Follow the Footsteps
Photo by Jim Murphy, author of “Real Philly History, Real Fast,” published by Temple University Press.
Fleeing to Freedom
These footsteps signal that Ona (aka Oney) Judge, a 23-year-old seamstress for Martha Washington, fled from the President’s House in Philadelphia on May 21,1796. She eventually arrived in New Hampshire via The Underground Railroad.
Why run at this time? After learning that Martha Washington was giving her as a wedding gift to Elizabeth Parke Custis Law, an ill-tempered granddaughter, Oney made plans to leave.
“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.”
At one point, Judge told Joseph Whipple, a customs collector in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, “she would readily return, but only if the Washingtons promised to free her after their deaths.” To George Washington, that was a deal breaker.
So Ona stayed in New Hampshire the rest of her life. After Washington’s death in December 1799, the family never troubled her any longer.
Sources:
Dunbar, Erica Armstrong. Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge. New York: Atria Books, 2001
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oney_Judge
https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/ona-judge/
https://www.realphillyhistory.com/blog/french-kiss-part1-r93hd