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Ona "Oney" Judge Staines (c. 1773 – February 25, 1848) was an enslaved biracial woman who was owned by the Washington family, first at the family's plantation at Mount Vernon and later, after George Washington became president, at the President's House in Philadelphia, then the nation's capital city.
Dec 22, 2021 · Oney Judge was the enslaved personal attendant of Martha Custis Washington when she ran away from the President’s House in Philadelphia in 1796. Born about 1773 at Mount Vernon, Judge began laboring in the mansion when she was ten years old.
By Edward Lawler, Jr. More is known about Oney Judge than any other Mount Vernon slave because she lived to an old age, and she was interviewed by abolitionist newspapers in the nineteenth century. Oney (born c. 1773) was a dower slave, the daughter of Betty, a seamstress, and Andrew Judge, a white English tailor who was an indentured servant ...
Oct 21, 2019 · Ona was often called Oney by the Washingtons, but later in life introduced herself as Ona, so we have followed her preference. It was common practice for slave owners to give their enslaved workers nicknames that ended in”y” to subtly infantilize adult men and women.
Ona Judge, often referenced by the Washingtons as Oney, was born at Mount Vernon around 1774.
Resource. Life Story: Ona Judge (1774–1848) Self-Emancipated from the Presidential Mansion. The story of a Black woman who emancipated herself from George and Martha Washington. Print Page. Absconded from the household of the President of the United States, Oney Judge.
1846 interview with Ona Judge Staines. by the Rev. Benjamin Chase. Letter to the editor, The Liberator, January 1, 1847.. As quoted in Slave Testimony, Two Centuries of Letters, Speeches, Interviews, and Autobiographies, John W. Blassingame, ed. (Baton Rouge and London: Louisiana State University Press, 1977), pp. 248-50.
