Listen to the episode here.

What an episode of two indomitable people!

Today, Theresa kicks things off by telling the story of Dr. Daniel Hale Williams. Dr. Dan is credited with completing the first open-heart surgery. This was in the mid-1800s, before the creation of rib spreaders, bypass machines, or any other devices that would make his life easier. Even better, his patient survives. To further boost his creds, this incredible human created the first racially integrated hospital and nursing school.

After that, Angie struggles with a transition to tell the story of Ona Judge. The tale begins with Ona being enslaved to Martha Washington, the wife of the first president. Well, after President Washington engages in some shady antics to keep Ona enslaved, she absconds. This gets old, George-y boy, to crash out. The rest, as they say, is history.

This story pairs well with
Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler
Bass Reeves
Robert Smalls

Transcript

Theresa: Hi, and welcome to the Unhinged History Podcast. The podcast where two compulsive nutjobs are going to read the history sources and stories that are just mentioned in passing on a Pinterest meme or on a TikTok. And we are going to study the full backstory that nobody asked us to. And then we’re going to regurgitate that story to our friend in your listening presence. I’m Post One, I’m Teresa, and that is Host Two. I’m Angie. 

Angie: And Angie. I’m just laughing at the idea of regurgitating. In your presence, you all have to listen. 

Theresa: I know. You tuned in. You could be doing other things or you could be using our voices to distract yourself from the fact that you’re currently scrubbing the toilet. And I love this for you. Me too. 

Angie: I love running errands with friends. Thanks for including us. Yeah. 

Theresa: I’m here for it. We like being in the Trader Joe’s parking lot. It’s going to take an hour and a half to park, but you’ve got us. 

Angie: And we’re not actually sitting in the car, so it’s actually really great for us. 

Theresa: I know. It’s the best time to go to Trader Joe’s. Somebody else is doing it. We looked at the spreadsheet before we hit record, like responsible adults, and I’m going to say that it’s me who goes first. And my source comes from a listener turned friend in that parasocial way, Ryan on TikTok. Hi, Ryan. 

If this were Bud Light, this Bud’s for you. Sources are Columbia University, Daniel Hale Williams and the first successful heart surgery, Jackson State University, who was Dr. Daniel Hale Williams and the stuff you missed in history class, Dr. Daniel Hale Williams. I don’t know if you know this. Today we’re talking about Dr. Daniel Hale Williams. You know, I was going to ask. 

So our boy Daniel, he’s born 1858 in Hollis, Hollis Bay’s Berg, Pennsylvania. That word should not be as hard as it was. It shouldn’t actually even be a word if we’re being honest. Look, there’s tons of weird city names that we have uncovered. This one wasn’t even that bad. That’s true, but it’s still, who put it together? The Holidays, who wanted their own town. 

Angie: It’s called Holidays Berg. Anyway, carry on. Do go on. 

Theresa: Daniel, he’s the fifth of seven kids. His parents are Methodist and Daniel’s got a mixed up background. Nope, Daniel has a mixed background because I don’t want to go that route when I’m going to say he is white, indigenous and black. OK, so this gives him a lighter skin tone and he has a reddish hue to his hair. OK, so he kind of strikes me as some of those people that you see and you go, wow, what are you? 

You’re lovely. Yeah, like this is a fun mix. You know, culturally ambiguous in certain circles is kind of what I feel. Anyhow, with that, dad is a barber. 

So again, mid-1850s. So he’s a barber surgeon. He also pulls teeth on the weekends. His mom, Sarah Price Williams, she has a very interesting background in the sense that she’s raised on the same plantation that she was enslaved on. So she she is no longer enslaved? I know, I do not believe she is enslaved any longer, but she still lived on the same plantation. 

She also lived there and was the cousin of Frederick Douglass. Oh, OK. So that was a name drop. I wasn’t expecting at the beginning of this. Now, when Daniel is 11 years old, his dad passes away of TB. 

Angie: Oh, well, he’s a little simplest. 

Theresa: Yeah, I mean, the truth. Now, one of the two basically now when dad dies, his mom, Sarah Price Williams, she’s got a bunch of tough choices to make. Because again, mid-1800s, not a ton of options for a woman and mother of seven, because she now doesn’t have a husband, but she has some resources. But future prospects that she’s thinking through things are pretty slim. 

And because of her limited means, she needs to think through things well in advance. And quickly. Yes. So she’s forced to break up the family. Daniel is pulled from school and she sends him to live with a family friend who is going to apprentice him to learn how to make shoes. OK. He hates making shoes. That sucks. 

I’m sorry. Now, age 12 or around there, he convinces a friend of his dad. And I can’t figure out fully if the friend he convinced was the same guy who was apprenticing him to make shoes or if it was another human who knew dad. But either way, he convinces this friend of his dad to buy him a train pass to go see his mom in Rockford, Illinois. OK, because he’s like deuces, I’m out. I just want to go see my mom again. 

The kids 12th. So this makes sense to me when she or when he gets there and sees his mom, she ends up telling him that he has enough staff to take care of himself. Oh, and I’m not quite sure the tone that that was delivered in. OK. Like, is it delivered in a motherly, you know, I’m still going to baby you until you’re 45, but you have enough staff to take care of yourself. Or is it like, kid, I’ve got six others of you to worry about. And you’re good enough. 

