American Abolitionists with Mystery of History

*Like Sojourner Truth, Harriet Ross was born into slavery some time between 1819 and 1822 in Maryland.

*Her birth name was Araminta Ross, and she went by Minty.

With John Tubman 1844

*Her parents were Harriet Green and Benjamin Ross.



*When Harriet was 24 in 1844, she married a free African-American named John Tubman.

*She never gave birth to a child of her own but she did adopt a little girl with her second husband and named her Gertie.



*When Harriet was 12, she was hit in the head with a two-pound iron weight.  This was actually being thrown at another slave but hit Harriet instead.  After that, she had issues with narcolepsy.


*In 1851, Harriet freed herself using the Underground Railroad.  This was a network of safe houses and secret routes that enslaved Africans could use to escape to the north and Canada.

*She felt freedom for the first time when she crossed the Mason Dixon line.

*Harriet and Thomas Garret (a Quaker abolitionist from Delaware) help to free over 3000 enslaved Africans.  She was called the Moses of her people.

*Harriet's husband died during the Civil War, and she later married Nelson Davis.

*Harriet was a nurse, a solider, and a spy during the Civil War.  She never received one penny for her services.

*Did you know Harriet Tubman was the first female to guide an armed expedition in the war?  You do now!

*Later in her life, she worked hard for women's rights issues.

Left to right: Harriet Tubman; Gertie Davis [Tubman's adopted daughter]; Nelson Davis [Tubman's husband]; Lee Cheney; "Pop" Alexander; Walter Green; Sarah Parker ["Blind Auntie" Parker] and Dora Stewart [granddaughter of Tubman's brother, John Stewart].

*In the late 1890s, Harriet had brain surgery at Boston's Massachusetts General Hospital, and she refused to have any anesthesia.  It is said she chewed on a bullet during her surgery.  She had seen Civil War soldiers do this when they were having amputations and other surgeries performed.

*Harriet died at the age of 91 on March 10, 1913 from pneumonia.  She is buried in Fort Hill Cemetery in Auburn.  She was buried with military honors.

*Harriet Tubman is a very important figure in history and will be remembered for her unrelenting desire to free enslaved Africans and advocate for women's rights.

Read more at PBS.
Another blog post by me, Underground Railroad lantern craft.

Next up, Frederick Douglass.