Exhibition The Two Georges: Parallel Lives in an Age of Revolution

Enslaved Families

The text panel in front of you reads:

At the time of George Washington’s death, there were 317 enslaved people living at Mount Vernon. This number included many families. Marriages between enslaved couples were not recognized by law, leaving families vulnerable to separation. The condition of slavery passed from mother to child, with no regard for the rights of either parent. Washington’s needs for labor on his five farms took precedence for him over the needs or wishes of the enslaved families whose lives he controlled.

George III never saw the enslaved people who labored on the plantations that enriched his kingdom, but he was no less complicit in the institution of slavery.

Mount Vernon

There is a large graphic on the wall to your right. The label reads:

Architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe made this watercolor after a visit to Mount Vernon in July 1796, the summer before Washington retired from the presidency. George and Martha Washington are seated at a tea table on the piazza. Martha Washington’s grown granddaughter Eleanor Parke Custis is standing as her dog, Frisk, romps on the lawn.

Exhibit Item(s)

Benjamin Henry Latrobe, View of Mount Vernon with the Washington Family on the Piazza, July 16, 1796. Courtesy of The Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association. A color painting depicting the front façade of Mount Vernon with trees in the foreground and the Potomac River in the background.

The display case to your right contains three objects:

1. Farm Reports and Family Life

From 1786 until his death, George Washington required detailed, weekly reports from the managers of his five farms at Mount Vernon. He intended these as a record of the work at his farms. The reports also document the lives of Mount Vernon’s enslaved people. This report shows them at work plowing, planting, building fences, fishing, and spinning. The managers also recorded births and deaths. At Muddy Hole farm, a boy named Billy, or William, was nursed by his mother Kate before dying at age twelve. At River Plantation, a woman named Cornelia spent six days in “child bed” after giving birth.

Exhibit Item(s)

George Augustine Washington to George Washington, April 7, 1792, Farm Report. George Washington Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (041.00.00). A ledger containing handwritten notes detailing the work of enslaved people on George Washington’s plantations.

A quote to the right of the label reads:

“By Sickness: Kate Nursing her son Billy 6 days”
—George Augustine Washington to George Washington, April 7, 1792, Farm Report

2. “A List of Tithables”

“Tithables” were possessions or household members on which Virginia residents had to pay taxes. Here, for the benefit of the county tax collector, Washington lists enslaved people by occupation (house servants, carpenters, smiths) or by the Mount Vernon farm where they lived (Home, Muddy Hole, Williamson’s, Dogue Run, and Mill plantations). The five men identified with first and last names were salaried workers. Four (Alton, the Stephenses, and Foster) were overseers; and one, John Askew, was a carpenter.

Exhibit Item(s)

George Washington. “A List of Tithables given in June 1, 1760, Fairfax County.” George Washington Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (022.00.00). A handwritten list of names beginning with the words “House servants: John Alton, John Askew, Breechy, Jack, Nat, Schomberg, Doll, Jenny, Betty, Phillis.”

3. A List of the Enslaved People at Mount Vernon, 1799

Around the time he made his will, Washington made this list of enslaved people at Mount Vernon. It includes people he owned outright, people who belonged to the estate of Martha Washington’s first husband (known as “dower slaves”), and people he rented from a neighbor. In his will, Washington was only able to free the people he owned outright. This list includes a ten-year-old boy at Dogue Run Farm named Roger, the son of a woman named Grace. He is probably the same child whose birth is recorded in the farm report of March 6, 1790.

Exhibit Item(s)

George Washington. “Washington’s Slave List,” 1799 (reproduction). Courtesy of The Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association. A handwritten ledger listing enslaved people.

The Washingtons

To the right of the display case is a text panel that reads:

In an age of rebellion, the Washingtons, like the royal family, had to contend with unruly children. George Washington helped raise Martha’s two surviving children from her first marriage: John Parke Custis, known as Jacky, and Martha Parke Custis, known as Patsy. Patsy died from an epileptic seizure in 1773 at age seventeen. Martha Washington spoiled Jacky, her only surviving child, while George Washington supervised the education of his rebellious stepson.

Jacky died of “camp fever” in 1781 shortly after the British surrender at Yorktown. He was twenty-six. Jacky left a widow and four children. The Washingtons informally adopted two of these, Eleanor Parke Custis and George Washington Parke Custis. Washington also supervised the children of his deceased brother, Samuel. He was exasperated when some of them behaved irresponsibly.

The Washington Family

To the right of this text is a framed engraving. The label reads:

This print from the Civil War era shows George and Martha Washington, seated. With them are Martha Washington’s grandchildren, Eleanor Parke Custis and George Washington Parke Custis, who lived with them. At right is an unidentified man, probably one of the enslaved people who came to Philadelphia with Washington while he was president. On the table is a map showing the site of the future federal city, Washington, D.C.

Exhibit Item(s)

William Sartain. Washington and His Family. From an original painting by Christian Schussele, Philadelphia, 1864. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress (031.00.00). A color engraving showing George Washington and his family gathered around a table.

“I watch his every Motion”

On the wall, to the left of the “Enslaved Families” text panel where we began this section is a framed letter. The label reads:

Martha Washington’s son John Parke Custis, known as Jacky, was the only one of her four children with her first husband to survive to adulthood. In this letter, his teacher reports that he had developed passions for racing, foxhunting, guns, dress, and girls, but “he does not much like Books.” Boucher assured Washington: “I watch his every Motion, & tho’ He is perpetually doing something or other displeasing to Me, yet, upon the whole, I still hope & believe He will turn out, if not a very clever, what is much better, a good Man.”

Exhibit Item(s)

Jonathan Boucher to George Washington, December 18, 1770. George Washington Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (033.00.01). A handwritten letter beginning with the words “say to you, that were it known, I should have the whole Family on my Back.”

A quote on the wall above this object reads:

“Harriot has sense enough, but no disposition to industry nor to be careful of her Cloaths.”
—George Washington to his sister Betty Washington Lewis regarding their niece Harriot, October 7, 1792

Direction to Next QR Code

To continue, walk to your left until you reach the next display case. To the right of this display case is a text panel titled “The Royal Children.” Scan the QR code at the top left corner of the text panel.