Never Caught: The Washington Family's Unrelenting Quest to Capture Their Escaped Slave, Erica Armstrong Dunbar

Colleen Edlebeck: Interesting read! He never stopped looking for her, why didn't he let her go. She had out smarted him. Maybe that is why, good for her...lol. I mean it had to get out that he was keeping slaves in both places.

United States on Nov 11, 2023

James D. Miller: Nearly every American knows the basic outlines of United States’ favorite founding father and his wife, George and Martha Washington, the country’s first President and First Lady. From grade school to high school Americans are taught about the rise of George Washington from soldier to president, his trials on the battlefield and tribulations of the presidency. Martha lurks largely in her husband’s historical shadow, and further back in the shadows are the people of color whom the Washington’s enslaved.

One of the Washington’s enslaved emerges from the shadows of her owners and their fame in Erica Armstrong Dunbar’s book, “Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless pursuit of their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge.”

Upon the death of George Washington, Martha burned all of the correspondence between them, only a had full of letters survived, making details of their relationship and what they discussed vanish in a cloud of smoke. The Washingtons placed a couple of “Fugitive Slave” ads in newspapers, and Ona Judge herself gave a couple of very short newspaper interviews. That is the skeleton on which Ms. Dunbar hangs her narrative. What does survive is the...

United States on Jun 26, 2023

OLD1mIKE: Interesting book. Covering not only what is known or can be inferred about Ona’s life, but the cultural and Historical happenings around her. As mentioned by others, the author uses terms like “could have” and “possibly”. But historical and cultural events around us have an influence on our decision making.

Being an amateur genealogist, I know how hard it is to accurately infer causation or reasoning. But, there is a lot of known historical facts about president Washington’s years as president. There is a lot known about cultural issues, such as New York’s acceptance of slave ownership and Pennsylvanias “Gradual Emancipation” laws. Geography and point-in-time play a significant role in decision making. We know George shuffled his slaves to keep them from qualifying for emancipation. We know Ona choose to run away and accept the risks that independence brought. The author is good about separating what is absolutely known and what could have influenced Ona.

United States on Jul 13, 2022

Marilyn: I loved this book. The story of on on a was so inspiring. What great courage she possessed. Her determination to have freedom throughout her life was to be commended. A truly wonderful lady and so well written by Erica. Excellent
Marilyn HInks

United Kingdom on Jun 29, 2022

PJ B'ham: A most intriguing read about Washington’s life as a slave-holder, husband & politician. On the basis of what has been recounted in this book, it is surprising that he made arrangements for the eventual emancipation of all of his slaves upon his death despite his embrace of slavery for most of his life.
Ona Judge’s life: I’m disappointed that so much of what is written is speculative and, whilst understandable in the light of definitive information being available, it inevitably detracts from the authority of the biography.
It is understood that the author has tried to make an honest account of Ona’s life from what information was at hand.

United Kingdom on Apr 18, 2022

danusiaf: Interesting & informative
Well written , reads almost like a novel , loved it

Canada on Oct 08, 2020

Lionel S. Taylor: I am probably like a lot of people in that i know the general outline of George and Martha Washington's life from what I learned in high school but beyond that I am not too familiar with the details. I knew that Washington was wealthy and made his money from a tobacco plantation but beyond that that is about all we hear about the hundreds of slaves that he owned that created his family's vast wealth. This book goes a long way towards filling in that gap and reveling a part of the Washington's lives that I would imagine most people are not all that familiar with. Ona Judge was one of two of the Washington's slaves that ran away and were successful in not being caught and returned. The author does a great job of telling her story and putting it in the context of what was going on at the time both in the nation and the Washington household. Telling the story of slaves is no easy task since the sources that are available are so thing when it comes to first person accounts of the lives of the enslaved. They are in effect invisible to historians to a certain degree and this allows them to be ignored and the role the played and the hardships they endured to be downplayed. Never Caught...

United States on Mar 11, 2018

cate86: As described, great condition and great book!

United Kingdom on Jan 25, 2018

loulou: Beyond the story of the runaway. This book dismantles the myth of the plight of the house slave vs the field slave as one status is better than the other,it questions the well fed slave vs the poor and free .what it means to be a enslaved women ,what a compelling and eye opening read finished it in one night

Canada on Apr 22, 2017