Oney Judge Escaped Presidential Enslavement

The household of U.S. President George Washington offered a $10 reward after an enslaved woman named Oney Judge escaped from the President's House in Philadelphia in 1796. Judge fled because Martha Washington planned to give her to her granddaughter as a wedding present, which would return Judge to Virginia with little chance of freedom. After Judge reached Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Washington asked U.S. Treasury Secretary Oliver Wolcott Jr. to arrange her capture and return. Customs collector Joseph Whipple refused to force Judge onto a ship and warned that an abduction could trigger a riot, so the plan failed and Judge remained free.

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