was born into slavery in central Virginia, and his parentage and precise date of birth are unknown. Washington was the instigator of a slave revolt onboard the U.S. brig Creole in 1841. Very little is known about Washington's life before and after the Creole revolt. Married at the age of twenty, he escaped from slavery in 1839 and reached Canada in 1840 after traveling through either Ohio or New York State. He returned to Virginia to free his wife in 1841 and was helped on his return journey by abolitionists in Rochester. But when he reached Virginia he was recaptured, sold to a slave broker named Thomas McCargo, and placed on the Creole with 134 other slaves.
The ship left the port of Richmond, Virginia, on 25 October 1841 bound for New Orleans Louisiana where the slaves would be sold at auction Also on board were thirteen ...
