Slave Cabin

This cabin represents dwellings inhabited by enslaved people who worked on Washington's outlying farm. Groups of cabins were arranged opposite an overseer's house. At Dogue Run Farm, where Washington's 16-sided treading barn was originally located, the enslaved family of Silla and her husband Slammin Joe lived in a cabin much like this one. A 1799 census indicated that Silla and Joe had six children: Sophia, age 14; Savary, age 13; Penny, age 11; Israel, age 10; Israis, age 3; and Christopher, age 1. While Silla, a field hand, worked at Dogue Run Farm, Joe worked as a ditcher at the Mansion House Farm. During their work week, Monday through Saturday, the couple lived apart. On Saturday nights, Joe would walk roughly 3 miles to Dogue Run Farm to spend the weekend with his family.

Mount Vernon, Virginia · United States