SUSAN HELLMAN AND MADDY MCCOY Soil Tilled by Free Men The Formation of a Free Black Community in Fairfax County, Virginia eorge Washington’s death in December of 1799 sparked a revolu- tionary chain of events that transformed a small corner of Fairfax GCounty, Virginia, from an assemblage of slave labor plantations into a successful community based on free labor. Washington’s remarkable decision to emancipate his slaves led to the creation of a racially diverse and harmonious community that thrived economically during the antebellum period while the rest of Fairfax County struggled. Four decades after Washington’s death, the efforts of free black families and an influx of pro- gressive northerners ensured this community’s continuing survival. Together this remarkable society managed to navigate and endure the turmoil and strife of the Civil War, emerging poised for a successful postwar Recon- struction. The narrative begins in 1674, when Nicholas Spencer and John Washington, George Washington’s great-grandfather, received a patent for approximately 5,000 acres along the Potomac River in what later became Fairfax County. The Spencers and Washingtons divided the tract into rough- ly equal shares in 1690. John Washington’s granddaughter, Mildred Washington, eventually came into possession of the Washington half of the grant, later selling it to her brother, Augustine Washington, in 1726. Augustine Washington, George Washington’s father, constructed the dwelling that was later to be called Mount Vernon on this land in 1735. George Washington’s older half-brother Lawrence Washington inherited the Susan Hellman is the Historic Site Manager of Carlyle House Historic Park and former Acting Director of Woodlawn and Pope-Leighey. Maddy McCoy is a Founding Director of History Revealed, Inc. VIRGINIA MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY VOL. 125 • NO. 1 40 • Virginia Magazine property in 1743, naming it Mount Vernon after his commanding officer in the British Navy. Upon Lawrence’s death in 1752, George Washington inherited a managing interest in the estate. As a residuary heir, Washington came into full ownership of Mount Vernon after the deaths of Lawrence’s daughter in 1754 and his widow in 1761. Between 1752 and 1799, Washington expanded Mount Vernon to approximately 7,600 acres.1 Washington divided portions of his estate into five separate farms: Mansion, River, Union, Muddy Hole, and Dogue Run. In 1799, he set aside 2,000 acres from his Dogue Run Farm as well as part of his “chappel lands” as a bequest to his nephew, Lawrence Lewis, and Lewis’s bride, Eleanor “Nelly” Parke Custis. Nelly was Martha Washington’s granddaughter, who had been raised by the Washingtons at Mount Vernon along with her younger brother, George Washington “Washy” Parke Custis. The children’s mother, Eleanor Calvert Custis, suffered from poor health after their births, and their father, John Parke Custis, died at Yorktown in 1781 when Nelly was four and Washy was less than a year old. The Washingtons adopted the two children in 1781, raising them as their own. The 2,000-acre bequest to Lawrence and Nelly Lewis ensured that the couple would reside near the Washingtons at Mount Vernon. The Lewises completed construction of a grand mansion in 1805 and named their plantation Woodlawn. This 2,000-acre tract of land would ultimately become the nucleus of the free labor community.2 George Washington utilized slave labor to work his farms. He became a slaveholder at age eleven, inheriting ten slaves upon his father’s death. He inherited more slaves from his half-brother Lawrence’s estate, six in 1754 and five more in 1762. By the time of the American Revolution, Washington had purchased at least sixty additional slaves. In the summer of 1799, he conducted a census that listed all of the enslaved individuals residing on the Mount Vernon estate. This 1799 slave census is an invaluable document as it is a snapshot of the entire enslaved Mount Vernon population, their ages, family structure, trades, and farms of residence. Importantly, George Opposite page: This map, published in 1801, shows the five farms that belonged to George Washington in 1793. (Library of Congress) Hellman and McCoy—Soil Tilled by Free Men • 41 42 • Virginia Magazine Washington also recorded whether they were dower slaves, his slaves, or the hired slaves of his neighbor, Mrs. French. Included on the census was a Washington slave woman named Linney, a twenty-seven-year-old mother of two small children: Bartley and Matilda, whose descendants still live in the Mount Vernon vicinity. Linney and her two children resided on the Dogue Run Farm. Altogether there were 316 enslaved residents of Mount Vernon; 123 belonged to George Washington, 40 hired from Mrs. French, and 153 belonged to Martha Washington. These 153 