Angie: Either way, I hope it’s in the playful way. I’m sad. 

Theresa: Yeah, either way, it’s not something you want to hear if you’re trying your best to get to mom’s door. Yeah. So in both. Yes. So fast forward a few years. 

I have this great quote. A few years after the Civil War, a ragged urchin wandered into the town of Jamesville, Wisconsin. No one knew where he came from. No one cared where he was going except for one family, the Andersons, who were the only black family in town. The patriarch, Charles Henry Anderson, must have seen something worthwhile under this boy’s dirt and rags for he took Daniel and his sister into his own home. 

And his sister. Yes. Okay. Now Daniel is a young man living in Henry, Henry Andersons, and he would grow to play the bass deal in Henry Andersons, well known band. And he does this as he’s completing the course at Jamesville classical academy, by which he would graduate in 1878. 

Okay. Now, he’s got this intense interest in medicine. And when our man, Charles Anderson recognizes this, he gets buddy, buddy with a dude named Harry Palmer. Nope. Henry Palmer. And Palmer is the former surgeon general for Wisconsin. That’s useful. 

It’s very useful. Palmer agrees to take our boy Daniel on. Now, let’s double tap on this because it’s easy to gloss over all that I just said. We have a black man, Charles Anderson, who is well connected and able to get in contact with Henry Palmer, the former surgeon general. Love that. And then convince him to apprentice this boy who doesn’t look anything like him, comes from a very separate background. 

So this feels like a lot of smaller strokes of great fortune that would, you know, so this is, I think this is important. Now, while Daniel’s in school, he does have a couple of relationships. One of them is with a girl named Ida Williams, not related to Daniel Williams. Okay. Okay. Now, Ida’s dad doesn’t approve of Daniel because Daniel’s black. Right. Okay. But the two stay in touch and Ida goes on to marry somebody else as, you know, people do. 

And years later, her, she would have a son that suddenly gets sick and Daniel would perform surgery on him and not charge her a dime. Is that the right thing to do? You have a skill set. You need someone else needs your skill set. You do what you can to support those you care about. But that was one of those little side stories that I was like, putting that in here. 

Angie: Put a pin in that one. 

Theresa: Yep. So around the time that Williams is 20, he indeed goes on to be Henry Palmer’s apprentice studies medicine at Chicago Medicine College. Now he’s struggling to raise funds for schooling. And at one point he reaches out to his mom looking for cash for college because that’s what kids in college do. And his mom doesn’t have anything, but she tells him that she’s learned, loaned quite a bit of money out to other people. And she encourages him to collect it on her behalf. 

Angie: So if you go get it, it’s yours or can you go get my money back? Go, if you go get it, it’s yours. 

Theresa: Got it. These families owe me some money. If you can collect on it, spend it as you wish it. Because right now I don’t have anything, but they might be able to give you some of what they owe me. This works. 

Angie: Okay. Okay. She doesn’t sound too terrible. No. 

Theresa: And I, I mean, I can’t imagine that I’m going to give her the benefit of the doubt. I can’t imagine that she tried to be terrible. I think she was trying to make the best of a bad situation. Yeah. You know, I can’t imagine she just wants to ship off half her kids for where it parts unknown, but regardless of her trying to help him, he’s not able to scrounge any of the money that is owed to his mom. 

And he’s forced to take out loans from other people and kind of perpetuate that cycle, but I will say he is able to eventually pay back everything that he was loaned. Okay. That’s cool. Again, speaks back to his character. Now, our man graduates. He goes to practice medicine in Chicago. When he’s in Chicago, there’s only three black physicians there. 

Angie: I’m actually impressed that there’s more than one. Fair. Like, because this is what 1860. 

Theresa: Um, probably a little bit later than that. I’d probably say the 1870s or so. Okay. Okay. Now he has an insurer internship and after it, he goes into private practice in an integrated neighborhood on Chicago’s South side. He’s also living in that neighborhood. Good for him. Now, one source would go on to say that in that neighborhood, he picks up the moniker Dr. Dan. 

Okay. Fairly informal considering that he goes through all this thing. You would think it would be Dr. Hale Williams, but he’s like, not Dr. Dan, let’s just, you know, who I am. 

Angie: Just yeah. 

Theresa: He goes on to teach anatomy at Chicago medical college and would serve as a surgeon to the city railway company. 

Angie: Oh, they need their own surgeon. I mean, I guess that makes sense. 

Theresa: Right. I mean, you want somebody on hand when somebody’s hand gets caught in a something or other and gets be gloved or whatever it is. Yeah. Okay. Now, after his internship, nope. 

Okay. He contributed to many medical journals and is teaching at his own matter, you know, with the Chicago medical college and he is a demonstrator of anatomy as well and he becomes that in 1885. Then he kind of heads to the Harry medical college in Nashville, Tennessee as a professor of clinical surgery. That’s impressive. 

