Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge

By Erica Armstrong Dunbar

Book Overview

A startling and eye-opening look into America's First Family, Never Caught is the powerful story about a daring woman of "extraordinary grit" (The Philadelphia Inquirer).

When George Washington was elected president, he reluctantly left behind his beloved Mount Vernon to serve in Philadelphia, the temporary seat of the nation's capital. In setting up his household he brought along nine slaves, including Ona Judge. As the President grew accustomed to Northern ways, there was one change he couldn't abide: Pennsylvania law required enslaved people be set free after six months of residency in the state. Rather than comply, Washington decided to circumvent the law. Every six months he sent the slaves back down south just as the clock was about to expire.

Though Ona Judge lived a life of relative comfort, she was denied freedom. So, when the opportunity presented itself one clear and pleasant spring day in Philadelphia, Judge left everything she knew to escape to New England. Yet freedom would not come without its costs. At just twenty-two-years-old, Ona became the subject of an intense manhunt led by George Washington, who used his political and personal contacts to recapture his property.

"A crisp and compulsively readable feat of research and storytelling" (USA TODAY), historian and National Book Award finalist Erica Armstrong Dunbar weaves a powerful tale and offers fascinating new scholarship on how one young woman risked everything to gain freedom from the famous founding father and most powerful man in the United States at the time.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1501126415
• ISBN13: 9781501126413
• Release Date: January 2018
• Publisher: 37 Ink
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Ona and George Washington in the times of slavery

It is important to read books on the history of our country, the world and slavery. Times have changed for the better But time changes all things.

Fascinating

Who knew the Washingtons were such typical, if benevolent, slave owners? Who knew that if an escaped slave married a free person that their children would still be legally owned by the escapees "owners"? Of course, the author took license with the details around the known facts, but this was still a fascinating, historical look at our country in its infancy and its inhumane way of seeing human beings. Ona Judge is an unsung hero and a role model especially for women of today who are still being demeaned and objectified by those who have power over them.