individuals, commonly referred to as the dower slaves, were inherited by Martha Washington from her first husband, Daniel Parke Custis. Because Custis died without a will in 1757, Virginia law gave his young widow a life interest in one-third of his estate, including the slaves, all of whom had to be divided among any remaining heirs of her first husband when she died, whether she was remarried or not. The dower slaves, as well as those rented from Mrs. French, lived and worked alongside George Washington’s slaves at Mount Vernon, marrying with them, having children, and building families. Despite the close knit nature of this community, the legal distinction between dower and Washington slaves at Mount Vernon would end up making a crucial differ- ence at the death of George Washington. Although he could manage his wife’s dower slaves, Virginia law prohibited him from making decisions regarding their sale or potential manumission. When Washington wrote his will in 1799, he directed that his slaves be emancipated upon the death of Martha Washington. He did not have the right to free Martha Washington’s dower slaves, as they were legally the property of Daniel Parke Custis’s estate. However, George Washington’s slaves did not have to wait for his wife’s death to be freed. For reasons that are not entirely clear, she deeded them their freedom effective 1 January 1801. According to Pennsylvanian con- gressman Horace Binney, the Mount Vernon slaves may have attempted to set fire to the mansion house shortly after General Washington’s death. But upon Martha’s death in 1802, all of her dower slaves were partitioned local- ly among the four Custis heirs-at-law; none were granted their freedom. In keeping with Virginia law, George Washington’s 1799 will stipulated that emancipated minors, who were either orphaned or whose parents were unable to provide for them, were to learn a trade and be taught how to read and write. Nineteen years after Washington’s death, however, the Virginia Hellman and McCoy—Soil Tilled by Free Men • 43 George Washington’s (1732–1799) emancipation of his slaves in his will set off a chain of events that led to the formation of a free black community in Fairfax County. (Virginia Historical Society, 1857.2_AfterCons) General Assembly outlawed teaching any free person of color to read and write. This new restriction on educating the free black populace in Virginia meant that the former Washington slaves had an uncommon two-decade window of educational opportunity not afforded to many other free blacks.3 Many of Washington’s 123 former slaves remained in the general vicini- ty of the Mount Vernon estate, as they had family members who remained enslaved either at Mount Vernon itself or on farms in the surrounding area. Washington’s will directed that those former slaves who wanted to stay on the estate be provided for until their deaths. Former bondsman William Lee was a perfect example. Lee had served as Washington’s valet at Mount Vernon and during the Revolutionary War. After Washington’s death, he and his brother Frank were two of the few emancipated individuals who chose to remain on the estate. He became a popular source of stories and anecdotes to the burgeoning Mount Vernon tourist trade. The Washington estate pro- vided housing and employment for the Lee brothers until their deaths— Frank in 1821 and William in 1828.4 44 • Virginia Magazine Traditionally, little has been known about the dispersal of the former slaves who chose not to accept the estate’s support. However, the 1812 per- sonal property tax list for Truro Parish includes a separate listing for “free blacks at Free Town,” six households in all. All of the Mount Vernon estate lay in Fairfax County’s Truro Parish except for River Farm, which lay in Fairfax Parish. The listing for Free Town is the earliest known recorded reference to a free black settlement in Fairfax County. All of the individuals listed as residing in Free Town in 1812 are also listed together on the 1811 Truro Parish personal property tax list, but they are identified there as “General Washington’s free negroes.” Nat Bowman appears on this Free Town listing. The 1799 Mount Vernon slave census lists Nat as a blacksmith residing on the Dogue Run Farm with his wife Lucy, a dower slave. According to the stipulation of Martha Washington’s will, Lucy would have been bequeathed to one of Martha’s heirs and therefore could not join her husband at Free Town. Unfortunately, the exact location of Free Town is unknown. However, the fact that the Free Town inhabitants are referred to as “General Washington’s free negroes” in 1811 implies that Free Town was on or near the Mount Vernon estate.5 Between 1799 and 1806, at least forty-six enslaved individuals were emancipated outright by deeds of manumission in Fairfax County.