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Ona Maria (Oney) Judge: a Daring Heroine for Freedom ?-1848 Ona

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Ona Maria (Oney) Judge: a Daring Heroine for Freedom ?-1848 Ona Ona Maria (Oney) Judge: A Daring Heroine for Freedom ?-1848 Ona Judge Stains led a remarkaBle life. Ona was Born a slave. Her mother Betty, was an expert at textiles and her father, Andrew Judge, was a white indentured servant from Leeds, England who arrived in America in 1772. “Oney” as she was called was a slave owned By President George Washington and his wife Martha. Oney was a “dower slave”. Martha Washington’s first husBand’s estate actually owned Oney. In effect, this slave girl Belonged to the descendants of Daniel Parker Curtis. Legally, she was on-loan to Martha and George. The “First Family” of the new nation eventually amassed more than 300 Black men, women, and children as slaves. While the White House was Being Built in 1796, President Washington and his wife took their personal servants and relocated to Philadelphia. Ona was among them. By this time, she was a maid-in- waiting for the First Lady, Martha Washington. As a personal servant (house Negro) of Martha, Oney was not exposed to any particular hardships. But little did the Washingtons suspect what the move to Philadelphia had done to the heart and mind of this lovely slave girl. As the Washingtons made plans to return to Virginia, Oney helped them pack even as she made her plans to escape. Oney knew if they took her Back to Virginia she would proBaBly remain a slave for the rest of her life. Freedom was now in the heart and mind of Ona. Being able to interact with the free-slaves in Philadelphia had strengthened her resolve to emancipate herself. According to an 1845 interview with an elderly Ona, a Reverend T.H Adams of “The Granite Freeman: puBlication writes, “Being ask how she escaped, she (Ona) replied suBstantially as follows, “Whilst they were packing up to go to Virginia, I was packing to go (escape), I didn’t know where; for I knew that if I went back to Virginia, I should never get my liBerty. I had friends among the colored people of Philadelphia, (I) had my things carried there beforehand, and left Washington’s house while they were eating dinner.” 2 It was during the fall of 1796, George Washington’s final months in office, that Ona Judge Stains, a slave Belonging to the “first Family”, escaped the Executive Mansion in Philadelphia and made her way to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. George Washington, upon learning of her whereabouts, sent several correspondents and solicited help from friends and family in an effort to persuade Ona to return. Despite their attempts, Ona eluded Washington and his efforts to entrap her, eventually settling in Greenland, New Hampshire. Since slaves were considered property, George Washington wrote to Portsmouth’s Collector of Customs seeking his help in regaining possession on Ona. In a letter dated September 1, 1796, the President requests that Customs Collector Joseph Whipple, “seize her and put her on board a vessel bound immediately to this place, or to Alexandria” with a promise to reimburse him of any cost. Honored to have his services called upon the President, Whipple found and interviewed Ona. He was so impressed by her character, so convinced of her “thirst for freedom” that he decided not to return her to slavery. He suggested to President Washington that the courts would Be the Best place to attempt to retrieve his fugitive slave. Washington tried to capture Ona again two years after his retirement as President. He asked his nephew, who was planning a trip to New Hampshire, to try to seize the woman (Ona) along with any children she might have had and send them all Back to the Virginia plantation. Ona was informed of the scheme and moved from Portsmouth to Greenland New Hampshire. Three months after this incident, George Washington died, and she said “they never trouBled me any more after he was gone…” She finally felt free. Ona married Jack Stains in January 1797. They had two daughters and one son. Ona outlived everyone in her family and her old age Became a pauper, supported By the Benevolence of her community. During her freedom she learned to read, took up hoBBies such as painting, raised her children and came and went as she pleased. The ex-slave who defied America’s first President, admitted that her life as a free woman was much more difficult than it would have Been had she stayed with the 3 Washingtons. However, when asked if she regretted leaving Mount Vernon, Ona replied “No, I am free, and here, I trust, Been made a child of God By the means.” She died on February 25, 1848. .
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