Christopher Sheels

Christopher Shields (born ca. 1774, Mount Vernon, Virginia – year and place of death unknown), was an enslaved house servant at George Washington's plantation, Mount Vernon, in Virginia, United States.

As a teenager, he worked as Washington's "body servant" in the presidential households in New York City, 1789–90, and Philadelphia, 1790–91. In September 1799, Washington foiled an escape attempt by Shields from Mount Vernon. Three months later he was present at the former-president's deathbed.

Shields was the property of the Estate of Daniel Parke Custis (1711–1757), Martha Washington's first husband. As widow, she was granted the lifetime use of one-third of the Custis Estate slaves, hence the term "dower" slaves. At the time of her January 1759 marriage to George Washington, the dower slaves numbered at least 85 persons.

Under Virginia law, the legal status of a slave was traced through the female, so all the children of an enslaved mother were born enslaved, no matter who the father was. Multiple generations of dower slaves were born at Mount Vernon. The July 1799 Mount Vernon Slave Census lists 153 dower slaves.

While George Washington freed his 123 slaves through his 1799 Will, the dower slaves remained the property of the Custis Estate. Following Martha Washington's 1802 death, the Custis Estate was settled, and the dower slaves were inherited by the four Custis grandchildren.

Shields was the son of Alyce (also spelled Alce), an enslaved spinner at the Mansion. His father may have been Christopher Sheldes, a white wagon driver, who worked at Mount Vernon until December 1773. Shields is listed as "11 yrs. old" in the February 1786 Mount Vernon Slave Census. His grandmother, "Old Doll," was a cook at the Mansion, and had been among the original dower slaves who were brought to Mount Vernon in 1759.

Will Lee had been Washington's "body servant" through the Revolutionary War, the 1787 Constitutional Convention, and at Mount Vernon. In April 1789, when Washington set out for New York City to be inaugurated as the first President of the United States, Lee was too ill to make the trip. Fourteen-year-old Shields went in Lee's place, although Lee joined Shields in the presidential household several weeks later. The two were related: Lee's brother was married to Shields' aunt.

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