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

Erica Armstrong Dunbar

Feb 2017 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

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.

Ratings and reviews

The story of Ona Judge was beautifully constructed. I absolutely love this book and the informational format mixed with the tidbits of Ona's life they were able to find. This book takes the reader on a journey in the shoes and through the eyes of a house slave. It illustrates the possible thoughts and emotions that may have been experienced by Ona and fellow slaves who surrounded her in her world. It was sad but very enlightening. However, I didn't think much of the Washingtons in the first place now I dislike them even more knowing that they did EVERYTHING in their power to hold onto slaves for as long as possible; including finding loopholes in current laws at that time. They sicken me but this book was wonderful!

Very interesting and intriguing. This history lesson of Ona Judge let me see how things have changed in this country and how it has remained the same. Our struggle continues.

Enjoyed the book and all the history of Washington and his role as president and slave holder. The books was well written and very interesting. It was also a learning experience for me, I love American history and the book was great.

About the author

Erica Armstrong Dunbar is the Charles and Mary Beard Professor of History at Rutgers University. Her first book, A Fragile Freedom: African American Women and Emancipation in the Antebellum City, was published by Yale University Press in 2008. Her second book, Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge was a 2017 finalist for the National Book Award in nonfiction and a winner of the 2018 Frederick Douglass Book Award. She is also the author of She Came to Slay, an illustrated tribute to Harriet Tubman, and Susie King Taylor and is the co-executive producer of the HBO series The Gilded Age.