, 165
“abroad marriages,” 102, 217n102
black postilions and footmen, 28
childhood and, 13–14, 205n13
death of owners and, 173–74
decline of (1830s), 190
elderly or sickly slaves, 86
emancipation through indentured servitude, 80
enslaved women, xi, 7, 9, 11, 79, 97–98, 102, 103, 123–24, 162, 204n7, 217n102
few first-person accounts, xvi–xvii
fugitive slaves, xvi–xvii, 24, 33, 79, 100–102, 104, 216–17n100
gradual abolition laws, 69, 100, 125–26, 212–13n69
illiteracy and, 103
insurrections, 158, 191
interracial relationships, 10, 191, 226n190
January slave sales, 4
literacy and, 174, 184
male vs. female emancipation, 79
marriage prohibited in bondage, 157
Maryland laws, 191
mixed-race children and, 10
/>
in New England, 124–25
in New Hampshire, 120, 124–26, 219n120
in New York, 24, 33–34, 35, 42
in the North, 44, 50
Northern emancipation and, 74
owners and sexual relationships, 181
owner’s death and sale of slaves, 7
paternalistic assumptions about, 74, 134, 137, 138
in Pennsylvania, 62–64, 66
public opinion against, 136–37
rape and forced breeding, 97–98
runaway slave advertisements, xi, 99, 103, 111–12, 138, 218–19n111
separation of children from parents, 7
“slave for sale” advertisement, 33
slave quarters and cabins, 4, 12, 38, 56–58, 181, 206n12, 211n56, 211n58
Southern arguments for, 74
Southern laws, xvi
in Virginia, 14, 43, 191
in Washington, DC, 195
work day of house slaves, 29
“yellow-skinned” men and women, 25
Smith, Elias, 185
Smith, James McCune, 35
solar eclipse (May 24, 1789), 31–32, 208n32
South Carolina, 102, 158
Staines, Eliza (daughter of Ona Judge), 165, 169, 178, 180, 182, 183, 225n183
birth, 162, 222n162, 224n178
death, 184, 222n162, 224n178, 225n184
as property of the Custis estate, 162–63
Staines, Jack “John” (husband of Ona Judge), 156–58, 160, 177, 224n177
attire of, 160
as “black jack,” 157–58, 165, 179
death of (1803), 179, 181, 224n179
first year of marriage and new home, 160–61
as free black man, 156, 157
marriage to Ona Judge, 160, 161, 222n160, 222n161
Staines, Nancy (daughter of Ona Judge), 178, 182, 183, 184, 224n178, 225n183, 225n184
Staines, William (son of Ona Judge), 178–79, 182–83, 224n178, 224n179
Stockhouse, Hastings, 43–44
Stratham, New Hampshire, 181, 224n181
Baptist church in, 185
Stuart, David, 93
T
Thomas, Margaret, 26–27
Thompson, Mary, 29, 204n8
Thomson, Charles, 18
U
Underground Railroad, 101
United States
Adams as second president, 153, 163
census records, 161
finances of, 17
Fugitive Slave Act, 105–6
growing divide over slavery, 106
marriage in, as survival, 156–57
nation’s capital, 50–52, 89, 150, 187, 190
public sentiment regarding slavery, 25
travel, 1790s, 115, 117–18
women’s work as domestics and laundresses (1790s), 122–24
United States Constitution, 165
V
Van Lew, Elizabeth, 226–27n191
Venus (slave), 58, 211–12n58
Vesey, Denmark, 158
Vicar, John, 56
Virginia, 14, 136
a “Federal capital” and, 51
Never Caught Page 25