Ursula Granger

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Not to be confused with her granddaughter Ursula Granger Hughes.

Ursula Granger
Bornc. 1738
Died1800 (aged 61–62)
Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S.
Known forEnslaved cook and household staff of Thomas Jefferson
SpouseGeorge Granger Sr.
ChildrenGeorge Granger Jr.
Bagwell Granger
Archy Granger
Isaac Granger

Ursula Granger (b. 1738 – 1800) was a woman enslaved by president of the United States Thomas Jefferson for over 27 years, who described her as a person who "unites trust & skill."[1] She worked as a cook, dairymaid, laundress, and wet nurse, and has been referred to as the "Queen of Monticello"[2][3] and as a pioneer of Black cidermaking in America.[4]

Life[edit]

Granger was born around 1738. In January 1773, she was purchased in a bidding war and enslaved by Thomas Jefferson,[5] and she became a highly trusted domestic servant within Jefferson's household.[6] Martha Jefferson had specifically written that she was "very desirious to get a favorite house woman of the name Ursula."[7] Granger was purchased along with her sons and, later, her husband, George Granger Sr.[8] Her husband became referred to as "Great George," and was a farm foreman and Monticello's only African American overseer.[9]

Granger is frequently mentioned in the papers of Thomas Jefferson.[10][11][12] She served as a pastry cook (later head cook for a period)[2] and laundress, with duties including meat processing and preservation[13] and supervising the bottling of cider at Monticello.[14] Granger was also the wet nurse for Jefferson's eldest daughter, Martha Jefferson Randolph, who later served as the Acting First Lady of the United States.[15] After Jefferson was elected Governor of Virginia in 1779, he took Granger and her family with him to Williamsburg and Richmond when he was elected governor.[2]

Death and descendants[edit]

Granger fell ill[16] in late 1799 and died in the spring of 1800, aged 61 or 62.[17][18] Granger, her husband, and her son George Granger Jr. all died within months of each other in 1799 and 1800.[7]

Granger's youngest son, Isaac, using the surname Jefferson, survived into the 1840s as a free man in Petersburg, Virginia, and his recollections of life at Monticello were recorded.[19] Her granddaughter, Ursula Granger Hughes, was named after her and briefly served as an enslaved White House chef when Jefferson became president.[3] The last surviving recorded interview of a person enslaved by Thomas Jefferson was in 1949 with Fountain Hughes, a descendant of Granger.[20][21]

Legacy[edit]

The excavated and restored first kitchen of Monticello, referred to as the "Granger/Hemings Kitchen," is exhibited with details about the life of Ursula Granger, Sally Hemings, and "other enslaved cooks and chefs who helped create early American cuisine."[22]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "From Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Mann Randolph, 4 February 1800," Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-31-02-0304 . [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 31, 1 February 1799 – 31 May 1800, ed. Barbara B. Oberg. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004, pp. 359–361.]
  2. ^ a b c Gordon-Reed, Annette (August 25, 2009). The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 569. ISBN 978-0-393-33776-1.
  3. ^ a b "Slavery and French Cuisine in Jefferson's Working White House". WHHA (en-US). Retrieved December 19, 2022.
  4. ^ Hayes, Darlene (February 9, 2022). "George and Ursula Granger: The Erasure of Enslaved Black Cidermakers". Cider Culture. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
  5. ^ Kidd, Thomas S. (2022). Thomas Jefferson: A Biography of Spirit and Flesh. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-25006-0.
  6. ^ Stanton, Lucia C. (2012). "Those who Labor for My Happiness": Slavery at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. University of Virginia Press. ISBN 978-0-8139-3223-1.
  7. ^ a b "Ursula Granger, an Enslaved Cook, Dairymaid, Laundress, and Nursemaid". Monticello. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
  8. ^ Wiencek, Henry (October 16, 2012). Master of the Mountain: Thomas Jefferson and His Slaves. Macmillan. p. 32. ISBN 978-0-374-29956-9.
  9. ^ Bushman, Richard L. (May 22, 2018). The American Farmer in the Eighteenth Century: A Social and Cultural History. Yale University Press. p. 266. ISBN 978-0-300-23520-3.
  10. ^ "Founders Online: From Thomas Jefferson to Nicholas Lewis, 11 July 1788". founders.archives.gov. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
  11. ^ "Founders Online: From Thomas Jefferson to Nicholas Lewis, 16 December 1788". founders.archives.gov. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
  12. ^ "Founders Online: Memorandum for Nicholas Lewis, [ca. 7 November 1790]". founders.archives.gov. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
  13. ^ "Founders Online: Memorandum to Richard Richardson, [ca. 21 December 1799]". founders.archives.gov. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
  14. ^ Schwartz, Marie Jenkins (April 6, 2017). Ties That Bound: Founding First Ladies and Slaves. University of Chicago Press. p. 139. ISBN 978-0-226-14755-0.
  15. ^ Sandy, Laura R. (April 3, 2020). The Overseers of Early American Slavery: Supervisors, Enslaved Labourers, and the Plantation Enterprise. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-04896-4.
  16. ^ "Founders Online: From Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Mann Randolph, 31 March 1800". founders.archives.gov. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
  17. ^ "To Thomas Jefferson from Martha Jefferson Randolph, 30 January 1800," Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-31-02-0294 . [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 31, 1 February 1799 – 31 May 1800, ed. Barbara B. Oberg. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004, pp. 347–348.]
  18. ^ "To Thomas Jefferson from Thomas Mann Randolph, [ca. 19 April 1800]," Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-31-02-0437 . [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 31, 1 February 1799 – 31 May 1800, ed. Barbara B. Oberg. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004, pp. 522–524.]
  19. ^ "The Granger Family". Monticello. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
  20. ^ "Hughes (Hemings)", Getting Word, Monticello Foundation, accessed 26 May 2013
  21. ^ "Interview with Fountain Hughes, Baltimore, Maryland, June 11, 1949", American Folklife Center, Library of Congress, World Digital Library, accessed 26 May 2013
  22. ^ "Granger/Hemings Kitchen at Monticello". Monticello. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
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