Mount Vernon to Philadelphia

Nine enslaved men and women from the President's House were chosen by George Washington to accompany him to Philadelphia. Separated from their families at Mount Vernon, they were regularly rotated out of Pennsylvania to prevent them from gaining freedom under state law. They included Christopher Sheels, Washington's enslaved attendant; Hercules, an enslaved cook; Richmond; Giles, Hercules' enslaved son; Oney Judge, an enslaved stable hand; Austin, Ona's enslaved half brother and a house servant; Paris, an enslaved stable hand; Moll, an enslaved maid to Martha; and Joe Richardson, an enslaved postillion for the presidential coach.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania · United States