So I’m kind of getting ahead of myself and I’m kind of going to give you a bit more details and we’re going to zoom back a bit in 1889. The governor of Illinois would appoint him to the board’s, the state board of health. Also, he’s earning accolades. Now he is a black man and he goes on to see a fair share of racism in the stuff we missed in history podcast. They talked about how he saw a friend’s sister who wanted to be a nurse, but she couldn’t get into training for whatever reason. It was easier for a black man to become a doctor than for a black woman to become a nurse. 

He could get into medical school, but she could not get into nursing school. That, that feels part for the course. So on top of that, you have, so you have that issue over here. You also have the black community. They’re excluded from receiving medical care at most hospitals. 

So if you do not live in the neighborhood that has the only hospital that will see you, you either have to travel an untenable distance or go without. Right. Okay. Now I also have to say because he’s black, he doesn’t have surgical privileges at any hospital. 

Angie: I’ve, okay. I’ve, keep going. Okay. It makes sense. Yep. 

Theresa: So you remember when I said he’s a surgeon for the city railway company? Yeah. Okay. This is where that ties in. He would have to go on and operate on his patients in their homes. Okay. He’s heating their bedsheets in their ovens to sterilize them, to use them as surgical drapes. Okay. He’s doing the very best that he can to maintain as good of hygiene standards as he can in someone’s living room. 

That’s not an OR. In 1880. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So this is, I feel like this paints a very solid photo of what we’re working with here. 

Yeah. Now, since he’s going through all of this, he’s determined that Chicago should have a hospital where both black and white doctors can study and where black nurses can receive training. And he rallied for a hospital that’s going to open up to treat everybody. He wants everybody to be able to work there. Everybody will receive care there and nurses to be able to get training regardless of what they look like. As it should be. 

Shocking. He spends months and he opens up Provident Hospital and Training School for nurses on May 4th, 1891. Good for him. 

This is the country’s first interracial hospital and nursing school. Wow. Okay. 

And he ends up getting donations from companies to do this. Okay. And this sounds like the companies just have great and wonderful hearts, but the truth is they’re realizing, like for the railroad company, if they can get their employees care, they can get them back to work faster. Yeah. And so for them, this is like, well, we might as well invest in our employees because they’re the ones making us money. 

I hate that it’s a financial thing. If it’s a best or even that it works, it works. Right. Like I’m not going to get upset that I get what I want, but for a reason that is less than charitable. Anyhow. Now, I will say that he’s got a tough road ahead of him because to staff the place he wants the bare minimums. 

He wants competent, experienced professionals. Yeah. Okay. These people aren’t applying. 

Of course. Because he needs nurses, but the nurses who are applying might be women of color, but they don’t have the skill set because there isn’t a shortage because they cannot be trained. 

Angie: Right. Isn’t that part of the goal of this hospital? 

Theresa: The, the call is to train them up, but he’s got to start with. 

Angie: Oh yeah. Oh yeah. If you have something to work with, right? Okay. Yeah. 

Theresa: And so he’s working through all this. Now we’re going to fast forward to a hot summer night in 1893. There is a young Chicago man named James Cornish who’s stabbed in the chest and rushed to Providence. When Cornish starts to go into shock, William, who’s looking at this chest wound, suspects that the wounds deeper and near his heart. And this is when he asks six doctors, four of whom are white, to observe while he operates. They are in a cramped operating room. There’s only crude anesthesia and Williams inspects the wound that’s between two ribs and he ends up having to expose the breastbone, cut through the rib cartilage and create a small trapdoor to the heart. Dang. 

Okay. Now he underneath sees that there is a damaged left internal mammary artery, which he sutures. Then he expects the sac around the heart, the pericardium. And that’s where he sees that the knife had left a gash near the right coronary artery. So at this point, the heart’s beating, transfusions impossible. Williams rinses the wound with the saline solution, held the edges of the palpitating wound with four sets and sewed them together. 

Angie: So like just on the fly, like this is what we have to do. 

Theresa: Okay. Just 51 days after this lethal wound is sustained, James Cornish walks out of the hospital. He would go on to live for another 20 years after the surgery. And this is a landmark operation that is hailed by the press. 

Good for him. Now let’s double click on this because our man, Dr. Dan did this without modern medical tools. There’s no rib spreader. 

There’s no bypass machine because nowadays you would turn off the heart, keep the blood pumping through another thing because as the heart’s beating, it’s moving and he’s having to operate in between beats. I didn’t even think of that. Okay. 

Okay. There’s also no medications to prevent clotting after surgery. All this to say he had to do this on the fly in the worst conditions you can imagine because nobody ever done it before. 

It’s so insane that most surgeons in Europe and Europe and Europe and North America, they thought that the concept of heart surgery is an insane decision that no logical doctor is ever going to actually try. Yet here we go. It worked. 

Yep. So he and Dr. Dan scours to see if anybody’s ever done this before. He can’t find any evidence. And so three years later, he follows up with Cornish. He confirms the dude’s still alive and then he publishes a paper on the surgery and this gets published in 1897. Okay. Now I love the fact that he’s like Cornish, are you still alive? Okay. Cool. Cool. All right. I can write this. 

