Sylvia (Custis) Washington (1790)

Born 6 Mar 1790 in Fairfax, Virginia, United States

Ancestors

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Biography

Sylvia (Custis) Washington is a part of US Black heritage.

Sylvia was a slave held by George Washington, as were her mother, Molly, and grandmother, Kate. Her grandfather, Kate's husband, Will, was a dower slave of Martha (Dandridge) Washington.

Sylvia has been designated the identifier "A" to differentiate her from other enslaved girls and women named Sylvia who are also documented in the records of the Mount Vernon database. Farm reports in the database for the dates of 6 March 1790 and 13 March 1790 show her mother, Molly, sick in childbed on 6 March 1790 for six days, and on the report for 13 March, Molly was absent from the fields for "child bed" [caring for her new infant] for an additional 27 days; these reports document Sylvia's birth. A white mid-wife, Mrs Darcus Parker, was paid on 23 December 1790 for assisting Molly with Sylvia's March birth.^[1]

Sylvia's father is not known at the time of this writing. Her mother, Molly, was recorded without a husband in George Washington's final slave list in June of 1799,^[2] when Sylvia (age 10) and her mother (age 26) were recorded living and working at George Washington's Muddy Hole Farm at Mount Vernon, in Fairfax County, Virginia. Sylvia was born at Muddy Hole Farm and lived there until the time of her emancipation in 1801.

Sylvia is believed to be Molly's eldest child. She had a younger brother, James. One other known sibling did not survive.

Emancipation and Family Separation

Kate, and therefore also her children, including Molly (and Molly's children--Sylvia and James), all belonged directly to George Washington, and thus all of them were emancipated as George and Martha Washington had decided. In George Washington's 29-page will, in accordance with Virginia state law, he stipulated "that elderly slaves or those who were too sick to work were to be supported throughout their lives by his estate. [This likely applied to Sylvia's grandmother, Kate, who was deemed "old" in George Washington's final listing of his enslaved people.] Children without parents, or those whose families were unable to see to their education were to be bound out to masters and mistresses who would teach them reading, writing, and a useful trade, until they were ultimately freed at the age of twenty-five. Washington’s will stated that he took these charges to his executors very seriously:

'And I do moreover most pointedly, and most solemnly enjoin it upon my Executors...to see that this clause respecting Slaves, and every part thereof be religiously fulfilled at the Epoch at which it is directed to take place; without evasion, neglect or delay, after the Crops which may then be on the ground are harvested, particularly as it respects the aged and infirm.' "^[3][4][5]

After George Washington's death, his widow, Martha, decided not to wait as planned for the emancipation to take place after her death. Instead, she signed a document of manumission in December of 1800, "a transaction that is recorded in the abstracts of the Fairfax County, Virginia, Court Records," which resulted in all the Washington slaves going free while she was still living, on 1 January 1801.^[3]

Sadly, however, Sylvia's grandfather, Will, (Kate's husband) was a dower slave, belonging to the Custis estate of Martha Washington's first husband, and as such it was not legally within the power of either George or Martha Washington to emancipate him. Instead, he was inherited by one of Martha's heirs (her children had all predeceased her, so her four grandchildren were her legal heirs), likely George Washington Parke Custis.

Slave Owners

• George Washington

Emancipated by George and Martha Washington

Note regarding the place holder LNAB being used: This surname is being used currently as a place holder surname until it can be determined what surname this person used.

Sources

1. ↑ “Database of Mount Vernon's Enslaved Community.” George Washington's Mount Vernon, https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/slavery/slavery-database/
2. ↑ Washington’s Slave List, June 1799,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/06-04-02-0405. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Retirement Series, vol. 4, 20 April 1799 – 13 December 1799, ed. W. W. Abbot. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1999, pp. 527–542.]
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} “George Washington's Decision to Free His Slaves.” George Washington's Mount Vernon, https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/slavery/washingtons-1799-will/.
4. ↑ “Slavery, Including Link to Transcript of George Washington's Will.” George Washington's Mount Vernon, https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/slavery/.
5. ↑ “George Washington's Last Will and Testament, July 9, 1799.” George Washington's Mount Vernon, https://www.mountvernon.org/education/primary-sources-2/article/george-washingtons-last-will-and-testament-july-9-1799/.