The Escape of Oney Judge
Surprisingly, George Washington was in favor of gradual abolition, despite the number of slaves that he owned. “I can only say that there is not a man living who wishes more sincerely than I do to see a plan adopted for the abolition of slavery,” wrote Washington on April 12, 1786, in a letter to Robert Morris.
Despite that, as we’ll see, he held no sympathy for an escaped slave, even his own. Oney Judge was one of seven enslaved Africans that was taken to New York City in 1789. A year later, the national capital was transferred to Philadelphia, two additional slaves joined the Washington Household. Of the nine slaves in Philadelphia, Oney and Hercules are the only two that we know anything about.
To go along side this story, it is important to note that the Pennsylvania legislature had passed a law that would gradually emancipate any slave that was owned by non-citizens of Pennsylvania. While parts of the law would eventually be ruled unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court (1842), it is an important side story to Oney Judge’s eventual escape.
Despite that law, and Washington’s quoted preference towards gradual abolition, he claimed that he was not to be held to Pennsylvania’s law when the national seat of government was moved to Philadelphia in 1790. He held that he was a citizen of Virginia. In order to get around the law, he eventually started to rotate his slaves so that they weren’t confiscated and freed every six months, as the law required.
It is possible that Oney Judge would have been one of the slaves rotated out of the state of Pennsylvania by the Washingtons (we don’t know that for sure, as records weren’t kept). However, we know for sure that she was going to be given as a wedding present to Martha Washingon’s granddaughter. She wanted to prevent this at all costs.
Oney Judge escaped from the Philadelphia Presidential residence on May 21, 1796. In an 1845 interview, Oney Judge recalled, “Whilst they were packing up to go to Virginia, I was packing to go, I didn’t know where; for I knew that if I went back to Virginia, I should never get my liberty. I had friends among the colored people of Philadelphia, had my things carried there beforehand, and left Washington’s house while they were eating dinner.”
Immediately following her escape, the Washingtons posted Runaway advertisements in Philadelphia newspapers. Rewards of up to $10 were offered for anyone who brought her back, and additional monies were promised if anyone captured her further away from Philadelphia. Oney Judge escaped on a ship named Nancy that was captained by a man named John Bowles. The Nancy was headed towards Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where Oney hoped to find safe haven.