Slavery at Morven

Slavery was widespread in antebellum Northern Virginia. In Arlington and Alexandria, which were then both part of Alexandria, there were 1,386 enslaved people documented by the 1860 census.¹ Alexandria was home to one of the largest slave-trading operations in the country.²

The area we now know as Fairlington was no exception. This widely-used interpretative historical map by Beth Mitchell³ shows that John Carlyle owned this land, and that based on court records there were estimated to be 27 enslaved persons working there. The farm there was called Torthorwald, but would later be renamed Morven.⁴ The residence at Morven was located at what is now South 31st and Columbus Streets. A cropped section of the map is below, with Torthorwald/Morven in the center, bounded by Four Mile Run to its north.

A detailed inventory of Carlyle’s assets at the time of his death in 1780 also provide a glimpse into slavery at the estate.⁵ 43 enslaved persons were listed among assets like books and furniture to be passed along to heirs.⁶ Their names were:

1. Sam
2. Jack
3. Daniel
4. Nace
5. Ned
6. Jack
7. Jack
8. Frank
9. Charles
10. Will
11. Mingo
12. Polypus
13. Bob
14. Cyrus
15. Neroe
16. Matt
17. Smart
18. Jack
19. Jack
20. George
21. George
22. Harry
23. Joe
24. Dennis
25. Cloe
26. Alce
27. Pegg
28. Francis
29. Sarah
30. Sabb
31. Rose
32. Suck
33. Jean
34. Joan
35. Barbary
36. Alce
37. Milley
38. Sibby
39. Hannah
40. Hannah
41. Sall
42. Sinah
43. Sell

After John Carlyle’s death, the farm was passed to his nephew, Carlyle Whiting. There is ample evidence that slavery continued during his tenure. Whiting published several ads in the Alexandria Gazette seeking the return of enslaved persons.

Some of these ads ran in multiple successive editions, indicating that efforts to recapture the individuals were not, at least initially, successful. The ad originally published in September 1817 was republished regularly until April 1818. Additionally, note in the 1804 ad the writer’s detailed familiarity of scars remaining from physical assaults, including a scald and a whip, that the enslaver or the overseer may have imposed at Morven.

At least once, Whiting advertised a sale of individuals he had enslaved. This 1811 sale, to take place in Fairfax County, included “men, women, boys & girls,” as well as furniture and livestock.

Charles Whiting inherited Morven upon his father’s death in the early 1830s. In September 1837, the younger Whiting advertised that he would be hiring out persons enslaved by him until Christmas.

This was the last known mention of slavery on the Morven estate. Most enslaved people in Alexandria (including the area we now know as Arlington) gained some freedom through the Confiscation Acts of 1861 and 1862.⁷ The Emancipation Proclamation definitively freed the enslaved in Alexandria in 1863.⁷