Mum Betts was born a slave circa 1742, spending her young adult years in the household of John Ashley in Massachusetts. When Ashley’s wife attacked her, Betts appealed to a local abolitionist, who brought her case to the courts. Betts was granted her freedom and 30 shillings in damages in 1781, with the case Brom and Betts v. Ashley. Betts became a paid servant and raised a family on her wages.
Abolitionist, former slave. Born sometime around 1742, Mum Bett, or Mumbet as she was referred to affectionately, proved to be a driving force in ending the slave trade in the new Commonwealth of Massachusetts when she successfully sued for freedom in 1781, becoming the first African-American woman to win her way out of slavery.
Like so many thousands of others born into slavery, little is known about Mum Bett’s early history, such as when or where she was born. What is clear is that in 1746 she became the property of wealthy Sheffield, Massachusetts, resident John Ashley and his wife, Hannah. Bett and a younger woman, who may have been Bett’s sister Lizzie, had previously been the property of Hannah’s family. When she married John Ashley, it seems, Mum Bett and Lizzie were given to the couple.