Origins of Our Legacy

Henry Quando was a slave who sued for and won his freedom in 1830. The case was heard in Prince George’s County, Maryland as Quando vs. Claggett.  

On November 16, 1835, the Alexandria Gazette ran a story about a visit to George Washington’s new tomb, which had been constructed at Mount Vernon four years earlier. A reporter on the scene observed, “Eleven colored men were industriously employed in levelling the earth, and turfing around the sepulcher. . . . They stated they were a few of the many slaves freed by General George Washington, and they had offered their services upon this last and melancholy occasion, as the only return in their power to make to the remains of the man who had been more than a father to them; and they should continue their labors as long as anything should be pointed out for them to do. . . . I trust their names will not be forgotten, and that the circumstance here mentioned may be a recommendation to them during life.”1 The reporter then recorded their identities: Sambo Anderson, William Anderson, Berkley Clark, William Hayes, Dick Jasper, Morris Jasper, George Lear, William Moss, Joe Richardson, Levi Richardson, Joseph Smith, and Nancy Quander—the only woman—who cooked for the men while they worked. 

Nancy Carter Quander was one of the daughters of George Washington's slave Suckey Bay and by virtue a slave herself, married Charles Quander of Maryland following her release to freedom. She was a spinner and landscaper; records have been found and kept of her work on the Mount Vernon grounds. She worked in the back room of the slave housing,  spinning cloth for George Washington's garments. It is believed that she was unable to read or write, therefore after her release from Mount Vernon, no records can be found of her life thereafter.

Nellie Quander, an educator in the public schools of the District of Columbia, an incorporator and the first international president of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.