Elizabeth Freeman

Elizabeth Freeman , also known as Bet or Mum Bett, was the first black slave to file and win a freedom suit in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling in Freemans favor, found slavery to be inconsistent with the 1780 Massachusetts State Constitution. Her suit, Brom and Bett v. Ashley , was cited in the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court appellate review of Quock Walkers freedom suit. When the court upheld Walkers freedom under the states constitution, the ruling was considered to have implicitly ended slavery in Massachusetts.

Freeman was born into slavery about 1744 at the farm of Pieter Hogeboom in Claverack, New York, where she was given the name Bet. When Hogebooms daughter Hannah married John Ashley of Sheffield, Massachusetts, Hogeboom gave Bet, around seven years old, to Hannah and her husband. Freeman remained with them until 1781, during which time she had a child, Little Bet. She is said to have married, though no marriage record has been located. Her husband is said to have never returned from service in the American Revolutionary War.

Source: Wikipedia