Sojourner Truth

While best known by her adopted name of Sojourner Truth, Isabella Baumfree was born into slavery in 1797 in the town of Esopus, New York. Before the age of nine, she had been sold to three different enslavers. The second master subjected her to severe beatings and abuse. During her time in bondage, she gave birth to five children.

In 1799, New York enacted An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery, specifying that children born to an enslaved mother after July 4, 1799, were legally free at the age of 28 (males) and 25 (females). According to an 1817 addition to the law, Baumfree, born earlier than that date, would attain her freedom on July 4, 1827. Her owner, John Dumont, had assured her that he would free her one year earlier, in 1826, but then refused. Baumfree decided to claim her own freedom and left Dumont’s farm with her youngest daughter. They found safety with the Dutch Van Wagenen family, abolitionists she had known since childhood. The Van Wagenens purchased her from Dumont in order to secure her freedom. 

After Baumfree freed herself, Dumont proceeded to violate New York law and sold her five-year-old son, Peter, to an enslaver in Alabama. According to An Act for Gradual Abolition of Slavery, Peter should have remained within New York State until he could gain his own freedom. With the assistance of the Van Wagenens, Baumfree took her son’s case to court. The court ruled in Peter’s favor, and he was able to return home. Baumfree became the first known Black woman to successfully use the legal system to gain freedom for her children.