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Elizabeth Mumbet Freeman
Elizabeth Freeman ( 1744 December 28, 1829), also known as Bet, Mum Bett, or MumBet, was the first enslaved African Americans, African American to file and win a freedom suit in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling, in Freeman's favor, found slavery to be inconsistent with the 1780 Massachusetts State Constitution. Her suit, ''Brom and Bett v. Ashley'' (1781), was cited in the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court appellate review of Quock Walker's freedom suit. When the court upheld Walker's freedom under the state's constitution, the ruling was considered to have implicitly ended slavery in Massachusetts. Biography Freeman was illiterate and left no written records of her life. Her early history has been pieced together from the writings of contemporaries to whom she told her story or who heard it indirectly, as well as from historical records. Freeman was born into slavery around 1744 at the farm of Pieter Hogeboom in Claverack, New York, where ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Claverack, New York
Claverack is a town in Columbia County, New York, United States. The population was 6,021 at the 2010 census. The town name is a corruption for the Dutch word “Klaverakker” for "Clover Fields" or "Clover Reach". In 1705, the first discovery of a mastodon tooth occurred here. The town is centrally located in Columbia County, east of the city of Hudson. History Claverack was originally approximately in area and was known as the Lower Manor of Rensselaer. The town was formed in 1778 from the older District of Claverack. In 1782, the town lost some of its land to the new town of Hillsdale. The town was reduced again in 1785 to form the city of Hudson. In 1779 Washington Seminary was founded in the town by the local Dutch Reformed pastor. Prominent former students at the school include U.S. President Martin Van Buren. In the nineteenth century the school was renamed Claverack College, and it closed in 1902. The many 18th century homes in the area include the 1786 William H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |