Elizabeth Freeman was born about 1742 to African American parents who were slaves. At the age of six months she was acquired, along with her sister, by John Ashley, a wealthy Massachusetts slaveholders. She became known as "Mumbet" or "Mum Bett." 

For nearly 30 years Mumbet served the Ashley family. One day, Ashley's wife tried to strike Mumbet's sister with a spade. Mumbet protected her sister and took the blow instead. Furious, she left the house and refused to come back. When the Ashleys tried to make her return, Mumbet consulted a lawyer, Theodore Sedgewick. With his help, Mumbet sued for her freedom. 

While serving the Ashleys, Mumbet had listened to many discussions of the new Massachusetts constitution. If the constitution said that all people were free and equal, then she thought it should apply to her. Eventually, Mumbet won her freedom---- the first slave in Massachusetts to do so under the new constitution. 

Strangely enough, after the trial, the Ashleys asked Mumbet to come back and work for them as a paid employee. She declined and instead went to work for Segdewick. Mumbet died in 1829, but her legacy lived on in her many descendants . One of her great-grandchildren was W.E.B. Du Bois, one of the founder of the NAACP, and an important writer and spokesperson for African American civil rights. 

Mumbet's tombstone still stands in the Massachusetts cemetery where she was buried. It reads, in part: "She was born a slave and remained 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."
Where does someone's headstone rest?
Who's is it?
How long does the stone say she wasn't free?
What was her full name?
What was her birth year?
How old was she when someone got her?
Who got her?
Was it just her?
Who else then?
How many nicknames did she have?
And they were?
Were her owners kind and non violent?
What happened that proved otherwise?
How did she respond?
And then what?
What unusual thing did she do after the incident?
Anything else?
Who did she talk to about it afterwards?
Did she take up a case against them?
What first time event happened as a result?
in the Massachusetts cemetery
 in the Massachusetts cemetery
Mumbet
Mumbet
nearly thirty years
nearly thirty years
Elizabeth Freeman
Elizabeth Freeman
about 1742
about 1742
six months
six months
John Ashley
John Ashley
no
her sister
her sister
her sister
Two
 "Mumbet" or "Mum Bett."
"Mumbet" or "Mum Bett."
 "Mumbet" or "Mum Bett."
no
tried to strike
Ashley's wife tried to strike Mumbet's sister with a spade
Ashley's wife tried to strike Mumbet's sister with a spade
she protected her sister
Mumbet protected her sister
she took the blow instead
 took the blow instead.
she left the house
she left the house
she refused to come back
refused to come back
a lawyer
a lawyer
yes
Mumbet sued 
she won her freedom
Mumbet won her freedom