Sarah Johnson (Mount Vernon)

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Sarah Johnson (September 29, 1844–January 25, 1920) was an African American woman who was born into slavery at Mount Vernon, George Washington's estate in Fairfax, Virginia. She worked as a domestic, cleaning and caring for the residence. During the process, she became an informal historian of all of the mansion's furnishings. After the end of the Civil War, she was hired by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, ultimately becoming a council member of the organization. She bought four acres of Mount Vernon land to establish a small farm. The book Sarah Johnson's Mount Vernon (2008) tells the story of her life within the complex community of people who inhabited Mount Vernon.

Background[]

Further information: George Washington and slavery
Mount Vernon, engraving and etching, by the American artist S. Seymour, after the English artist William Russell Birch. Yale University Art Gallery
1830 engraving of a map of Mount Vernon, General Washington's estate and mansion, that was originally drawn by Washington. Library of Congress Geography and Map Division Washington, D.C.

There were 316 enslaved people living on Mount Vernon when George Washington died in 1799. Half of them were owned by Washington and the other half were inherited by Martha Washington upon her husband's (Daniel Parke Custis) death.[1] Although Washington intended to free the people he enslaved upon his death,[2][1] the Christian Science Monitor states that Washington left them to his wife, Martha Washington, who was to emancipate them upon her death.[1] Afraid that she would come to harm due to the deception, she freed some slaves on New Year's Day in 1801.[1] The slaves who came with Martha were divided up among four grandchildren upon her death in 1802. Some of these enslaved people stayed at Mount Vernon, and some went to other estates.[1] There were also slaves who were brought to Mount Vernon by heirs of the estate.[2] Bushrod Washington, George's nephew, inherited the estate after Martha's death. Insubordination ensued after Bushrod told the slaves that he had no intention of freeing them and he ended up selling fifty-four enslaved people. Of his remaining twenty-nine slaves, some tried to poison his food and others escaped and ventured north.[1] Bushrod's nephew, John Augustine Washington, then inherited the estate, and it fell into disrepair as he paid attention to his other plantation.[1]

The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association purchased part of Mount Vernon in 1859[a] to preserve the plantation, particularly in the events leading up to and during the Civil War. Black people who tended and cared for Mount Vernon also sought to preserve the estate, but foremost focused on self-preservation, where they would attain the freedom to buy their own property, make their own livings as they chose, and plan for their futures.[2] When Mount Vernon was opened for visitors, there was an expectation of the way in which blacks would carry themselves, though, as faithful "old time Negroes", which required them to act subserviently.[2] African Americans performed a wide range of jobs on the plantation, such as cooks, servants, and farm hands. Johnson's uncle, Edmund Parker, was the guardian of George Washington's tomb.[2] Sarah Johnson was hired by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association after the war.[1]

Early and personal life[]

Slave cabin, Mount Vernon

Johnson was the daughter of Hannah Parker, an enslaved teenager who was owned by Jane Charlotte Washington of Mount Vernon.[3][1][b] She had a brother, Isaac, who was born in 1842; their father is unknown. Hannah married Warren May and had seven children born between 1846 and 1855, all of whom were enslaved at Mount Vernon.[5][c]

Johnson was first married to Nathan Johnson, who was enslaved at Mount Vernon. They had a son, Smith, who was born in 1861.[5] On October 25, 1888, Johnson was married a second time to William Robinson at Mount Vernon. Her yellow wedding dress was purchased by the Vice Regent of Illinois, Mary Carver Leiter (1885–1913). A reception followed the wedding ceremony.[4][d][4]

She purchased a four-acre piece of land in the middle of the Mount Vernon acreage for $350.[1][e] She died on January 25, 1920,[6] after which Mount Vernon flew its flag at half-mast in her memory.[4]

Mount Vernon[]

Johnson was a housekeeper and caretaker at Mount Vernon for more than 50 years.[3] She lived there first as an enslaved girl and was later emancipated.[7]

The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association hired Johnson after the Civil War[1][4] to perform domestic chores, keep the house, and sell lunches to visitors.[4] She was held in high esteem by her fellow workers and the Vice Regents[4] and was known for historical knowledge "of nearly every piece of furniture in the mansion".[1]

She and her husband Nathan operated a lunchroom that served tradesmen who boarded at Mount Vernon. She earned sixty cents a day per person. She also sold a book about the history of the estate by Benson Lossing and authorized guidebooks, for three to five cents.[2] She became a Mount Vernon Ladies' Association council member after forty years at Mount Vernon.[1]

Legacy[]

Mount Vernon reenactor at the greenhouse window

A book was written about her life entitled Sarah Johnson's Mount Vernon by Scott E. Casper. The book tells the stories of African Americans who lived and worked at Mount Vernon in the 19th century,[7] many of whom were her relatives.[8] It tells of the periods during and after slavery,[7] as influenced by Secession, the Civil War, Emancipation, the Reconstruction era, and Jim Crow laws.[8]

The book addresses the dichotomy between the founding of the country, with George Washington as its first president, with its noble intentions, and the enslavement and marginalization of black people.[2] A wide variety of documents were used to research Johnson and other African Americans at Mount Vernon, including court records, correspondence, newspapers, and ledgers.[2] Erin Aubry Kaplan of the Los Angeles Times states in her review of the book: "Mount Vernon was a far more complicated place for black residents than for whites, because it represented three fundamentals that blacks were constantly trying to establish: work, home and a sense of national pride."[2]

See also[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association signed a contract in 1858 to buy Mount Vernon, raised the capital through 1869, and took possession in 1860.
  2. ^ Washington was the widow of George Washington's great-nephew.[3] John Augustine Washington III was the last private owner of Mount Vernon.[4]
  3. ^ Hannah was one of eleven children of Milly and Harry Parker. All but two of Milly and Harry's children (Eli and Caroline) were enslaved at Mount Vernon. Hannah's maternal grandmother was named Betty.[5]
  4. ^ The invitation to the marriage of Sarah Johnson was in a scrapbook of Margaret Sweat, Vice Regent for Maine (1866–1908).
  5. ^ Mount Vernon Magazine states that in 1889 she "purchased four acres of her own land just north of Mount Vernon, a plot formerly owned by John Augustine Washington III."[4]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Mount Vernon's checkered past". Christian Science Monitor. 2008-02-19. ISSN 0882-7729. Retrieved 2021-03-21.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Kaplan, Erin Aubry (February 15, 2008). "A rarely told history of a shrine". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 21, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c Casper, Scott E. (2009). "Johnson, Sarah (1844-1920), caretaker and housekeeper at Mount Vernon, in Fairfax County, Virginia". American National Biography. doi:10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.2001925. ISBN 978-0-19-860669-7. Retrieved 2021-03-21.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h "Here Comes the Bride (featured photo)". Mount Vernon Magazine. Retrieved 2021-03-21.
  5. ^ a b c Casper, Scott E. (2009-01-20). Sarah Johnson's Mount Vernon: The Forgotten History of an American Shrine. Macmillan. pp. xi. ISBN 978-0-8090-8415-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  6. ^ "Sarah Johnson Robinson obituary for January 25, 1920". Evening Star. Washington, D.C. 1920-01-27. p. 7. Retrieved 2021-03-22.
  7. ^ a b c "Sarah Johnson's Mount Vernon". US Macmillan. Retrieved 2021-03-21.
  8. ^ a b Eubanks, W. Ralph. "Sarah Johnson's Mount Vernon: The Forgotten History of an American Shrine - Scott E. Casper". The Washington Post Book World. Retrieved 2021-03-22 – via Simania.

External links[]

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