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Mum Bett
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mum Bett, later known as Elizabeth Freeman, was born to New York slaves in Claverack, New York, circa 1742. At the age of six months she and her sister were sold to John Ashley of Sheffield, Massachusetts, who she served until 1780. During that time she married and had a child. Her husband was killed in combat during the Revolutionary War.
In 1780, Mum Bett prevented her mistress from striking her sister Lizzy with a heated shovel and was struck instead. She immediately left the Ashley house and refused to return.
When John Ashley appealed to the law to force her to return, Mum Bett sought the counsel of Theodore Sedgwick, an abolitionist-minded lawyer. Sedgwick then enlisted the aid of Tapping Reeve, the founder of America's first law school.
Mum Bett had overheard conversation regarding Massachusett's new constitution which was adopted in 1780. She reasoned that her right to freedom was now coded into law. The exact wording was as follows:
| “ | Article I. All men are born free and equal, and have certain natural, essential, and unalienable rights; among which may be reckoned the right of enjoying and defending their lives and liberties; that of acquiring, possessing, and protecting property; in fine, that of seeking and obtaining their safety and happiness. | ” |
Sedgwick willingly accepted her case, as well as that of a man named Brom who was another of Ashley's slaves, and used that very defense - contending that "all men are born free and equal" was fully applicable in the situation.
After the ruling, John Ashley pleaded with Bett to return to his house and work for wages. Instead, Bett changed her name and went to work for the household of her lawyer, Theodore Sedgwick. She remained in his service for a number of years. In later years she was well known for her skill as a midwife and nurse. As a free woman, she and her daughter also set up a house of their own.
Elizabeth Freeman was around 87 years old when she died 1829. One of her great-grandchildren was W.E.B. DuBois.
Freeman was buried in the Sedgewick family plot in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Her tombstone is engraved:
| “ | She was born a slave and remained a slave for nearly thirty years. She could neither read nor write yet in her own sphere she had no superior or equal. She neither wasted time nor property. She never violated a trust nor failed to perform a duty. In every situation of domestic trial, she was the most efficient helper, and the tenderest friend. Good mother, farewell. | ” |