ONEY, MY ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY
by Diana Rubino and Piper Huguley
Oney’s Story…
Teenaged Oney Judge was Martha Washington’s ‘favorite
servant.’ Oney and Martha both longed for freedom, but in very different ways.
Martha hated being confined to the president’s house, forced to entertain
politicians and foreign diplomats. Oney hated being someone else’s property,
forced to do labor and wait on her owners day and night.
After President Washington served one term as president, he
wrote his farewell speech. He and Martha started packing for their retirement
at Mount Vernon, but it was not meant to be. He was elected again—unanimously.
He did not want to serve another term, but gave in under pressure.
Martha had no say in it whatsoever. But as she hosted her tea
parties and levees, she became close friends with several forward-thinking
women, such as Abigail Adams and Judith Murray, feminists of the time. Their
radical ideas rubbed off on Martha—education and job training for women to be
self-supporting instead of depending on husbands. By the end of George’s term,
she experienced a steep character arc. She even changed her attitude toward
slavery. When Oney escaped at age 20, at the end of George’s final term, Martha
was very resentful: “She was more like a child to me than a servant.” The
Washingtons knew that she’d escaped to Portsmouth, New Hampshire and made
several attempts to recapture her. But in a sudden act of lenience, Martha gave
up on Oney and let her remain free. During her husband’s presidency, Martha
complained, “I am more like a state prisoner”, so perhaps she put herself in
Oney’s place and realized she deserved liberty, too.
As our first First Lady, Martha Washington evolved from
a grandmotherly wife and homebody to an
outspoken champion of women’s rights. She provided freedom for her slaves at
her death.
While living in Portsmouth, Oney married a sailor, Jack
Staines, and had three children. She outlived her husband and children, and
lived her remaining free life in Greenland, New Hampshire. Somewhat of a local
celebrity, she lived in poverty, but the locals supported her and she took in
sewing to supplement her meager income. She declared in an 1847 interview, “I
am free now and choose to remain so.”
An Excerpt from ONEY,
MY ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY
The hour finally came—while they ate dinner.
Nothing heavied my heart—not remorse, not guilt, not sadness
upon fleeing my master and mistress. Raw thirst for freedom overcame all that.
I walked straight past the Washingtons and out that door. When I shut it, I
left them—and my forced bondage— behind me.
I tore through the muddy streets in pouring rain. Gasping
for breath, soaked to the skin, my heart slamming in terror, I glanced behind
me, again and again. No one pursued me—yet. I dreaded and expected pounding
footsteps, a clap on my shoulder. But,
I asked myself, who would chase me
through the driving rain? No, it is not possible, I affirmed—they didn’t
even know I’d left the kitchen.
At the Jones house I slowed and caught my breath. When
Absalom opened the door, I staggered inside, laughing, sobbing, gulping for
dear life.
I spent the night pacing the attic room, hands clasped. “I
beg of you, dear God, walk beside me on this journey. See me through this safe.
Don’t let them capture me. I only want to be your servant, no one else’s.”
As daybreak nudged away the darkness, I fell to my knees,
weary with fatigue. “Thank you, dear God, for ending my final night of
bondage.”
Serendipity at Work
In May 2014, popular romance author Brenda Novak had her
annual auction for diabetes—authors donate books, critiques, etc., and people
bid on them, similar to Ebay. I donated one of my other books, and I also
donated a free manuscript critique. An author named Piper Huguley won the critique
auction, but the auction ended and I never heard from her. I thought oh, well,
she doesn't want it after all. About 3 months later, she wrote me and sent me
her story, A CHAMPION’S HEART, to critique. It's a romance about an African
American girl, set in rural Georgia in the 1910s. Very moving and powerful
story. I loved it. It was published in 2016 by Liliaceae Publishers.
I'd been wanting to find an African American author to go
over my Oney novel, but never looked for anyone. I thought of asking one of my
grade school classmates, but just didn't get to it...well, one day I decided to
ask Piper.
Right after I asked her, she wrote back and said she'd be
happy to help. Then I went on Facebook and saw that Piper just posted that her
mother passed away that morning. So I sent her a message of condolence. Then
she wrote this back to me:
And I appreciate your kind comments about my mother. You see, I see your request as "heaven sent" for I think I told you about how my mother told me about Oney. I know that she would want me to work on anything, do anything to forward that story. So, even in the midst of a difficult time, I look forward to helping you--something I really didn't expect after you had helped me so much. Thank you for that.
I don't remember her telling me that her mother told her about Oney. I've heard so many stories about people who pass away, and send 'signs' etc. to their loved ones, this was just too strange to be coincidence. Piper helped me a great deal with Oney’s story and became my co-author. We dedicated the book to her mother.
Purchase ONEY:
About Diana and Piper:
Diana writes about folks who shook things up. Her passion
for history and travel has taken her to every locale of her stories, set in
Medieval and Renaissance England, Egypt, the Mediterranean, colonial Virginia,
New England, and New York. Her urban fantasy romance FAKIN’ IT won a Top Pick
award from Romantic Times. She is a member of Romance Writers of America, the
Richard III Society and the Aaron Burr Association. When not writing, she runs
CostPro, Inc., an engineering business, with her husband Chris. In her spare
time, Diana bicycles, golfs, plays her piano and devours books of any genre.
She spends as much time as possible just livin' the dream on her beloved Cape
Cod.
Piper Huguley is a two-time Golden Heart ®finalist and is
the author of the “Home to Milford College” series. The series follows the
building of a college from its founding in 1866. Book #1 in the series, The Preacher’s Promise was named a top
ten Historical Romance in Publisher’s Weekly by the esteemed historical romance
author, Beverly Jenkins and received Honorable Mention in the Writer’s Digest
Contest of Self-Published e-books in 2015.
Her new series “Born to Win Men”
starts with A Champion’s Heart as
Book #1. A Champion’s Heart was named
by Sarah MacLean of The Washington Post
as a best romance novel selection for December 2016.
She blogs about the history behind her novels at http://piperhuguley.com. She lives in
Atlanta, Georgia with her husband and son.
Connect with Diana
and Piper:
Twitter: @DianaLRubino
Twitter: @PiperHuguley
Tina
