Hercules

Hercules Posey was an enslaved African American held at George Washington's plantation Mount Vernon in Virginia. "Uncle Harkless," as he was called by a grandson of Martha Washington, served as chief cook at the Mansion House for many years. In November 1790, Hercules was one of eight enslaved Africans brought by President Washington to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, then the temporary national capital, to serve in the household of the President's House, as the third presidential mansion was known.