Martin Cockburn Ledger, 1771
This ledger entry shows that George Mason IV's neighbor Martin Cockburn (1731-1820), a white planter born in Jamaica, paid Gunston Nell, an enslaved woman of Gunston Hall, for her expertise in delivering a baby. This originally hand-written document was typed in the 20th century.
Martin Cockburn
Pillman Papers (1761-1775)
Gunston Hall Library and Archives
pdf
English
Letter from George Mason IV to John Mason, 1792
In this letter to John Mason (1766-1849), one of George Mason IV's children, the patriarch of Gunston Hall tells his son that enslaved people on the plantation were inoculated against small pox. This originally hand-written document was typed in the 20th century.
George Mason IV
Gunston Hall Library and Archives
Gunston Hall Library and Archives
Court Case, Sarah Brooke vs Ann (Thomson) Mason, 1751
This 1751 court case focused on a dispute over property; proceedings involved the defendant Ann (Thomson) Mason (1699-1762) and plaintiff Sarah Brooke (1716-1768) of Essex County, Virginia.
Sarah Brooke and Ann (Thomson) Mason
Library of Congress
Miscellaneous Manuscript Collection (MSS2932), Library of Congress Manuscript Division, Washington, DC.
circa 1751
Photo taken by Elizabeth Perez-Garcia
Trial Book, Fairfax County, Colony of Virginia, 1768
This trial book shows the absence of George Mason IV, a presiding Justice of the Peace, in a court case involving the public acknowledgment of the ages of enslaved children, possibly for the purpose of reinforcing their rightless state or documenting personal details in the event they became "manumitted slaves."
Fairfax County Courthouse, Colony of Virginia
Fairfax Minute Book, 1768. Page 198, "July 17, 1769."
July 17, 1769.
Fairfax County Courthouse
Photograph by Kye Farrow
Gunston Hall Burial Ground, 2015
The burial sites surrounding the red rectangle may contain the graves of enslaved individuals of Gunston Hall, including people who grew up as children on the plantation.
Diagram by David Shonyo & Paul Inashima
2015
Manor Gardens of Gunston Hall, 2017
Pictured in this photograph is a horizon view from the back of the manor. The area containing Mason family gardens in the 1700s extends away from the path lined by dwarf boxwood trees. In the distant left corner of the image is the Potomac River. On the banks of this waterway enslaved people of Gunston Hall operated fisheries.
Photograph by Farhaj Mushed
Manor Staircase Used by Enslaved People of Gunston Hall, 2017
This photograph depicts the narrow stairs that enslaved people of Gunston Hall were forced to use when moving between the first and second floors of George Mason IV's home.
Photograph by Farhaj Mushed
jpeg
Gunston Hall
Wider View of Service Staircase, 2017
This photograph depicts another perspective of the cramped staircase used by the enslaved people of Gunston Hall.
Photograph by Farhaj Mushed
jpeg
Inside Gunston Hall, 2017
The ECGM team conducted research inside the Gunston Hall manor with resident expert Rebecca Martin, May 2017.
Photograph by Benedict Carton
Letter from George Mason IV to Thomas Jefferson, 1788
This letter from George Mason IV to Thomas Jefferson, dated July 1788, asks Jefferson to make sure that a man named Captain Fenwick ("Partner of the House in Bourdeaux") bought the right type of clothes for enslaved persons of Gunston Hall. This originally hand-written document was typed in the 20th century.
George Mason IV
Jefferson Papers, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-13-02-0287, accessed Aug. 8, 2017
Mason Papers, Gunston Hall
pdf
English