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{ "item_title" : "Ona Judge", "item_author" : [" Ally Cobs "], "item_description" : "On a spring evening in 1796, the President of the United States sat down to dinner in Philadelphia, and a young woman walked out the back door of his house.Ona Judge was an enslaved seamstress, born at Mount Vernon and trained from childhood to serve Martha Washington. She wore fine clothing, lived in the largest house in the city, and had given the Washingtons no reason to doubt her loyalty. Then she learned that Martha intended to give her away as a wedding gift, and she chose a dangerous road over the one that had been laid out for her.*Ona Judge: The True Story of George Washington's Runaway Slave and Her Escape from the President's House* traces her life from a Virginia plantation to a quiet New Hampshire town. It explains how the Custis inheritance tied her to the Washington family, how Pennsylvania's antislavery law shaped the way the president managed his household, and how Philadelphia's free Black community showed her that another life was possible. It follows her passage north in the hold of a merchant ship, and it recounts the efforts to bring her back, which involved a customs officer, a senator, and the president's own nephew.Her life in freedom was neither easy nor short of loss. She married a free Black sailor, raised children who never knew slavery, and endured poverty and grief in the small town of Greenland. Near the end of her life, she told her story to abolitionist journalists, and their interviews preserved it.Readers of American history will find here a clear, human portrait of the early republic, the Washington household, and the contradictions of a nation founded on liberty while slavery remained legal. No prior knowledge is required, only an interest in the people behind the history.Discover what happened to the woman who left the President's House and never went back.", "item_img_path" : "https://covers2.booksamillion.com/covers/bam/9/79/816/280/9798162801825_b.jpg", "price_data" : { "retail_price" : "19.89", "online_price" : "19.89", "our_price" : "19.89", "club_price" : "19.89", "savings_pct" : "0", "savings_amt" : "0.00", "club_savings_pct" : "0", "club_savings_amt" : "0.00", "discount_pct" : "10", "store_price" : "" } }
Ona Judge|Ally Cobs

Ona Judge : The True Story of George Washington's Runaway Slave and Her Escape from the President's House

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Overview

On a spring evening in 1796, the President of the United States sat down to dinner in Philadelphia, and a young woman walked out the back door of his house.

Ona Judge was an enslaved seamstress, born at Mount Vernon and trained from childhood to serve Martha Washington. She wore fine clothing, lived in the largest house in the city, and had given the Washingtons no reason to doubt her loyalty. Then she learned that Martha intended to give her away as a wedding gift, and she chose a dangerous road over the one that had been laid out for her.

*Ona Judge: The True Story of George Washington's Runaway Slave and Her Escape from the President's House* traces her life from a Virginia plantation to a quiet New Hampshire town. It explains how the Custis inheritance tied her to the Washington family, how Pennsylvania's antislavery law shaped the way the president managed his household, and how Philadelphia's free Black community showed her that another life was possible. It follows her passage north in the hold of a merchant ship, and it recounts the efforts to bring her back, which involved a customs officer, a senator, and the president's own nephew.

Her life in freedom was neither easy nor short of loss. She married a free Black sailor, raised children who never knew slavery, and endured poverty and grief in the small town of Greenland. Near the end of her life, she told her story to abolitionist journalists, and their interviews preserved it.

Readers of American history will find here a clear, human portrait of the early republic, the Washington household, and the contradictions of a nation founded on liberty while slavery remained legal. No prior knowledge is required, only an interest in the people behind the history.

Discover what happened to the woman who left the President's House and never went back.

This item is Non-Returnable

Details

  • ISBN-13: 9798162801825
  • ISBN-10: 9798162801825
  • Publisher: Independently Published
  • Publish Date: October 2026
  • Dimensions: 11 x 8.5 x 0.22 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 0.58 pounds
  • Page Count: 106

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