West Ford (c. 1784–1863)
Bushrod Washington manumitted West Ford circa 1805.
West Ford was born a slave circa 1784 at Bushfield, the Westmoreland County, Virginia, plantation belonging to John Augustine Washington and Hannah Washington. In her 1801 will, Hannah provided for Ford’s freedom upon reaching the age of twenty-one.
Mary V. Thompson, "West Ford," Digital Encyclopedia of George Washington (George Washington’s Mount Vernon).
Henry S. Robinson, "Who Was West Ford?", The Journal of Negro History, Volume 66, Number 2 (Summer 1981), 167–74.
Jill Abramson, "Far from the Tree: Did George Washington Have an Enslaved Son?," The New Yorker, 14 March 2022.
Nicholas Wade, "Descendants of Slave's Son Contend That His Father Was George Washington," The New York Times, 7 July 1999, page A14, columns 1–6.
"His Grandmother-in-Law Can’t Spare a ‘Stacker’ for John Augustine Washington III – Letter Delivered by Freed Washington Family Slave West Ford Includes List of Mount Vernon Slaves," Seth Kaller, Inc: Historic Documents & Legacy Collections.
Paternity of West Ford at George Washington’s Mount Vernon.
Gum Springs at HMdb.org: The Historical Marker Database.