While Ona lived in Virginia, she was surrounded by several family members. Ona’s father was an English indentured servant who had worked at Mount Vernon. In April 1774, one of Martha Washington’s enslaved housemaids, Betty, gave birth at Mount Vernon to a daughter named Ona Judge. Ona took the opportunity to share her thoughts on the institution of slavery, proclaiming, “that she never received the least mental or moral instruction, of any kind, while she remained in Washington’s family.”30 She also criticized the Washingtons’ piety, saying she never saw or heard any indication of “piety and prayers” while she was enslaved. Her two daughters, Eliza and Nancy, were sadly forced into indentured servitude; both died before their mother. Work was scarce, and Ona’s son, William, is believed to have left home in the 1820s to become a sailor, like his father. In November 1790, they moved into a new house in Philadelphia when the government relocated. Upon her death, they were to be divided among the Custis heirs. In 1845, Ona Judge was interviewed by an abolitionist newspaper. Ona’s status as Martha’s preferred lady’s maid meant that she received a fancier wardrobe than most enslaved people because she visited homes and buildings normally off-limits to enslaved people. Built c. 1824-1826. Benjamin Chase. During the summer after she escaped, Judge was walking in Portsmouth when she saw Elizabeth Langdon, the daughter of New Hampshire Senator John Langdon. Beginning in 1789, she worked as a personal servant to First Lady Martha Washington in the presidential households in New York City and Philadelphia. Ona also accompanied Martha on her social visits and attended to the first lady’s needs at home. Judge Esther Salas said her husband, Mark Anderl, would likely need additional surgery after having already undergone 13 surgeries since the attack in July. Runaway advertisement requesting the return of Ona Judge. Her mother, Betty, was an enslaved seamstress; her father, Andrew Judge, was an English tailor working as an indentured servant at Mount Vernon. He subsequently wrote to Washington that she had agreed to return, on the condition that she be freed when Martha Washington died. When Bassett dined with Langdon and told him of his intention, the senator quickly got word to Ona through one of his servants. Like her mother, she became a talented and highly valued seamstress, and was later promoted to become Martha Washington’s personal maid. On October 4, 1796, Whipple wrote to Wolcott that he had failed to secure Ona. (Credit: Martin Falbisoner/Creative Commons). Ona Judge Staines lived with her husband and their three children until Jack’s death in 1803. She quickly became suspicious, however, when Whipple began asking personal questions to verify her identity—the type of questions that would be unusual in a job interview. While the records of her son’s life are inconclusive, it’s possible his name was William and he followed in his father’s footsteps and became a sailor. (Credit: Leemage/Corbis via Getty Images). N ever Caught is a nonfiction book about the life of Ona Judge, a woman who was enslaved by George and Martha Washington and escaped.. NEW YORK (Reuters) – Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite facing criminal charges she helped procure girls for the late financier Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse, on Monday forcefully proclaimed her innocence and proposed a $28.5 million bail package in a renewed effort to be freed from a New York jail this year. Ona Judge, a young enslaved woman in her 20s, has recently received some terrifying news. As children born to enslaved women were considered property of the slaveholder, according to Virginia law, his daughter remained in bondage. When George Washington was sworn in as America’s first president in 1789, his wife Martha did not accompany him to the nation’s capital in Manhattan. Product details. She continued in this role until 1789, when she traveled with Martha to the President’s House in New York City. Because of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 which Washington signed into law in Philadelphia (probably in his private office barely a dozen feet from where Oney slept), she lived the rest of her life as a fugitive. © 2020 A&E Television Networks, LLC. There are seven enslaved people that go, only two women, and Ona’s one of them. Later, Ona Judge claimed that after Washington’s death, the family never bothered her again. Vernon. They believed they had treated her like a daughter and felt betrayed by her departure. Yet, he remained in the area until at least 1784, when Washington loaned him £12. Read this book using Google Play Books app on your PC, android, iOS devices. Taking the surrounding historical events and known details concerning the Washington's life, this book paints the picture of how Ona Judge's life might have been while growing up to the time of her escape and beyond. Letter to the editor, The Liberator, January 1, 1847..As quoted in Slave Testimony, Two Centuries of Letters, Speeches, Interviews, and Autobiographies, John W. Blassingame, ed. Explore the Timeline. Ona Judge was born as a slave into George and Martha Washington's household. Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. What are some interesting facts about presidents and first ladies? Ona Judge Staines lived with her husband and their three children until Jack’s death in 1803. Looking for a means to escape, Ona agreed to meet Whipple at the docks and return to Virginia. Such interactions undoubtedly fueled her thinking about slavery, the changing laws regarding the institution and the possibilities of freedom. However, Landgon’s family had freed their slaves and rehired them as paid workers, even if they didn’t consider themselves abolitionists.25 Langdon “entertained Bassett very handsomely, and in the meantime sent word to Mrs. [Ona] Staines to leave town before twelve o’clock at night.”26 Upon receiving the message, Ona hired a horse and carriage to take her to Greenland, New Hampshire, where she hid in safety at “Mr. Ona Judge was born as a slave into George and Martha Washington's household. Several years before her death in 1848, she granted two interviews to abolitionist newspapers recounting her journey from bondage. So Ona Judge passed the disease of slavery through her lineage to her children, making Ona and her children the property of Martha Washington. Learn more about Ona Judge’s path to freedom. Letter to the editor, The Liberator, January 1, 1847..As quoted in Slave Testimony, Two Centuries of Letters, Speeches, Interviews, and Autobiographies, John W. Blassingame, ed. FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. In September 1798, he sent his nephew, Burwell Bassett, to bring Ona Judge Staines back. In 1773, Ona Judge … Ona’s calculations changed after March 21, 1796, when Eliza Custis, Martha’s granddaughter, married Thomas Law. Ona probably lived with Betty in a small cabin near the mansion house, completing simple chores, helping her mother with easy tasks in their cabin, or playing unsupervised with other enslaved children.2 When Ona was twelve, Martha brought her into the mansion house to begin her official training as a housemaid. Her mother, Betty, was recognized as the finest seamstress on the plantation and was a “dower slave,” technically still owned by the estate of Martha Washington’s first husband, Daniel Peake Custis. At age 10, she began serving as a personal maid to Martha Washington at the Virginia mansio… Jack Staines was at sea at the time, but Ona managed to escape to the neighboring town of Greenland, where she and her infant daughter hid with a free black family, the Jacks, until Bassett left Portsmouth, empty-handed. Ona, more commonly known as Oney, moved into the mansion house when she was just 9 years old. She probably did the laundry, cooked meals, scrubbed floors, and cleaned the home—all physically demanding labor.16 In January 1797, she married a free man named Jack Staines and they moved into their own home. The secret town of Rockton has seen some rocky times lately; understandable considering its mix of criminals and victims fleeing society for refuge within its Yukon borders. Over more than five years in Philadelphia—traveling in and out every six months—she met and became acquainted with members of the city’s free black community and former enslaved workers who had gained their freedom under the gradual abolition law. Sharing the news with her Instagram followers on … In the afternoon of Saturday, May 21, 1796, Ona slipped out of the house while the Washingtons enjoyed their dinner. After his election, John Adams resided in the same house in Philadelphia, before moving into the White House in Washington, D.C. on November 1, 1800. Dunbar, of Wyncote, a professor of black studies and history at the University of Delaware, has spent nearly eight years coaxing Judge out of the shadows. A depiction of George Washington during a harvest. Despite all the hardships, Ona enjoyed the benefits of a life of freedom: She taught herself to read and write, embraced Christianity and worshiped regularly at a church of her choice. Yet freedom would not come without its costs. But New York City, and then Philadelphia, offered new opportunities.4 Ona encountered a sizable free African-American community for the first time, saw interesting sights, tasted different foods, and met new people. She revealed, “I never told his name till after he died, a few years since, les they should punish him for bringing me away.”15, Once she arrived in Portsmouth, Ona found lodging with a free African-American family. 