18 Facts About Elizabeth Freeman

Elizabeth Freeman was fighting for her freedom in the state where the legalization of slavery in early America first derives from.

Elizabeth Freeman was illiterate and left no written records of her life.

Elizabeth Freeman remained with them until 1781, when she had a child, Little Bet.

Elizabeth Freeman is said to have married, though no marriage record has been located.

Elizabeth Freeman's husband is said to have never returned from service in the American Revolutionary War.

Elizabeth Freeman came into conflict with Hannah Ashley, who was raised in the strict Dutch culture of the New York colony.

Elizabeth Freeman's house was the site of many political discussions and the probable location of the signing of the Sheffield Declaration, which predated the United States Declaration of Independence.

In 1780, Elizabeth Freeman either heard the newly ratified Massachusetts Constitution read at a public gathering in Sheffield or overheard her enslaver talking at events in the home.

Elizabeth Freeman worked for his family until 1808 as a senior servant and governess to the Sedgwick children, and in fact, the name "Mumbet" that Freeman is commonly called was invented by the Sedgwick children.

The Sedgwick children were known to have a close relationship with Elizabeth Freeman as she was an integral part of the family.

Elizabeth Freeman is believed to have spent over two decades acting as a motherly figure for Theodore and Pamela Sedgwick's children, as Pamela was suffering from a mental illness that prevented her from being fully present.

Elizabeth Freeman died in December 1829 and was buried in the Sedgwick family plot in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

Elizabeth Freeman remains the only non-Sedgwick buried in the Sedgwick plot.

Elizabeth Freeman was born a slave and remained a slave for nearly thirty years; Elizabeth Freeman could neither read nor write, yet in her own sphere she had no superior or equal.

Elizabeth Freeman never violated a trust, nor failed to perform a duty.

The decision in the 1781 case of Elizabeth Freeman was cited as precedent when the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court heard the appeal of Quock Walker v Jennison later that year and upheld Walker's freedom.

The gold bead necklace visible in the portrait of Elizabeth Freeman was re-made into a bracelet and carries her nickname.

However, Elizabeth Freeman was 20 years senior to Burghardt, and no record of such a marriage has been found.