Angie: And it’s only going to work if he’s still alive. Yeah. 

Theresa: I mean, if our man killed over a day after he left, this wouldn’t go over so hot. Now he believes. Just delete, delete, delete, delete, delete. It’s like we’re going to need some spin here. I need a marketer. 

How do I make this work? Yeah. So it’s commonly reported that this dude had the first heart operation, but there’s some stuff he wasn’t quite aware of because again, search wasn’t as easy as control F in the entire database. There’s a dude named Henry Dalton who published an account of a very similar surgery in 1891. And I guess there’s some earlier ones too. But again, harder to figure out. So he did the best he could. He was the first that he knew of. 

Angie: Either way, whether you’re the first or the third, it’s still impressive. Yeah, especially in a time where you’re right, control F doesn’t exist. 

Theresa: And neither does rip spreaders and you’re having to just, all right, here we go. Moment number five. Now, 1894, Dr. Williams becomes the chief surgeon at Friedman’s Hospital in Washington, DC. This is the most prestigious medical post that’s available to black men. Okay. Now he would go on there to really reduce the hospital’s mortality rate, which I had somewhere, did I write it down? 

No, but it went from scary high to basically industry average. Good for him. Now, 1895, he goes on to organize the National Medical Association for black professionals because they’re buying their band, they’re barred. 

You got barred because I combined band and barred. I’m here for it. Europia. Yep. 

I’m glad we won’t let that go. Nope. So they’re barred from the American Medical Association. So he comes up with his own group. 

He’s like, you know what? We do need a group of these humans who can come together and talk about the work they’re doing. Like, I don’t know one of the first heart surgeries. 

Angie: It seems like something you could take to a table meeting. Yeah. 

Theresa: Like you could be like, Hey, did you know you could just wait for the heart beat to stop and then run a line and then wait for it to stop again and do another stitch? 

You could. So he ends up returning home from Washington, DC, goes back to Chicago. He serves with Cook County Hospital from 1900 to 1901. And he would be on staff at St. Luke’s Hospital from 1907 to 1931. He ends up being the only black man allowed to operate there and also ends up becoming the charter member of the American College of Surgeons. 

Wow. He’s the only black guy to get that on her too. Well, that makes sense. So our dude is just racking up accolades. Now he goes on to leave the Friedman Hospital at some point, returns back to Provident, the one that he founded. And he basically like a rehash of all the things I’ve previously said where he just does this, does that, earns this, earns that, becomes a big badass. And in 1931, he ends up having a stroke or no, he, he back up. 

He experienced a stroke and then would die five years later in 1931. Okay. So in that part is, is a bummer, but currently to this day, from what I understand at Howard University Hospital in the emergency room, if a patient goes into a code blue, it is called a Dr. Dan. And a colleague, Vivian Thomas would go on to say his greatest pride was that directly or indirectly, he had a hand in making the most of the outstanding Negro surgeons of the current generation. 

I love that. So Dr. Dan was an absolute badass who in his mind did the first heart surgery. And still, if you look, he gets credit for the first heart surgery, even though there’s a couple like forgotten could be in the past. Well, good for him. 

Angie: Like, I mean, here’s the deal. Even if he wasn’t the first, they’re not working with a time where you could share information quickly. 

Theresa: You can’t get on YouTube and say, go back five seconds. I want to watch that bit again. 

Angie: Exactly. Right. So he, like I said, is doing it on the fly and figuring it out as he goes and saving the man’s life, which is probably exactly what the other two guys had to do also because again, no Google. 

Theresa: And I have a feeling. Press it. This is medicine. So it only works if the dude lives. 

Angie: Typically, that’s the desired outcome. That’s him. I love that. Good for him. 

Theresa: But yeah, he was, he was just, he was just one of those people that you just keep hearing and you’re like, this man could have been lost to making shoes. 

Angie: I was just thinking that just seconds ago, like his other option was making shoes and he hated it. I’m really glad he got out of there. Yeah. Yeah. Good for him. I mean, not only did he do something for himself, like he, he did the thing that he wanted to do. He made it possible for other people as well. The, the nurses and the rest of the people that are being educated with him. That’s, that’s super cool. 

Theresa: Well, and I love that he’s standing next to four black or two, two black surgeons, four white surgeons. And they’re all looking at this, what they believe, unprecedented event. Right. 

Angie: Yeah. I just, I have the image of him doing the surgery and the black guy, like the, the white guy’s just standing over like, uh, Charles, do you think if he goes to the left a little bit, like, like they’re just trying to work it out like you would, you know, and dude stand around an engine, that kind of thing. 

Theresa: I think they’d have to, because I’m assuming they’re all friends or at least colleagues that you would want in the room, a cramped room while you’re doing something you’ve never done before. Like I don’t want somebody watching me do basic math, like let alone heart surgery. 

I can’t let you, when you’re watching me type. Yeah. Like I just sees up and I just a, a Q, Q, E. Um, but he, so I’m sure there was a bit of, why don’t you do that? Ooh, wait for that beat. Okay. Now. Yeah. 

Angie: That’s kind of what I’m imagining. I love that. Yeah. Good for him. I love that. I, no idea how to tell you my story. 

