Description
West Ford, a Washington family slave set free in the early 1800s, is the subject of this pencil sketch by an unknown artist. Bushrod Washington—George Washingtons nephew who took over Mount Vernon after Martha Washingtons death in 1802—hired Ford as the estates manager. Bushrod later bequeathed Ford a substantial parcel of land adjacent to Mount Vernon. Fords paternity has proved controversial: some oral histories claim George Washington was West Fords father, though stronger evidence points toward Bushrod Washington. This image passed down in the Washington family and was donated to Mount Vernon in 1985.
