Richmond

Richmond was born into slavery at George Washington’s Mount Vernon plantation in 1777. His father, Hercules Posey, was enslaved by George Washington and worked as a cook, while his mother, Alice, was enslaved by Martha Washington as dower property. Therefore, Richmond, along with his sisters Eve and Delia, were also enslaved by Martha.¹

In 1790, three years after Richmond’s mother died, President Washington brought Hercules to the President’s House in Philadelphia. Hercules obtained permission from Washington to bring eleven-year-old Richmond along as well. Although he was a child, Richmond joined the President’s House as an errand boy, chimney sweep, and scullion, working in the kitchen alongside his father.² According to the 1780 Gradual Abolition Law in Pennsylvania, after six months an enslaved person in the state became free. Therefore, Washington rotated enslaved people, including Richmond, between Mount Vernon and Philadelphia.³ During one rotation at Mount Vernon during the summer of 1796, Richmond was accused of stealing money from a hired White servant’s saddle bags. Washington feared Richmond was plotting an escape with his father, writing, “I wish he may not have been put upon it by his father…for the purpose perhaps of a journey together.” Washington instructed his Mount Vernon farm manager, William Pearce, to keep a close eye on the pair and did not bring them back to Philadelphia.⁴ 

In February 1797, his father self-emancipated, leaving behind Richmond and his two younger sisters. When George Washington died in 1799, he included language in his will freeing his enslaved people upon the death of Martha. This put her in a precarious position, and she ultimately gave that enslaved group its freedom before her death.⁵ When Martha died in 1802, she bequeathed her enslaved people to her grandchildren. Legal ownership of Richmond transferred to Eliza Parke Custis Law, while his sisters went to Nelly Parke Custis.⁶ No further information is currently known about his life at this time.