Theresa: Uh, it starts with line one. Maybe start with sources prior to. 

Angie: You know, we’re 168 episodes into this. Do you really think I’m going to ever have it figured out? 

Theresa: I think it’s probably you’re more struggling with how do I transition from Teresa telling a surprisingly uplifting story to I can’t. Yeah. My story kind of has a couple of rough spots. Oh God, Teresa is not expecting this from me. I did this to her last week. 

Angie: Oh, okay. Here we go. Do you know the story of Onajaj? 

Theresa: Yes. And I know the story of Onajaj and this is when I think about whenever anybody says anything positive about George Washington. 

Angie: Okay. Do you want me to tell my story or just blue and in here? 

Theresa: No, here’s the deal. Here’s the deal. 

Theresa: I do not believe her story is well known. I do not have all of the particulars of her story at my fingertips. I just know that that’s son of a bitch. Okay, cool. Um, then I’ll go. 

Angie: So, Onajaj, George Washington’s Mount Vernon that delight. I think it’s Mount Vernon.org actually is with the. Yeah, Mount Vernon dot org. It’s that’s that source. The National Park Service escapes to freedom is what her article is called on there. 

Wikipedia has, believe it or not, a little article on her and so I am mentioning it because she is actually on Wikipedia and I didn’t think I was going to find, like, you know what I mean? I was actually shocked. Fair. Fair. 

Theresa: Like, there is… Of course the National Park Service has our back because… Yeah, they do. Yeah, they do. 

Angie: I have to actually open this one because I didn’t write it down so I can tell you what it is. Oh, Women in the American Story, New York History dot org, has a story on her and then History.com has, when one of George Washington’s enslaved workers escaped to freedom. Also in my notes, because I thought this was fascinating, entirely unrelated, but George Washington writes a letter to Tobias Lear dated April 12, 1791 and in the letter he’s talking about, I want to judge, but I did not cite this because of that. I found it fascinating. The beginning of the letter is him talking to Mr. Lear about educating his children with Hamilton’s children and I was like, wait, what? 

People just like, dads just have these conversations. That’s wild. So if anybody’s interested, you can go read all of George Washington’s letters online. Anyway. 

All right. So our girl, Oh, the judge, was born around 1773, 1774 at Mount Vernon in Virginia. We do know her mother’s name. She’s the daughter of Betty, who was a very skilled and very enslaved seamstress. From what we understand, her father was a white English tailor called Andrew Judge. One source says that he was indentured to Washington. Another source says he was just employed by Washington for a time. So do without what you will because there doesn’t seem to be any real clarity there. 

Theresa: I wonder if you were allowed to be like, he was my boss. I wasn’t getting paid, but he was my boss. 

Angie: Well, he was though. So, but it doesn’t, it’s not clear if he was paid as a servant or paid as a tailor. 

Theresa: Or what if he, after seven years of being indentured, he, and I don’t know much about the indentured process, he kind of stayed on for an extra year and then was paid. Like I’m trying to make both sources true. 

Angie: Honestly, that could be what works because he’s there from like 1772 to about 1784. So whether he’s there stationed there the whole time or that he’s employed by Washington the whole time, but he’s there for just over 10 years. What we do know is that Ona, who was called only by the Washington’s was described as quote, a light mulatto girl much freckled and almost white. Now, because she is a mixed race, she is able to secure a post in the house. 

I’m sure it’s common knowledge by now, but you have house slaves and you have outdoor slaves and typically the house slaves are usually chosen for their like the quote, softer work of the indoors for their skills and their looks. So because her mother’s the same stress, she is sort of raised in the same fashion, right? So she does the indoor work. By the time she’s about 10, she’s become Martha Washington’s personal maid. She would be trained to be her ladies maid and grow to be one of Martha’s like most trusted attendants. And like her mother, Ona was so skilled at sewing that she was quote, the perfect mistress of her needle, which I think is a really cute way to describe somebody. I mean, yeah, especially at that age, like she’s just very good at what she did. 

Now, by all accounts, Martha was good to her, but good and free are not the same thing, right? Like we have a very clear understanding of this. And just take a second real quick to sort of put some info out there because I think too often history forgets all the nuance here. But the gist is this, Martha owns her slaves outright. She would have been gifted son by her father and then her case as is the case with many white women of her day. She also receives some as part of her former husband’s inheritance upon his death. However, they would have been fully under her authority. And as such, she would pass to whichever of Martha’s heirs Martha wishes. 

Theresa: Yeah, the George own none of them. Right. 

Angie: So even even Washington himself has no say in how she’s managed. So all of that to say, Ona, her mother and her little sister Delphi, they’re specifically owned by Martha. 

And that information is going to be relevant later. But if any of our listeners are curious to know more about what it was to be a white woman at this time and what that looked like, there’s a really fabulous book about this very macabre dark chapter of history called They Were Her Property. It’s by Stephanie Jones Rogers. 

It’s phenomenal and sort of lays out women’s place in slavery. And I was, I think I read it in three days. I was like, Holy cow, I am learning so much that like history class never taught us. But all that to say, it’s left out of our history books. We had no, at least I had no idea that women owned things in their own right. And so whether it was property or people or their own bank accounts, that sort of thing. So I learned a ton. 

