The Unsuccessful Pursuit
The pursuit of Oney Judge would last for several years and would involve several of the country’s top officials by the time all was said and done. In fact, as late as September 1798 a nephew of George Washington would travel to New Hampshire for the sole purpose of bringing Oney Judge back to the Washington family (this was just a year before George Washington died).
The primary method by which Washington might have seen Oney Judge’s return would have been through the courts, utilizing the Fugitive Slave Act (which he signed into law in 1793). However, he did not want to go about using this method, as he feared the response of abolitionists in New Hampshire, and as it would have been part of the public record, he feared it might attract unwelcome attention.
Instead, Washington pursued Judge through a series of intermediaries, including the Secretary of the Treasury, Oliver Wolcott Jr., and Joseph Whipple one of Portsmouth’s top officials. This attempt by Wolcott was planned as an abduction, which would have forcibly taken Judge back to the Washington household. However, it was abandoned when Whipple warned that such an attempt might cause a riot amongst the supporters of abolition in Portsmouth. Whipple refused Wolcott’s request to forcibly place Judge onto a ship against her will. However, he gained her agreement to return to the Washingtons on the condition that they agree to free her following their deaths.
Needless to say, George Washington was having none of that. In a scathing response to Whipple in late 1796, Washington wrote: “I regret that the attempt you made to restore the Girl…should have been attended with so little success. o enter into such a compromise with her, as she suggested to you, is totally inadmissible, for reasons that must strike at first view: for however well disposed I might be to a gradual abolition, it would neither be politic or just to reward unfaithfulness with a premature preference [of freedom]; and thereby discontent before hand the minds of all her fellow-servants who by their steady attachments are far more deserving than herself of favor.”
By 1798, Oney Judge had married and had a child. In September of that year, a nephew of Washington was sent to attempt to negotiate her return but failed. He then planned to kidnap her, but that too failed when she was warned by Senator John Langdon. So why is all this important? Well, first it shows that despite Washington’s abolitionist stance, he seemed unwilling to be lenient towards escaped slaves. Second, it is one of the earliest cases of an escaped slave where we know almost all the details, and that’s because Oney Judge was interviewed several times in the 19th century before her death. In many ways, Oney Judge represents one of the first inspirations for abolitionist America.
George Washington died in December 1799. In his Will, he declared that all of his slaves were to be freed upon the death of his wife Martha. Despite this, only 124 of the 300 plus slaves at Mount Vernon were freed, as the rest belonged to his wife’s estate. As Oney Judge was a dower slave, she was never truly free. She lived the rest of her life as a Runaway. Even her children belonged to the estate of Martha Washington née Custis. Her two daughters died 10 years before Judge, and no one knows what happened to her son.
Sources For Further Reading:
White House History – The Formerly Enslaved Household of the Grant Family
National Park Service – Ulysses S. Grant and Slavery
Exploring the Past – Did Ulysses S. Grant Own Slaves During the Civil War?
The Philly Voice – Escaping George Washington: Oney Judge’s ‘Amazing Story’ Of Courage
History Net – George Washington: His Troubles with Slavery
GW Today – George Washington’s Tangled Relationship With Slavery
The Huntington – George Washington, a Letter, and a Runaway Slave