Brilliant piece Mary and it’s correct to change this use of words. Washington “owned” 123 enslaved Black Americans when he died. His wife, Martha “owned” the rest of the more than 300 enslaved at Mount Vernon. According to “These Truths” (2018 W.W. Norton by Jill Lepore) She notes that Martha’s 22-year old seamstress, Ona Judge, escaped to New Hampshire after learning Martha planned to “gift” her to her granddaughter. Washington’s slave catcher advised him after locating Judge that popular opinion in NH favored emancipation and a seizure would create a spectacle. Judge advised Washington she would only return as a free woman and rather die than be enslaved. Washington refused calling it a “dangerous precedent.” His enslaved Black Americans were to be freed upon Martha’s death.