Anyway, back to our story. So our girl, she is 15 when Washington would be elected president. And she and seven other of the enslaved would travel with him and his household to the executive residence, the first being in New York in 1789. And then Philadelphia in 1790. However, this presents a problem to Washington because the state of Pennsylvania had in 1780, wrote into law the Gradual Abolition Act or Pennsylvania’s Emancipation Law, which so this law prohibits bringing enslaved people into the state. And it also requires the freeing of children born to enslaved women. They could serve as indentured servants to like 28 years old, but it also requires registration for the enslaved by their owners every year, among other things. So not only that, but any slave brought into residence in Pennsylvania could claim their own freedom after six months of living there. I did not know that. 

Theresa: And see, that’s what I know. And I know that that little fact is about to get anybody who holds Georgie Washington near and dear is about to go. Oh, yeah. Excuse me. 

Angie: Yeah, right. Okay, so this is a problem for Washington. So he asked his secretary to rotate the enslaved out. Um, back to Mount Vernon quote under, excuse me, under a quote pretext that may deceive both them and the public before the six month mark. So every six months they’re rotated. 

Theresa: You know that the slaves are running errands and they’re going and they’re seeing freed black people in the markets and the wherever and they’re being like, you’ve been here four and a half months. Oh, buddy, you’re almost there. I on the pride. Keep your head down. Keep doing the work. Mm hmm. Which, okay. 

Angie: So now I understand that she continues to serve Martha throughout the presidency. However, in Philadelphia, life was different from her. For her, she does receive some nominal payment. My guess is it’s going to be to cover the whole slave thing because she’s being paid for her work now. But in her position in the household meant she also received a regular and high quality supply of clothing, including gowns, shoes, stocking, bonds, all those sort of things. Also, while in Philadelphia, she is able to go see plays and the circus and things like that. And much to what I’m going to assume the Washington didn’t expect being in the city. 

She had access to this large free black community as well as the Quakers who are of course abolitionists. Hell yeah. Right. This group, they’re very active and they’re sort of giving her all of these new ideas and connections to people and networks of support. Think like the Underground Railroad, things like that. That are specifically designed to help. It helped the escaped inflict right. You also have organizations like the Free African Society, which was founded in 1887 and the opportunities that come with these groups of people. 

Theresa: And she is interacting with them on the daily. You said it was founded in 1887? Excuse me, 1787. Oh, you did it. You finally did it. You finally got the numbers mixed up. There you go. 

Angie: I swapped my numbers. So the Free African Society is founded in 1787. Now, fast forward, it’s the… What the hell is going on? Okay, she’s about 21. Sorry, my notes just went lopsided. She’s about 21. 

It’s 1796. The Washington household is preparing to return to Mount Vernon for the summer. And our girl sees her way out. One evening, Washington and his wife, they’re eating dinner and owner judge walks out the door. Saying much later, quote, Walt say we’re packing up to go to Virginia. I was packing to go. 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 and had my things carried there beforehand. 

And I left Washington’s house while they were eating dinner. Hell, yes. Right? Evidently, she had come to this understanding based on the fact that she had heard… 

Okay, so I’m going to say this later, but I’ll just warrant saying it now. Martha, she did not mind working for Martha. She says later she would have worked for Martha her whole life, but she had heard that Martha had planned to give her to her granddaughter, Elizabeth Park Custis, as a wedding gift. And where Martha had been a kind and good mistress, it was understood that her granddaughter would not be. She had something of a temper, but that would also mean that she’d be separated from her family and the community she had. And it also meant she would probably never be freed. So she’s giving up everything. 

Right. So she’s like, I’m not… There’s no way I can be given to this Custis girl. 

Like, absolutely not. So two days later, on May 23rd, an advertisement would be put in the Philadelphia Gazette and the Daily Advisor stating that only judge has absconded from the president’s house. The reward for her capture was $10. If you’re curious, today that’s roughly $372. 

Theresa: So that’s what I thought it would be. Like, that’s what I thought too. I’ve seen missing dogs with greater rewards. Yeah. 

Angie: So the ad also states that she was described as having, quote, very black eyes and bushy black hair, and that she was of middle stature, slender, and delicately formed. Also that she had many changes of good clothes, all sorts. 

So Frederick Kitt, he’s the hired steward of the presidential home, and he’s the one who at the Hest of Washington places this ad. And Kitt had thought that perhaps she might be trying to pass as a free woman because first of all, she has the clothes to do so. Second of all, why wouldn’t she? She’s in an area where that works, right? 

Right. And he also thinks that she is going to be escaping via a ship that would leave the port of Philadelphia. Now, Kitt was right, but after leaving the Washington’s, Judge does get passage on the ship Nancy, and it’s commanded by a man called Captain John Bowles, and it’s bound for Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Judge does not reveal the name of the captain until after he dies saying, quote, least they should punish him for bringing me away. 

