Martha Washington (40 page)

Disregarding Martha Washington's moral and religious character, both authors seriously considered the possibility that she was a murderer; both charged her with condoning incest. Ignoring the legal and financial realities of chattel slavery, both posit shifting states of freedom and slavery occurring without legal action or documentation. Neither this supposed sister nor her several children appear on the 1786 or 1799 Mount Vernon lists of slaves made by George Washington, a meticulous record keeper. Absent any documentary evidence whatsoever—contemporary eyewitness accounts, legal documents, or Mount Vernon records—the story of the secret sister bearing a child by her own nephew must be rejected. No half-sister lived with Martha Washington. The story simply isn't true.

Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Williamsburg, Virginia
York County Project. Research and data collection done with assistance from
the National Endowment for the Humanities under Grants RS-0033-80-1604
and RO-20869, Department of Historical Research
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Library Research Report Series on individual
houses, John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library
Mount Vernon Ladies Association
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Tudor Place Historic House and Gardens Archives
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Virginia Historical Society, Richmond, Virginia
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