Sarah Johnson (Mount Vernon)
Sarah Johnson (September 29, 1844 – January 25, 1920) was an African American woman who was born into slavery at Mount Vernon, George Washington's estate in Fairfax, Virginia.Afraid that she would come to harm, and after consulting with Bushrod Washington (whom the late President had designated as one of the executors of his will, as well as beneficiary of the core Mount Vernon plantation), Martha freed the slaves which she fully owned on New Year's Day in 1801.In 1821 he sold fifty-four enslaved people (mostly from the "Union Farm" part of the estate) to Horatio S. Sprigg (1783–1847) and Archibald P. Williams (1788–1846) for $10,000, (~$305,675 in 2023) supposedly to work on their Louisiana plantations on Bayou Robert on the Red River.Bushrod Washington replied by publishing an article defending his right to sell his property in another Baltimore newspaper, and criticized Niles for visiting Mount Vernon and talking with its residents in his absence.Ned and George, sons of Oliver Smith, Bushrod's lifelong personal manservant, escaped in early October, then were recaptured but not sold, following their father's pleas.On December 3, another of George Washington's executors, Lawrence Lewis, who was also a local justice of the peace, ordered their sister Hannah arrested and held in jail for trial.Her husband, Hezekiah Scott, some of whose relatives had been in the coffle, had initially been arrested, but was released when the white overseer and his wife (who had prepared the coffee Hannah served, which proved arsenic tainted) failed to appear for the trial.Sarah's mother Hannah Parker was born around 1826 at Blakeley, and raised there, although Jane Charlotte Washington frequently transferred slaves between the plantations, as well as herself undertook the two-day carriage ride between them.Washington would sell Wellington plantation in 1858 and move westward back to Frederick County, where he lived with his father and at least one brother (as well as enslaved people) until his death in 1861, but never married.[16] On October 25, 1888, Johnson was married a second time, to widower William Robinson, who was among the district's most substantial black landowners (having purchased a total of about fifty acres of Mason family land) and who would later also work part-time as a day laborer for the Mount Vernon Ladies Association.The prime real estate was on a proposed railroad route to Alexandria, so later part was condemned for Fairfax county to construct a road, and other parcels were sold during the next three decades after financial reverses in her old age.The book uses court records, correspondence, newspapers, and ledgers in order to tell the stories of African Americans who lived and worked at Mount Vernon during and after slavery,[20] as influenced by Secession, the Civil War, Emancipation, the Reconstruction era, and Jim Crow laws.
Mount VernonFairfax, VirginiaMount Vernon Ladies' AssociationGeorge Washington and slaveryWilliam Russell BirchYale University Art GalleryGeorge WashingtonMartha WashingtonDaniel Parke CustisBushrod WashingtoncoffleLeesburg, VirginiaHezekiah NilesNiles Weekly RegisterRobert Townshend Thompson"Blakeley"WavelandFauquier CountyCivil WarWest FordJefferson CountyFrederick CountyBenson LossingSecessionEmancipationReconstruction eraJim Crow lawsLos Angeles TimesList of enslaved people of Mount VernonList of enslaved peoplePresident of the United StatesSenior Officer of the ArmyContinental ArmyDelegateSecond Continental CongressFirst Continental CongressMilitary careerRevolutionary WarFrench and Indian WarJumonville GlenBattle of Fort NecessityBattle of the MonongahelaForbes ExpeditionWashington in the American RevolutionCommander-in-chief, Continental ArmyAides-de-campWashington's headquartersoffice and sleeping tentBoston campaignSiege of BostonNew York and New Jersey campaignDelaware River crossingBattle of TrentonBattle of the Assunpink CreekBattle of PrincetonPhiladelphia campaignBattle of BrandywineBattle of GermantownBattle of White MarshValley ForgeBattle of MonmouthBattles of SaratogaSullivan ExpeditionYorktown campaignSiege of YorktownCulper Spy RingNewburgh ConspiracyNewburgh letterAsgill AffairEvacuation DayResignation as commander-in-chiefBadge of Military MeritPurple HeartWashington Before Boston MedalNelsonBlueskinOther U.S.founding eventsInitiated, co-wrote, 1769 Virginia AssociationInitiated, 1774 Fairfax ResolvesContinental AssociationCourt of Appeals in Cases of Capture1785 Mount Vernon ConferenceChairman, 1787 Constitutional ConventionGeorge Washington's political evolutionPresidencytimeline)1788–89 United States presidential electionFirst inaugurationinaugural bible1792 presidential electionSecond inaugurationReception at TrentonTitle of "Mr. President"Cabinet of the United StatesSecretary of StateAttorney GeneralSecretary of the TreasurySecretary of WarJudiciary Act of 1789Oath Administration ActNonintercourse ActWhiskey RebellionMilitia Acts of 1792Coinage Act of 1792United States MintPresidential Succession Act of 1792United States Capitol cornerstone layingProclamation of NeutralityNeutrality Act of 1794Jay TreatyPinckney's TreatySlave Trade Act of 1794Residence ActThanksgiving ProclamationFarewell AddressState of the Union Address January 1790December 1790Federal judicial appointmentsJohn Rutledge Supreme Court nominationsPresidential libraryThe Washington PapersReligious viewsTown DestroyerLegacyBirthplaceFerry Farm boyhood home