248-50.. Ona Maria Judge was born around 1774 at Mount Vernon. She also secured work as a domestic servant. Ona Judge (c.1773—February 25, 1848), known as Ona Judge Staines after marriage, was a light-skinned, heavily freckled and slight of build slave on George Washington’s plantation, Mount Vernon, in Virginia.. He was one of George Washington’s preferred tailors, eventually creating the blue uniform George wore when he was named commander in chief of the American forces in 1775. Given Ona’s enslaved status, any white man could sexually assault her without punishment and she may have feared for her safety in a new household with a disreputable owner.9. Upon arriving in Portsmouth, Bassett made himself comfortable at Senator John Langdon’s home.21 Bassett then went to the Staines’s house and knocked on the door. She is also the author of Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave Ona Judge. The Washington slaves knew that the president had taken precautions to prevent them from taking advantage of this law. Washington’s term ended on March 4, and he returned to Mount Vernon without her. The New Years’ Day reception became a White House tradition with President John Adams in 1801 and ended with President Herbert Ho... Congress passed the Compensated Emancipation Act to end slavery in the District of Columbia and President Abraham Lincoln signed the... Women are often overlooked in history for their role in the institution of slavery. On May 21, 1796, she slipped out of the mansion while the president and first lady were eating their supper. Thank you to Dr. Erica Armstrong Dunbar for her work on Ona Judge. After Judge passed by without acknowledging her, Betsy likely told her father of the sighting, and her father felt obligated to notify Washington of his fugitive slave’s whereabouts. But Ona certainly met her father and likely had some relationship with him given his extended stay, which was not always the case for enslaved children. Ona, on the other hand, said “she did not want to be a slave always, and she supposed if she went back to Virginia, she should never have a chance to escape.”13. 1846 interview with Ona Judge Staines. Ona Judge had come to the Washington's massive collection of over three hundred slaves when she was an infant. Paul Jennings was born in 1799 at Montpelier, the Virginia estate of James and Dolley Madison. There are no records of Andrew Judge’s departure from Mount Vernon, or whether his relationship with Betty was consensual. PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (AP) - Stepping off a boat in a New Hampshire port in 1796, 22-year-old Ona Judge was on the run from the family of President George Washington.. Judge… Her mother, Betty, was a “dower slave,” part of the estate of Martha’s first husband; her father, Andrew Judge, was a white indentured servant who had recently arrived in America from Leeds, England. The baby Eliza grows into a toddler and one day when Ona's husband Jack is out at sea there's a knock at the door. While I was aware that the Washington's held slaves, the history surrounding Ona Judge was new to … Betty was lucky to be able to keep her son Austin with her with the move to Mt. Frustrated, Washington wrote directly to Whipple asking him to return Ona by force.19 A quiet abolitionist, Whipple was deeply uncomfortable with this sort of violence. Betty was lucky to be able to keep her son Austin with her with the move to Mt. by the Rev. Staines was a sailor and although the pay was decent, it was sporadic and seasonal. Vernon as a slave, when Martha accepted the hand of George Washington to marry him as her second husband in 1759. "Interview with A Slave of George Washington." First Lady Julia Dent Grant, wife... Born to an affluent family in 1790, John Tyler spent most of his life in Charles City County, Virginia. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband and sons. Ona Judge Plots Her Escape. Vernon as a slave, when Martha accepted the hand of George Washington to marry him as her second husband in 1759. Ona also knew her siblings. Technically, Ona was owned by Martha Washington’s first husband so she would not have been qualified to receive liberation in George’s will, meaning her only hope was to take the risky running into her own hands. So, when the opportunity presented itself, Judge left everything she knew to escape to New England. ONA, WV (WOWK) – If we’ve learned anything so far this holiday season, it is that the spirit of “community” runs deep in the tri-state. She was never caught and would spend the remainder of her life in New Hampshire The Massive, Overlooked Role of Female Slave Owners. Ona Judge would look over her shoulder for the rest of her life. It tells about a very determined Ona Judge and very sneaky Washingtons. Burwell Bassett. Martha announced that she planned to give Ona to Eliza as a wedding present, separating Ona from her family and the life she knew in Philadelphia and at Mount Vernon. Martha also left one enslaved man, Elish (or Elijah), whom she could have legally freed, to her grandson in an addendum to her will. Reuters. PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — Stepping off a boat in New Hampshire port in 1796, 22-year-old Ona Judge was on the run from the family of President George Washington. (Baton Rouge and London: Louisiana State University Press, 1977), pp. But because her mother was enslaved, Judge, by law, became a slave, too. For example, Christopher Sheels, Washington’s enslaved manservant received shoes once per year. Another, more insidious possibility also exists. Judge had been among a