So this hides her secrets well. Now, what’s really frustrating is that Kitt said in the ad that Judge had run off with, quote, no provocation, because, you know, I guess personal freedom isn’t enough to matter here. No, I’m not. I mean, right. But she also knows that life with Martha’s granddaughter is not going to be probably not even comparable to the life she has now, and she is not going to ever be her slave. Like that is that is something she knows in her very bones. 

This is not going to be something I am ever going to do. Now, Mr. Washington is furious and he is shocked by such a betrayal and like walking in circles because, you know, she is not actually owned by his estate, but rather like I mentioned earlier that of Martha’s first husband’s estate that has default been inherited by Martha. So, um, Washington doesn’t know what to do here. And he really can’t doesn’t have much of a leg to stand on other than acting as Martha’s agent in this event. 

So he is very flustered. And one of the things that I learned in the book, learned from the book they were her property is that dads and good husbands of this age would put tons of safeguard in place for white women’s property to ensure that it was run by them and for them without the intervention of their new husband. You know, to stop them from making poor business choices and things like that. So, he’s Washington’s flummoxed by these legalities, if you will. The other side to this is that if she’s not recovered, and I think this is kind of beautifully ironic, Washington’s going to owe Martha for said problem because he is acting as her agent in this matter. 

And if he can’t recover, on a Martha needs to be paid for it. And I’m just like, how does that conversation go at dinner? I adore. Yeah, yeah, this I love this. Right. So, let’s see where I lost myself in my notes. 

Okay. And also finances aside, Martha is sort of beside herself at the loss of her maid who was quote brought up and treated more like a child than a servant and honest to God, you can’t call her your maid and your child. That irritated me so freaking much. But I sort of get where Martha is going here was that, you know, she’s been with her her whole life. She loves her. She’s raised her. They do have a relationship and she is simply beside herself at the loss of this confidant. Because people are evidently not known for like white people are evidently not known for their genius here. They can’t figure out why she would want to leave them. And therefore they assume he must she must have been enticed away by a Frenchman. And I mean, honestly, fair. I too. You know, here we go. 

Theresa: Look, I’ve had those dumb moments where I asked the question that everyone sees lately. So they apparently have a moment. We’re doing that soul searching. Right. 

Angie: So our girl, she makes it to New Hampshire, but she is still not feeling very safe, right? Because she’s just escaped. We’re dealing with some anxieties here. But shortly after arriving, like only a few months, she happens to be recognized then by none other than Elizabeth Langdon. Elizabeth Langdon. 

Theresa: Oh, not. Sorry. Elizabeth was not the kid that was going to inherit. 

Angie: No, but in an interesting turn of events, Elizabeth Langdon is the daughter of Senator John Langdon. And she is friends with Martha’s youngest granddaughter, Nellie Park Custis. Elizabeth Park Custis’ sister. 

Gotcha. So word gets back to Washington, who then enlists the help of a man called Joseph Whipple. He’s like the customs collector in the Portsmouth area. And Whipple does a little looking around and he finds Judge and he tries very hard to convince her to board a ship back to Philadelphia, which Judge is basically like, yeah, I’d be happy to if the Washington’s promised to free me after their death. Otherwise, I should rather suffer death than return to slavery and not be sold. 

Theresa: After their death, like not like, hey, take me back to Pennsylvania. I’ll give them another six weeks and then we’ll cut the cord. 

Angie: No, she was more than happy to serve Martha till Martha died, but she wanted her freedom at Martha’s death, 

Theresa: which I think is more honorable than what she should be. 

Angie: I thought the same thing. So they’re shocked to learn that there was no such seduction by a Frenchman and it was only freedom she was after. I mean, wow, wild. The French weren’t even involved this time. But to be fair, that would have been an added benefit. You’re not wrong. You’re not wrong. But so George Washington, he’s got a problem, right? Like he’s pissed and his response to Whipple in regards to his, her proposal of return was quote, to enter into such a compromise with her as she suggested to you is totally inadmissible for however well-disposed I might be to a gradual, I can never say this word when I want to, abolition or even to an entire emancipation of that description of people. If the latter was in itself practicable at this moment, it would neither be politic or just reward or just to reward unfaithfulness with a premature preference and thereby discontent beforehand. The minds of all her fellow servants who by their steady attachments are far more deserving than herself of favor. So the Washington’s like, yo, bro, I can’t. 

Theresa: Like look, I might be the one trying to skirt the law, but we can’t allow her to actually get what she’s asking for. 

Angie: Because heavens, if she figures out how to do it, so will the others. Like good grief. So he had signed the federal fugitive slave law in 1793 and this gives slave owners the right to recapture enslaved people who escape across date lines and use like any necessary force that’s needed. But this presents a problem for him as he can’t really use any means necessary because of, you know, PR, right? 

Like he’s got to look good. How bad does it look resorting to any sort of violent means to return a black woman to subjugation? Like, you know, we’re not trying to take off the anti-slavery north. 

And like they’re not going to be happy about it. And so President Washington knew that using violent measures to seize an enslaved woman who had run away is going to, it’s going to take somebody off. So long story short, Washington asks Whipple to continue to try to bring her home, but only if it, quote, doesn’t excite a mob or riot. Because she’s in Portsmouth where these ideas of freedom are very prevalent. And so good luck, I guess, Mr. Whipple. 

