Buried Lives by Carla Killough McClafferty

Author:Carla Killough McClafferty
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Holiday House
Published: 2018-12-17T16:00:00+00:00

G.W.P. and Nelly Custis knew Hercules well and called him “Uncle Harkless.” G.W.P. Custis later described Hercules as “a dark-brown man, little, if any, above the usual size, yet possessed of such great muscular power as to entitle him to be compared with his namesake of fabulous history.”

Hercules had been working as a cook for about four years when President Washington and his family prepared to move to Philadelphia. Washington planned to hire a cook for the massive responsibility of working in the busy kitchen of the president of the United States. The salary would be $12 per month. Other perks of the position included food and a place to live.

Tobias Lear asked friends in Philadelphia for recommendations for a cook to hire. He also ran newspaper ads that said, “No one need apply who is not perfect in the business, and can bring indubitable testimonials of sobriety, honesty, and attention to the duties of the station.” Not one cook was found who could meet the requirements.

By September of 1790, Washington was considering either Hercules or Nathan for the position. In November he decided to take Hercules with him to the capital city to work as cook. Hercules had no choice in the matter, and since he was Washington’s property, he would not be paid $12 per month.

With his wife deceased, Hercules was the only parent left for his three children. His daughters were now seven and five years old. While he was gone, others within the Mount Vernon enslaved community would care for them. But Richmond was thirteen, the age when children went to work. Hercules asked Washington for permission to take Richmond with him to work in the kitchen.

Washington allowed it, but with reluctance. On November 22, 1790, Washington wrote Tobias Lear that he permitted Richmond to go “not from his appearance or merits I fear, but because he was the Son of Herculas & his desire to have him as an assistant, comes as a Scullion for the Kitchen.”

Hercules arrived in Philadelphia along with others, including Christopher Sheels, Oney Judge, Austin, Moll, and Giles. New shirts, breeches, and a hat were ordered for Hercules now that he worked in the president’s house.

On the days Hercules left the residence, the sights he took in weren’t like anything he would have seen at Mount Vernon. In Philadelphia there were all kinds of entertainment, public buildings, taverns, inns, and stores filled with all manner of goods. The city streets were full of people, including foreign dignitaries, wealthy aristocrats, poor people, white abolitionists, and free black people.

In the president’s house, where Washington’s enslaved people worked alongside paid white servants, Sam Fraunces was the steward and manager of the kitchen. Hercules was the chief cook. According to G.W.P. Custis, Hercules was “as highly accomplished a proficient in the culinary art as could be found in the United States.”

Philadelphia was the new capital city of the United States, but it was also the culinary capital of America. Cooks from Europe arrived, bringing with them their own distinct talents.

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