group of slaves held by the estate of Martha Washington's first husband, Daniel Parke Custis. TOPICS: George Washington, Martha Washington, Mount Vernon, Slavery, Washington or Custis Family by Kathryn Gehred, Research Editor July 6, 2018. Trying to act discreetly, Washington got in contact with Joseph Whipple, the collector of customs in Portsmouth and the brother of famed Revolutionary General William Whipple. While she was likely grateful for the work, it was a change from the needlework and tending to Martha’s needs. Ona likely made her way out of Philadelphia immediately to avoid being recognized by Washington’s contemporaries.14 In one of her later interviews, she revealed that she had escaped on a vessel commanded by Captain John Bowles, who left Philadelphia and eventually made his way to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband and sons. Her father, Andrew Judge, was an English indentured tailor who served as a tailor. Though the gesture was far from meaningless, it didn’t go far enough. Taking the surrounding historical events and known details concerning the Washington's life, this book paints the picture of how Ona Judge's life might have been while growing up to the time of her escape and beyond. Tobias Lear Account Books, Philadelphia Household Accounts, 1789-1797. Kathleen Van Cleve teaches creative writing and film at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1796, a 22-year-old enslaved woman named Ona Judge fled President George Washington’s household for a life of freedom in New Hampshire. Never Caught, the Story of Ona Judge CHAPTER ONE AMERICA’S DAUGHTER ONA’S STORY BEGINS IN VIRGINIA around 1773, when the United States is not yet the United States, and slavery is considered acceptable by many of the white people who live in what comprises the first thirteen colonies. Video courtesy of Making History Productions. When he was just 11 years old, George Washington inherited 10 slaves from his father’s estate. Ona died on February 25, 1848, in Greenland, New Hampshire as a free woman.32. As the first lady’s bodyservant, Judge helped dress her mistress for special events, traveled with her on social calls and ran errands for her. But when Whipple arrived at the docks to ensure Ona boarded the ship at the agreed upon time, she never arrived.18. This article would not be possible without her scholarship. A judge has just recommended that Erika Jayne‘s estranged husband Thomas Girardi face criminal investigation over embezzlement claims as his assets, as well as the assets of his law firm, Girardi Keese, were also frozen. Martha Washington, who lived until 1802, couldn’t even legally have emancipated her enslaved workers upon her death (including, technically, Oney Judge Staines and her children), as they were part of her inheritance from her first husband and by law went to her surviving grandchildren. The South Church is pictured, where Ona Judge was married in 1797 to Jack Staines. She has written several books, including the award-winning middle grade novel Drizzle. Andrew Judge’s indentured servitude ended in 1776, but he worked for Washington until 1781. He told his friends that he was looking for a good maidservant to help his wife. Ona learned of the inquiry and met with Whipple to discuss the position. George Washington to Joseph Whipple, 28 November 1796. Few enslaved workers left written records, let alone participated in interviews with reporters. Judge, who … With a free black population of some 360 citizens and virtually no enslaved workers, Portsmouth was different from any place Judge had ever known. “A Slave of George Washington,” Benjamin Chase, Auburn, NH, December 1846. Ona Judge was the daughter of Andrew Judge who was from England. This book puts a face and a story to that of early enslaved people and makes it clear that enslaved people always desired the ability to make choices for themselves. Now, at the current Ona Judge exhibition, we’ll finally get to hear more of Judge’s side of the story, as it were. The judge ordered the registration of a case against Syed Ali Azhar, Arzoo's purported husband, as well as against cleric Qazi Abdul Rasool Naqshbandi, the justice of … After briefly holding a live-in position with the Bartlett family in Portsmouth, Ona left and moved with her children into the home of the Jacks family, where they remained. Bassett insisted Ona return to Virginia and “used all the persuasion he could” but Ona “utterly refused to go with him.”22 He even promised that the Washingtons would free her once she returned to Virginia, to which she replied “I am free now, and choose to remain so.”23, As an elite white southerner, Bassett was accustomed to African Americans obeying his every command. Moll, the enslaved nanny for Martha’s grandchildren, did not usually join them out of the house, so she likely needed fewer pairs of new shoes. Oney "Ona" Judge (c.1773—February 25, 1848) – known as Oney Judge Staines after marriage, was an enslaved African-American servant on George Washington's plantation, Mount Vernon, in Virginia. Finally, Ona may have worried about Law’s questionable reputation. One of the latest examples of this happened at St. Stephen’s Catholic Church in Ona, West Virginia. When he married the wealthy widow Martha Dandridge Custis in 1759, she brought more than 80 enslaved workers along with her, bringing the total number of enslaved men, women and children at Mount Vernon to more than 150 by the time the Revolutionary War began. Salas was reportedly in the basement at the time of the shooting and was not injured. Whenever possible, this article uses Ona’s words to tell her remarkable story. Market Square in Portsmouth, New Hampshire in 1853. It must have been incredibly scary for sixteen-year-old Ona to travel to New York City, a place she had never visited before. Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge - Ebook written by Erica Armstrong Dunbar. Dunbar tells the story in a new book, Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge (Feb. 7, Atria, $26). She walked out of the house and quickly rushed to safety. Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge by Erica Armstrong Dunbar is a very informative and interesting read. Ona Judge became Ona Staines and understood that her husband’s long absences at sea meant that she would have to defend herself if slave catchers … (Baton Rouge and London: Louisiana State University Press, 1977), pp. She revealed that her life in Portsmouth had been difficult. He recommended that Washington secure a lawyer’s services and direct future letters to “the Attorney of the United States in New Hampshire.”20, With Whipple unwilling to assist further, Washington turned to Burwell Bassett Jr., Martha Washington’s nephew. Thousands of Images covering the History of the White House, Official White House Ornaments, Books & More, https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/slavery/slavery-database/, https://founders.archives.gov/?q=Correspondent%3A%22Washington%2C%20George%22%20Correspondent%3A%22Whipple%2C%20Joseph%22&s=1111311111&r=2. That encounter with Oney (who also went by Ona) was more than 20 years ago. In 1845, Ona Judge was interviewed by an abolitionist newspaper. When Betty came to Mount Vernon with Martha, she brought her infant son, Austin. Oney Judge, a light mulatto girl, much freckled, with very black eyes and bushy black hair, she is of middle stature, slender, and delicately, about 20 years of age. Judge was secretly placed aboard the Nancy, a ship piloted by Captain John Bowles and bound for Portsmouth, New Hampshire. When a reporter asked why she chose that moment to escape, Ona said “she was determined never to be her slave,” referring to Eliza Custis.8 Eliza had earned a reputation among the enslaved women for being highly volatile and erratic—dangerous qualities in a slave owner. There are no records of how she was introduced to this community or who helped her, and Ona kept this information secret to protect everyone’s safety. Unlike Washington’s other enslaved servants in Philadelphia, Ona received new shoes several times per year while working in the President’s House.6 Perhaps Ona wore out her shoes while accompanying Martha on her visits. Dunbar writes in her book that Judge never intended to honor this agreement: “She told Whipple what he wanted to hear, agreed to return to her owners, and left his presence with no intention of ever keeping her word.” In any case, Washington bluntly refused Whipple’s proposal, writing that “To enter into such a compromise…is totally inadmissible.” Though he might be in favor of gradual abolition of slavery, the president continued, he didn’t want to reward Judge’s “unfaithfulness” and inspire other enslaved people to try and escape. In August 1799, Washington asked his nephew, Burwell Bassett Jr., to try and seize Judge and any children she may have had on his upcoming business trip to New Hampshire. I knew the Washingtons had slaves but I just didn't know how sneaky they were to work around their 'human property'. Usually George Washington did not prefer white indentured servants. There are seven enslaved people that go, only two women, and Ona’s one of them. By then, Ona had an infant, and her husband [s2If !is_user_logged_in()] Never Caught Summary. Just eight months after her escape from the President’s House, Ona Judge married Jack Staines here, a free black seaman, with whom she would have three children. With an active and growing free black community of some 6,000 people, Philadelphia had become the nation’s leading hotbed of abolitionism. The couple went on to have three children: Eliza, Will, and Nancy. Shortly after George Washington‘s death, the London newspaper Bell’s Weekly Messenger praised the first U.S. president’s decision to free his slaves in his will. Andrew Judge, Ona’s father, was also an expert at sewing. Instead, she … She worked exclusively for Martha Washington in every capacity of a personal maid and was shocked and horrified that Martha would callously give her away to her incredibly selfish and nasty-tempered granddaughter as a wedding present! 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