Like if she says no, there’s nothing you can do. So if Whipple did try again, it didn’t work and Judge escapes him again. But there’s no documentation that he ever spoke through again after that. And then, I love this part, in January 1797, our girl marries a free black sailor called Jack Steins. And they would go on to have three children, Eliza, Will and Nancy. 

We know that in August of 1799, Washington tries one more time to find her. Martha’s nephew, his name is Burwell Bassett Jr. He’s traveling to New Hampshire on business. And so Washington’s like, hey, if you’re going to be there, could you take a look and see if there’s anything you can do for me? So Bassett is successful in finding her and he tries to convince her to return, but she polite passes as you do. 

Theresa: Now, could you imagine that conversation? Hey, so I was talking to old man George and no. But would you? No. 

Angie: I said no. Good day, sir. So now Washington, he does tell him to avoid doing anything that might be unpleasant or troublesome. But Bassett is evidently not a great listener and was kind of determined to bring her back and use force if necessary. 

But here’s the part I absolutely love. Bassett is having dinner at Senator John Langdon again home and he hears his plans. Now Langdon, he’s sympathetic to our girl and he secretly sends a message to her warning her. So like, I get this image that at the dinner table, he reaches over to his servant and he’s like, hey, will you go, uh, let her know? 

That sort of thing. So unfortunately at this time, because her husband is a sailor, he is out to sea. So her and her one year old, Eliza, climb into a horse and carriage and make their way to their free black friend Nancy Jack. Nancy lives about eight miles away in an area of New Hampshire called Greenland. 

And Bassett returns to Mount Vernon empty handed because he’s just a little bit of a loudmouth, I think. Washington dies in December of 1799 and Judge would go on to say later that the family quote, never troubled me anymore. However, she would remain a fugitive for the rest of her life. At any point on behalf of Martha and the Cussus estate, they could legally recapture her and her children if they saw fit. So she is sort of, I think, always looking, you know, over her shoulder. It’s thought that she never saw her family from Mount Vernon again. Her mother had died in 1795. I don’t think her father was in the picture long after her little sister was born. But speaking of her sister, she was inherited by Eliza Park Cussus, the woman. 

Theresa: The Regina George of the story. Yeah. 

Angie: Sadly, Onus husband dies in 1803 and she outlives all of her children. Oh, no. Yeah. I was bummed to hear that. But by 1840, she was living with her friend Nancy Jack. She was considered a pauper and did receive support from the county, which I thought was really interesting. I wouldn’t have thought there would have been welfare programs in place at this time, but there was. So I think that that’s cool that she at least had some sort of care at that time. She was interviewed in her life and she said she never really received any mental or moral instruction while with the Washington’s. But as soon as she arrived in Portsmouth, she learned to read and upon hearing the preacher Eliza Smith, she became a Christian. 

She never regretted her decision. It’s a surprise. And in, I know, shocking 1848, Oda judge died quote, now I am free and have I trust and made a child of God by thy means. 

She is buried in an unfound unmarked grave. But I thought it was really interesting that at least twice in her life she was interviewed with the full knowledge that she was one of Washington’s former slaves. And I also think it’s interesting to have that nuance of Washington’s character like, oh, hey, 

Theresa: yeah, I think the podcast, the dollop did like a three part series on Oda judge. And you hear the play by play of Washington crashing out and using federal resources to try to get her back. 

Angie: I believe it 100%. Like, what is funny, like, you know, sometimes I don’t know if this happens to you, but when you learn something and you realize like once again, life doesn’t have any vacuum. I was like, oh my God, Washington had slaves. That’s such a weird thing to think about, which I had known, but hadn’t really like hit home until I learned about her. And then I was like, oh my God, Washington had slaves. 

Theresa: You want me to put it in sharp relief? You know the dentures that Washington had? 

Angie: They probably belonged to one of his slaves. 

Theresa: They weren’t dentures made of wood. They were made of slave teeth. Yeah, I believe it. And so that’s the lofty benevolent owner. Yeah. Surprise. I don’t know why she ran away. 

Angie: It’s crazy that you would be shocked to discover that someone just wants to have their own agency so wild as me. Like, yeah, of course she’s going to run away if she’s got the option, but I love how she just did it. Like, she sent her things onward and just left. 

Theresa: Like, yeah, good for you, sis. So that’s the story of owner judge. Well, I’m grateful you have her done because that means I can mentally cross her off my list because she’s one of those. I would have told it in a way that would have risen the blood pressure of everyone and we’d have gotten hate mail. We’d have gotten hate mail. 

Angie: I’m here to be a soft blanket to your wet blanket. 

Theresa: Yeah, one of us has to be dry. And if you are happy to hear this telling of owner judge that wet the whistle without really over indexing on the follies of a flawed founding father, Oh, no. Subscribe. I know I do, but I can send this to somebody else who could use their thought process of George Washington’s shut up just enough without really throwing him over the edge. And on that note, goodbye. 

Theresa: Bye. 

Angie: You know my new favorite word for founding father is this declaration daddy declaration daddy.