Slave Cabin (Historical Marker)

Here follows the inscription written on this trailside historical marker:

Slave Cabin
This cabin represents dwellings inhabited by enslaved people who worked on Washington's outlying farm. Groups of cabins were arranged opposite an overseer's house.

At Dogue Run Farm, where Washington's 16-sided treading barn was originally located, the enslaved family "Silla" and her husband "Slammin" Joe, lived a cabin much like this one. A 1799 census indicated that Silla and Joe had six children. Sophia (age 14) Savary (age 13) Penny (age 11) Israel (age 10) Israis (age 3) and Christopher (age 1 year).

While Silla, a field hand, worked at Dogue Run Farm, Joe worked as a ditcher at the Mansion House Farm. During their work week—Monday through Saturday—the couple lived apart. On Saturday nights, Joe would walk the roughly 3 miles to Dogue Run Farm to spend the weekend with his family.