22 Facts About Elisabeth Samson

Elisabeth Samson was born in about 1715 in Paramaribo to a freed slave, known as Mariana.

Elisabeth Samson began acquiring property at the age of 19, but was banished from the colony in 1736 after being convicted of slander.

Elisabeth Samson's appeal, heard by the Dutch Parliament, was successful and she returned to Suriname in 1739.

Elisabeth Samson brought her own slaves to work on his plantation and within two years, the couple drew up a document confirming their joint ownership of Clevia, as well as of a cattle ranch and two townhomes in the city of Paramaribo.

Elisabeth Samson continued to acquire properties with various family members, including her sister Nanette, with whom she established a successful export business, which traded using her own ship.

Elisabeth Samson was a major coffee plantation owner and coffee export trader until her death in 1771.

Elisabeth Samson was born in 1715 in Paramaribo, Suriname, as the youngest child of a freedwoman, who had taken the name Mariana upon her emancipation from slavery, and an unknown black father.

Elisabeth Samson's will instructed that Nanoe and their two children were to be freed, though Nanoe's six other children by black men were to remain in slavery to his wife.

Elisabeth Samson was raised in the household of her half-sister Maria and her husband Pierre Mivela, a Swiss merchant and owner of the Salzhallen Plantation.

Elisabeth Samson was baptized when she was ten years old and the certificate noted her knowledge of the bible.

In 1736, Elisabeth Samson was convicted of slander for having spread rumors about an alleged dispute between Governor Johan Raye van Breukelerwaard and a local coppersmith, Mr Peltser and his wife.

Elisabeth Samson began to acquire slaves and purchased the Toevlught and Welgemoed coffee plantations over the next three years.

Elisabeth Samson was from Emmerich am Rhein in the Duchy of Cleves, had come to Suriname in 1733 as an army cadet, and lived in the home of Samson's sister and brother-in-law.

In 1764, Elisabeth Samson wrote to the Council of Policy and the governor, seeking permission to marry.

Elisabeth Samson's fiance was Christopher Polycarpus Braband, a white man who was the organist of the local Dutch Reformed Church and a tenant in one of her properties.

Elisabeth Samson's request was denied in accordance with the 1685 law of Suriname which prohibited blacks and whites from marrying.

Elisabeth Samson was not idle, while waiting for the decision on her marriage.

The Miss Nanette and Miss Elisabeth Samson was wrecked off the coast of North Carolina in 1769 and though the crew was rescued, the cargo was lost.

At her death, Elisabeth Samson owned full interest in the Clevia, De Goede Vreed, Toevlugt and Welgemoed plantations and the La Solitude ranch.

Elisabeth Samson owned a half interest with her sister Nanette in the Belwaarde, Catharinasburg, Onverwacht, and Vlaardingen plantations, as well as a country estate; a quarter interest in the Salzhalen Plantation; and owned six homes in her own name and a half-interest in six other residences.

Elisabeth Samson's history gives insight, not only into how black and mixed-race women were able to impact the economy of the Caribbean region and challenge social constructs in the 18th century, but providing details of the larger society of Suriname in the period.

The Elisabeth Samson House located at 22 Wagenwegstraat in Paramaribo has been declared part of the historic city center and was added to South America's World Heritage Sites by UNESCO in 2002.