Never Caught Character Analysis

Ona Maria “Oney” Judge Staines

Ona Maria Judge Staines is the protagonist of Erica Armstrong Dunbar’s Never Caught. Born into slavery at George and Martha Washington’s Mount Vernon estate in 1773, Ona was, as a teenager, assigned… read analysis of Ona Maria “Oney” Judge Staines

Erica Armstrong Dunbar

Erica Armstrong Dunbar is a historian, scholar, and Pennsylvania native whose scholarship and academic career, in her own words, have focused on “the lives of women of Africa descent who called America their home during… read analysis of Erica Armstrong Dunbar

George Washington

George Washington was a Revolutionary War hero and the first president of the United States of America. Pressured into public life after the 50-year-old was already weary following his involvement in the American Revolution, Washington… read analysis of George Washington

Martha Washington

Martha Washington was the first first lady of the United States of America, and the wife of George Washington. After the death of her first husband, Martha remarried George—but when George became a Revolutionary… read analysis of Martha Washington

Betty

Betty was Ona Judge’s mother. An enslaved woman born in or around 1738, Betty was a “dower slave,” or “property” owned by Martha Washington’s first husband. Betty, a talented seamstress and spinner, was… read analysis of Betty

Andrew Judge

Andrew Judge was Ona Judge’s father. An English-born white man who traveled to America in July of 1772 as an indentured servant—likely to escape difficult circumstances or even a prison sentence back in England—Judge… read analysis of Andrew Judge

Tobias Lear

Tobias Lear was George Washington’s trusted secretary. Over the years in which he served Washington—he took care of Washington’s most intimate affairs until the president’s death in 1799—Lear was responsible for scouting suitable housing… read analysis of Tobias Lear

Elizabeth Parke “Eliza” Custis Law

Elizabeth, or Eliza, was one of George and Martha Washington’s grandchildren. As one of the eldest—and their favorite—the volatile Eliza was able to bend her grandparents’ wills to suit her needs. When Eliza was… read analysis of Elizabeth Parke “Eliza” Custis Law

William Lee

William Lee was an enslaved man at Mount Vernon who was sold to the Washingtons when he was still a teenager. Lee was of a light complexion, and, for this reason, George Washington made Lee… read analysis of William Lee

Giles and Paris

Giles and Paris were a pair of enslaved men at Mount Vernon who won George Washington’s favor after attending the Constitutional Convention with him in 1787. After the convention, Giles and Paris, having proven… read analysis of Giles and Paris

Hercules

Hercules was one of George Washington’s slaves and a famed chef known for his cooking skills. Washington brought Hercules and Hercules’s young son Richmond along to Philadelphia to run the kitchen at the Executive… read analysis of Hercules

Thomas Law

Thomas Law was a British businessman who was relatively new to life in America when he began courting George and Martha Washington’s granddaughter Eliza Parke Custis. Law, who had lived in India for… read analysis of Thomas Law

John Langdon

John Langdon was a Revolutionary War hero turned New Hampshire senator. One of the most powerful men in the nation, Langdon felt indebted to George Washington and bound to reveal to the former president that… read analysis of John Langdon

Elizabeth Langdon

Elizabeth Langdon was the daughter of John Langdon. Elizabeth spotted Ona Judge on the streets of Portsmouth in 1796 and recognized her even though it had been years since they’d last come into contact… read analysis of Elizabeth Langdon

Joseph Whipple

Joseph Whipple was the customs officer in Portsmouth, New Hampshire when Ona Judge arrived there in 1796. George Washington himself appointed Whipple to the post in 1789. In the fall of 1796, Washington entreated Whipple… read analysis of Joseph Whipple

Austin

Austin was Ona’s brother. He accompanied Ona up north when she followed the Washingtons to New York and Philadelphia following Washington’s ascendance to the presidency. Austin later died in a terrible accident while traveling… read analysis of Austin

Jack Staines

Jack Staines was a free Black seaman who married Ona Judge in January of 1797, less than a year after her arrival in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Together, they had three children, Eliza, Nancy… read analysis of Jack Staines

Burwell Bassett Jr.

Burwell Bassett Jr. was a Virginian senator and a nephew of Martha Washington. Martha and George sent Bassett to New Hampshire to apprehend Ona Judge Staines and return her to Mount Vernon—but Bassett’s two… read analysis of Burwell Bassett Jr.

William Costin

Believed by many scholars to be the son of one of Martha Washington’s interracial half-sisters, William Costin was a free Black activist who married Ona Judge Staines’s younger sister Philadelphia. Costin used… read analysis of William Costin

Philadelphia

Philadelphia was one of Ona Judge’s younger sisters. Born into slavery at Mount Vernon, Philadelphia nonetheless married a free Black man named William Costin while enslaved there. Though Philadelphia was given to Martha Washington’s… read analysis of Philadelphia

Minor Characters

Eliza Staines

Eliza Staines was the eldest of Ona Judge Staines and Jack Staines’s children.

William Staines

Though few records of Ona Judge Staines and Jack Staines’s son exist, many scholars believe that William Staines, an intrepid young Black seaman, was their child, born in or around 1800.

Nancy Staines

Nancy Staines was the youngest of Ona Judge Staines and Jack Staines’s two daughters.

Moll

Moll was a 50-year old enslaved woman at Mount Vernon who worked as a seamstress and served Martha Washington alongside Ona as a personal attendant and housemaid. Moll shouldered the additional responsibility of caring day in and day out for the Washingtons’ young grandchildren Wash and Nelly.

John Bowles

John Bowles was a sailor and the operator of a freight transport business which brought lumber, fish, and sundry dry goods up and down the Eastern Seaboard. Bowles captained the ship which carried Ona Judge from enslavement in Philadelphia to freedom in New Hampshire.

Eleanor Parke “Nelly” Custis

“Nelly” was one of George and Martha Washington’s young grandchildren.

George Washington Parke “Wash” Custis

“Wash” was one of George and Martha Washington’s young grandchildren.

Nancy (Ona’s Sister)

Nancy was one of Ona Judge’s sisters. Ona would later name one of her daughters for the sister she left behind at Mount Vernon.

Betty Davis (Ona’s Sister)

Betty Davis was one of Ona Judge’s sisters and an enslaved woman at Mount Vernon.

Dr. James Craik

Dr. James Craik was George Washington’s trusted physician. Craik worked tirelessly to try to save Washington during his final illness in December of 1799, but his attempts to ease Washington’s inflamed throat and constricted air passageways through bloodletting were unsuccessful, and Washington passed away.

Martha “Patsy” Parke Custis

Martha “Patsy” Parke Custis was one of Martha Washington and her first husband’s daughters. The sickly Patsy died in June of 1773, likely as the result of a seizure, at just 17 years old.

Richmond

Richmond was Hercules’s young son.

Never Caught Characters