Claverack, New York (c 1744- December 28, 1829) (age ~85 yrs)

Elizabeth Freeman AKA- Bett an Enslaved woman successfully sued for her freedom in Massachusetts from John Ashley. She heard a paper read. It said, ‘all men are created equal.’ It also said that every man has a right to freedom. Freeman expounded, “I’m not a dumb critter, won’t the law give me my freedom?” Theodore Sedgwick was a young, abolitionist-minded lawyer. Tapping Reeve was also a top lawyer in the State. These two top lawyers took the case. They asserted that the constitutional provision that ‘all men are born free and equal’ effectively abolished slavery in the state. The jury ruled in Bett’s favor. She became the first African-American woman to be set free under the Massachusetts state constitution. This occurred in August 1781. After the ruling, Bett took the name Elizabeth Freeman. Ashley asked her to return to his house and work for wages, she chose to work in attorney Sedgwick’s household. Her achievement would become a historical footnote. This was true even in the Western Massachusetts towns where she and her descendants made their home.