Tracing the History of the Slave Cemetery

William (Billy) Lee, died in 1828, just a few years after his brother Frank. William Lee served as George Washington’s body servant throughout the Revolutionary War and was the only slave freed outright in Washington’s will. Like his brother, William Lee remained at Mount Vernon until his death and may also be buried in the cemetery. In fact, Lee’s grave site may be the one mentioned in an 1846 visitor account. “One of the servants pointed out that [grave] of Washington’s favorite servant, who was with him in his campaigns…” The visitor also remembered seeing a recently dug burial enclosed in a fence, that of “a favorite servant, an aged colored women.” The visitor concluded that though “there are many graves in the grove,” the “humble” cemetery was not “a mournful spot.”    

Caroline Moore’s account of her visit to Mount Vernon on April 30, 1833 provides our first eye-witness account of the burial ground. She wrote, “Our guide first took us to the tomb where the remains of General Washington are now interred. They were removed from the old tomb about 3 years since....Near his Tomb, you see the burying place of his slaves, containing 150 graves.” We believe that the narrow ridge south of the Washington family tomb could accommodate 150 burials.  

In 1928, the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association became concerned that the unmarked cemetery for General Washington’s slaves would be forgotten and “recommended that a simple marker, suitable inscribed, be placed on this consecrated ground.”  We believe this marker to be the earliest of its kind on a historic plantation.

The first scientific study of the burial ground was undertaken in 1985. A geophysical study found that possibly 51 burials were located south and west of the 1983 memorial.