EDY JONES, C. 1773 - AFTER 1813

Edy Jones lived at Union Farm and was assigned work as an enslaved plower, a job that required her to drive horses and oxen. Her husband, Davy, lived at Mansion House Farm. They saw each other on Sundays and nights when Davy had time to make the two-mile trip to Union Farm.

Edy was mentioned in the February 1786 list of the enslaved community at Mount Vernon, compiled by George Washington. On that list, Edy is noted as being thirteen years of age and denoted as being one of the "labouring women."

The historical record provides a few clues as to Edy's mother's identity although research suggests it would have been a woman named Flora. Since Edy was fairly young when the 1786 list was compiled, she would most likely have worked and lived on the farm where her mother lived. In addition, since Edy was owned directly by George Washington, her mother also had to have been as well (rather than being owned by the estate of Martha Washington's first husband, Daniel Parke Custis). Lastly, Flora was the only enslaved woman at Union/Ferry Farm in 1786 owned by Washington.

While enslaved at Mount Vernon, Edy had two children, Sarah (b. 1793) and Nancy (b. 1798). After Edy and her children were freed in 1801 by Washington's will, she gave birth to several other children, including David Jones (b. 1804), Joseph Jones (b. 1805), Margaret Jones (b. 1808), and Levi Jones (b. between 1810 and 1813, in Arlington, Virginia).

Learn more about Edy on her Faces of Mount Vernon’s Enslaved Community webpage.