"Cooks, chambermaids, nurses and one hostler, of General George Washington" c. 1860's/1870's

chubachus

First Sergeant
Joined
Nov 27, 2014
Location
Virginia
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"Cooks, chambermaids, nurses and one hostler of Gen. Geo. Washington, found in and around St. Augustine, Florida."

Source.

Is this some type of invented tourist attraction in St. Augustine? I cannot find any mention of Washington's former slaves moving to Florida.
 
It looks a little post war judging by the clothing of the woman standing by the stairs? 1870 seems right.

This group looks to be a family, maybe? It's possible they moved together to Florida and were well known locally as people who knew Washington- we were still making a huge, big deal of Washington's and the Revolution wasn't many generations in the past. This family ( if that is who this group depicts ) could have been local celebrities. Think about it- we might be looking at people who rubbed elbows daily with our George. That's crazy.
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"Cooks, chambermaids, nurses and one hostler of Gen. Geo. Washington, found in and around St. Augustine, Florida."

Source.

Is this some type of invented tourist attraction in St. Augustine? I cannot find any mention of Washington's former slaves moving to Florida.
Most likely descendants, if related at all, this picture looks to be post ACW which would put all of this group at 70 years of age, if they were born the year Washington died (1799). Conservatively to have been a cook, chambermaid and hostler, lets say at 15 they would all be 85. I guess it is possible...…….
 
Any living link to George Washington was a hot prospect. One of P. T. Barnum's first attractions was a very elderly African American woman, Joice Heth, who claimed (in the mid-1830s) to have been George Washington's wet nurse. Not sure what's going on in St. Augustine in the 1860s/70s, but undoubtedly there were people willing to believe.

 
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