Margaret Thomas also known as Margaret Thomas Lee was a free Black woman and domestic worker who was employed by

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

. Thomas first joined Washington at his

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston ...

headquarters in February of 1776. She traveled with Washington and was present at military encampments during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

where she mended clothes and linens and worked as a laundress within Washington's household. Thomas worked for Washington at

Valley Forge Valley Forge functioned as the third of eight winter encampments for the Continental Army's main body, commanded by General George Washington, during the American Revolutionary War. In September 1777, Congress fled Philadelphia to escape the ...

from 1777-1778. Thomas met William Lee, George Washington's enslaved valet, during her time with the General. The couple married in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. After the war, Lee returned to Mount Vernon with Washington and Thomas remained in Philadelphia where she lived with Washington's former cooks, Hannah and Isaac Till. Virginia did not recognize marriages of enslaved people. Lee petitioned Washington to allow Thomas to join him and Washington agreed. It is unclear if Thomas ever made it to Mount Vernon.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Margaret Year of birth missing Year of death missing Patriots in the American Revolution George Washington American domestic workers 18th-century African-American people