Caroline Branham

Caroline Branham was standing behind the foot of George Washington's death bed, 1799. Cropped from a colored engraving of Death of Washington. Caroline Branham (c. 1764–1843)

On the first, second, and third floors, bed chambers were frequented by visiting relatives, friends, and strangers. Washingtons provided luxurious accommodations with furniture, china, soap, wine, cheese, and other foods from Europe. House maids prepared bed chambers for visitors with fresh linens and jugs of water for washing. They emptied chamber pots and wash basins.

Washington was always concerned that others were taking advantage of him. He was concerned that Caroline kept pieces of fabric (for mending clothes and for quilts) and that Hardiman took longer than needed when traveling between the five farms on Mount Vernon.

Washington household At the time of George and Martha's marriage, Martha had two surviving children — John ("Jacky") Parke Custis (1754–1781) and Martha ("Patsy") Parke Custis (1756–1773) — who became George Washington's stepchildren. Patsy died when she was a teenager. Washington contracted for Hardiman to establish himself at Mount Vernon and oversee breeding and maintaining horses. Washington became gravely ill on December 14, 1799, and died in the evening. Washington's lawyer, Tobias Lear recorded that Branham and three other enslaved people were in his room when he died. Her eldest son, Wilson, had become a groomsman. He was about 14 when he led Washington's riderless horse in the December 18, 1799 funeral procession.

At the time of his death, there were 317 enslaved people at the Mount Vernon estate. Under his will, 123 of the people that he enslaved were to be manumitted upon Martha's death. Branham and her children were dower slaves. Branham was Martha's personal maid and was with her when she died. Upon Martha's death, the dower slaves were divided up amongst her grandchildren (her daughters and son were all deceased by the time of her death). Custis's daughter Mary Anna married Robert E. Lee in 1831 at Arlington House when Branham lived there. Branham lived at Arlington House until her death in 1843.

Personal life Marriage to Peter Hardiman Map of Mount Vernon plantation. Branham worked at the Mansion House Farm (lower center), one of five farms on the Mount Vernon estate. Hardiman and, later, their son Wilson worked at the stables located just south and west of the mansion. The other farms on the plantation were River Farm, Muddy Hole Farm, Doque Run Farm, and Union Farm.

By 1787, she was married to Washington's groom Peter Hardiman, (Hardiman's surname was also spelled Hardman.) Managing the stables for Washington meant that Hardiman would live with his wife and children at Mount Vernon.

He handled the racehorses, including Magnolia, an Arabian purebred stallion, and Leonida, also a purebred. Washington lent Hardiman to his friend William Fitzhugh to prepare his horse Tarquin for a race in the autumn of 1785. Fitzhugh implied that the horse had won the race in his thank you letter to Washington. He also bred horses. He managed the health of the animals, such as during an outbreak of distemper among the Pennsylvania mares and young mules and colts in 1790. Besides the Washingtons' equines, Hardiman took care of visitor's horses. Other enslaved workers fed and groomed and aided in the breeding of animals. They also cleaned saddles and harnesses. Manure was collected and used as fertilizer on the farm.

Children By 1788, the couple had two toddlers, Wilson and Rachel. They later had a total of eight children, which also included Jemima, Leanthe, Polly, Peter, Austin, and Daniel. (Lucy's married surname was Harrison.) Robert, Lucy's son, was purchased in 1827 by Robert H. Miller, who was a Quaker. In 1834, he was apprenticed for eleven years to Robert Jamieson, who was a baker and businessman in Arlington. The 21-year-old was freed in January 1846.

Death Caroline Branham died in 1843. She was buried on March 13, 1843, in Alexandria, Virginia, in the graveyard of Christ Church. Although her name is recorded in the records of Christ Church under "burial of blacks", at the time there was no marker for her grave or any other African American.