After Thomas Jefferson's death, Wormley Hughes was among a group of slaves who were "given their time." This was an informal freedom, a non-legally binding release from the demands of enslavement without legal release, awarded usually to respective members of the slave-holder's own enslaved descendants and, at times, to other slaves deemed to have shown especially dedicated service. Despite this, Hughes' wife Ursula and all their children were sold in 1827, along with all but five slaves from Monticello, to settle outstanding debts of the estate. Hughes appealed to Jefferson's grandson to try to keep his family together; Thomas Jefferson Randolph purchased Hughes' wife and his three sons and took them with Wormley to his plantation of Edgehill. Three daughters of Hughes were sold ultimately to people in Missouri and Mississippi; others stayed closer. Fountain Hughes was born near Charlottesville, Virginia. He states that his grandfather was enslaved by Thomas Jefferson. His father was killed in the AmericanCivil War. As a child, Hughes was sometimes sent as a messenger to another house and would carry a pass to show he was allowed to travel. He said none of the enslaved boys were given shoes until they were about 12 or 13; they always went barefoot. He described their sleeping on pallets on the floor of their quarters; they did not have beds until after freedom. After being freed, he worked for a dollar a month.
Later life
Hughes moved to Baltimore in 1881. For a time, he worked as a manure hauler for a man named Reed. A recorded interview was conducted with him on June 11, 1949, by Hermond Norwood. It has been included with other interviews done by the Federal Writers' Project during the Great Depression. The recording is available online at the WorldDigital Library, as well as through the Library of Congress. Hughes noted changes from how people lived in the early 20th century. He said that in the 1940s, many people bought things on credit instead of saving up for them. He said, "If I've wanted anything, I'd wait until I got the money and I paid for it cash." He also said that, when he was growing up in the 19th century, young people could not spend money until they were 21 because they would be suspected of stealing the money. Children never had money to spend on their own. When asked which life he preferred, Hughes said he would rather be dead than a slave again. Hughes died in 1957.
Claimed age
While Hughes' year of birth has been deduced to be circa 1848 from claims made by him in a recorded interview 8 years before his death and at least one newspaper article 5 years before his death, there is no primary record documentation of this claim. According to federal census records through 1910, Hughes' enumerated age indicates he was born between 1859 and 1863. By the 1920 census and thereafter, Hughes was enumerated to have been born circa 1849, contradicting at least 40 years worth of prior documentary evidence in favor of the 1859-1863 deduction. Using the 1870-1910 census data gives Hughes an age of approximately 94-98 years at the time of his death in 1957 and no greater than 6 years of age at the conclusion of the Civil War in 1865.
