Founded With Links to the Founding Fathers
On Land Bought by a Washington Slave, the Roots Run Deep

By Janet Lubman Rathner
Special to The Washington Post
Saturday, October 27, 2007; G01

Just off Alexandria's busy Route 1 corridor sits Gum Springs, a neighborhood with a special link to the region's Colonial history.

Gum Springs, which consists mostly of blocks of modest 1940s ramblers sprinkled with the occasional new high-end house, was founded in 1833 by West Ford, a former slave with ties to Mount Vernon, George Washington's home just a little more than five miles away.

Ford began life as a slave for the family of Washington's younger brother, John Augustine Washington, and his wife, Hannah Bushrod Washington. Ford, who was of mixed race and whose father's identity has not been confirmed, spent his childhood at Bushfield plantation, their home in Westmoreland County. John Augustine Washington died in 1787, and his will provided for keeping Ford together with his mother, Venus, and her parents.

"Upon his wife's death, [they] were to be given to whichever of his and Hannah's children that Hannah might choose, probably a means of ensuring that they remained in the family, rather than being sold away," said Melissa Wood, media relations associate at Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens.

Hannah died in 1801, and her will stipulated that Ford be inoculated for smallpox, taught a trade -- he became a carpenter -- and freed when he turned 21. A year later, Martha Washington died and Hannah's son, Bushrod, inherited Mount Vernon.

Bushrod made Ford overseer, a position he retained after he was freed. When Bushrod died in 1829, he bequeathed 119 acres to Ford, who in turn sold the property for $350. With the proceeds, he bought the 214 acres that make up Gum Springs.

Founded 30 years before the Emancipation Proclamation, Gum Springs became a destination for runaway and freed slaves. Many had worked at Mount Vernon and some were related to Ford. With assistance from Quaker abolitionists, they found work in the trades and the agriculture and lumber industries.

Today, descendants of these families can still be counted among Gum Springs' 2,500 residents.

Convenience and family ties are among the reasons longtime homeowners cite when asked why they live in Gum Springs. The community is within walking distance of many establishments, including Mount Vernon Plaza, with a grocery store, a pharmacy, a post office, a restaurant, and office supplies and hardware businesses, and the Gum Springs Center, where there are a barbershop, a photo store and a convenience store.

There are at least five churches within Gum Springs' boundaries: The long-established Bethlehem Baptist and Woodlawn United Methodist churches have been joined in recent years by at least three other houses of worship. Residents can also walk to the Gum Springs Community Center, which offers after-school and senior services programs. The center's west wing houses the Gum Springs Historical Society and the Gum Springs Museum, which has six rooms of photos, china and other community memorabilia.

"Where we're located, you can get to anything. It's good," said Ruby Saunders, 68, a direct descendant of West Ford.

A retired chemist and educator, Saunders was born in Gum Springs and has lived there off and on since. When she was young, the area was still rural. "We picked strawberries growing in little areas where the springs were flowing, and there was fishing. Everybody knew everybody," she recalled.

But the ugly reality of segregated Virginia was apparent in the lack of municipal services, the dilapidated houses and the unpaved streets that turned into rivers of mud when it rained.

"There was no place for blacks anywhere, but we had this," Saunders said.

Today, the ramshackle old dwellings are mostly gone. There are streetlights and paved streets. The neighborhood familiarity that Saunders cherishes remains; relatives and longtime friends live all around her.

Now there's another issue: Developers are calling, and new, grander homes are going up. "We have a lot of pressure to sell," Saunders said.

Neighborhood demographics are also changing. "It's international now. There is every kind of group," Saunders said.

Residents say they welcome the diversity but at the same time enjoy the familiarity that comes with having long-established roots.

"I just love it. I've seen it grow," said Jeanne Paige, 79, a retired school secretary who has lived in Gum Springs all her life, except for two years when her daughter prevailed upon her to move to Atlanta.

"Atlanta wasn't home. I didn't like it. Here, I know almost everybody. It's convenient for me. I have my church. I can walk to the grocery store," Paige said.

The influx of new homes and families who don't have the longtime ties can create challenges for preserving Gum Springs' history.

"This community has struggled to maintain its identity, first when surrounded by slavery, then by neglect. People wanted to change its name," said Ron Chase, 55, an art teacher for D.C. Public Schools, a lifelong Gum Springs resident, and for the past 20 years the volunteer president of the Gum Springs Historical Society and the director of its museum.

"No one is against change, but people need to have an appreciation for what is here," he said.

Bill Middleton's family bought one of the new houses last year when they relocated from San Diego. "It was nice, secluded and quiet but really close to the city," said Middleton, a Navy chaplain. "Sometimes on Route 1 the traffic can get pretty thick, but you can always go on the [George Washington] parkway so you don't feel too stuck."

Middleton, who is white, said he likes the history and ethnic mix of Gum Springs. "Our real estate agent said this was a historic area, but coming from California, we didn't know Gum Springs from Mount Vernon. But now we do, and we feel we are connected to a special place."

At least one aspect of that history is in dispute. A number of West Ford's descendants, as well as other residents with long ties to Gum Springs, say that George Washington was Ford's father. They base their argument on the preferential treatment Ford received throughout his life and on generations of oral histories.

"We had a community of eyewitnesses. My grandmother would tell us. She used to say we had a lot to be proud of," Saunders said.

Mount Vernon staff disagree with this oral history.

"All of the privileges bestowed on him . . . came from the Bushfield branch. There is no indication that George Washington even knew West Ford," Wood said.

There is no argument that Ford was of special interest to the Washington family and others connected to Mount Vernon. In 1858, when the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association assumed ownership of the estate, West Ford continued in his employment. When he became old and infirm, the association took care of him until his death in 1863.

According to information provided by Wood, researchers at Mount Vernon believe Ford is buried at the estate, possibly in the area where other slave graves are located.

After his death, at least one of Ford's children went to work at Mount Vernon. From time to time, descendants have continued to hold jobs there.

Saunders, who helped clean Mount Vernon during her teen years, said she never discussed her family lore with the tourists.

"We very seldom spoke about it. People thought you were crazy," Saunders said.

Gum Springs residents remain connected to the community that Ford founded. "The camaraderie, the family, the history -- it's a sense of strength for me," Chase said. "It's home."