Charles was enslaved at George Washington's Mount Vernon and was married to Fanny, who labored at Ferry Farm and later Union Farm.1 In 1799, it was recorded that they were enslaved at Union Farm, but Charles often completed work as a ditcher at Mansion House.2 They were enslaved by the estate of Martha Washington's first husband Daniel Parke Custis.3 In 1794, Washington noted that Charles was "often laid up with a lameness."4 Washington wrote to his farm manager to care for people who were sick but suspected that "they will lay by when no more ails them, than ails those who stick to their business."5 It is certainly possible that Charles was legitimately ill in these instances. However, enslaved people throughout the United States often feigned illness as a less noticeable means to resist slavery. Fanny and Charles had three children, Jamie (b. 1788), Daphne (b. 1794), and Charles, (b. 1798).6
Updated by Zoie Horecny, 7 March 2025
Notes:
1. "[Diary entry: 18 February 1786]," Founders Online, National Archives.
2."Washington’s Slave List, June 1799," Founders Online, National Archives; “From George Washington to George Augustine Washington, 10 June 1787,” Founders Online, National Archives.
3. "Washington’s Slave List, June 1799," Founders Online, National Archives.
4. “From George Washington to William Pearce, 18 May 1794,” Founders Online, National Archives.
5. Ibid.
6. "Washington’s Slave List, June 1799," Founders Online, National Archives.
Bibliography:
Genovese, Eugene. Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made. New York: Vintage Books, A Division of Random House, 1972.
Thompson, Mary V. “The Only Unavoidable Subject of Regret”: George Washington, Slavery, and the Enslaved Community at Mount Vernon. Charlottesville and London: University of Virginia Press, 2019.
Schoelwer, Susan P., ed. Lives Bound Together: Slavery at George Washington's Mount Vernon. Mount Vernon, VA: Mount Vernon Ladies Association, 2016.
