Mount Vernon Plantation

Mount Vernon Plantation

1734 - Present

When President Washington died in 1799, the enslaved population at Mount Vernon numbered 317. Of the 317 enslaved, 123 belonged to George Washington, 153 were owned by the estate of Martha, 41 were rented from local neighbors. Washington's will freed his 123 enslaved persons.

A few descriptions of the people who were enslaved by Washington are presented here as they were in 1799: Cesar, about 50 years old, was a field worker and because he was literate, he was a preacher; Giles, at the age of 40, was a postilion, whose job was to ride one of a pair of lead horses attached to a carriage. He wore a custom - fitted, red and white suit. Katie was a field worker, around 50 years old in 1799. She is also believed to have been a midwife who helped deliver babies. Kitty, who was between 40 and 50 years old, was a dairy maid and a spinner.

Buried Lives: The Enslaved People of George Washington's Mount Vernon by Carla Killough McClafferty

The Only Unavoidable Subject of Regret: George Washington, Slavery, and the Enslaved Community at Mount Vernon by Mary V. Thompson

3200 Mount Vernon Memorial Highway
Mount Vernon, Virginia

Mount Vernon

There is a cemetery for the free and enslaved African Americans, not far from Washington’s tomb. The number of burials contained therein is unknown. The graves were unmarked, or the markings did not survive the passage of time. It is believed that William (Billy) Lee and West Ford are buried there. There is a slave memorial at the site of the cemetery remembering those who were not free.

Painted by Edward Savage, The Washington Family, National Gallery of Art