Elizabeth Freeman

Overview

Elizabeth Freeman (c. 1744 – 28 December 1829), known while enslaved as Mum Bett or Mumbet, was an enslaved woman in Sheffield, Massachusetts, who in 1781 sued her enslaver, Colonel John Ashley, for her freedom — and won (Massachusetts Historical Society). Her case, Brom and Bett v. Ashley, argued that slavery violated the new Massachusetts Constitution’s promise that “all men are born free and equal,” and its success helped make Massachusetts the first state to end slavery as a legal practice (Massachusetts Historical Society; National Constitution Center). After winning, she chose the name Elizabeth Freeman and built a free life in Stockbridge as a paid domestic worker, healer, and property owner (National Constitution Center).

Freeman could neither read nor write, and she left no writings of her own, so nearly everything known about her comes second-hand — above all through Catharine Maria Sedgwick, the daughter of the lawyer who argued her case, who published an account of her life in 1853 (New-York Historical Society; Massachusetts Historical Society). As Sedgwick later recorded her saying: “Any time, any time while I was a slave, if one minute’s freedom had been offered to me, and I had been told I must die at the end of that minute, I would have taken it — just to stand one minute on God’s earth a free woman — I would” (The Trustees of Reservations).

Enslavement in the Ashley household

Freeman was born into enslavement around 1744 in Claverack, New York (Massachusetts Historical Society). Her enslaver, a Dutchman named Pieter Hogeboom, gave her to John Ashley of Sheffield, Massachusetts, when Ashley married Hogeboom’s daughter Hannah (Massachusetts Historical Society). Freeman and her sister Lizzy were sent to the Ashley household, where they worked as servants (Massachusetts Women’s History Center). Around 1765 she gave birth to a daughter; she never revealed the child’s father’s name, later saying only that he had been killed in the Revolution (New-York Historical Society).

One incident became the most retold story of her enslavement (Massachusetts Historical Society). Hannah Ashley raised a red-hot shovel to strike another enslaved woman in the household; Freeman stepped in and took the blow on her arm, bearing the scar for the rest of her life and leaving it uncovered as evidence of her abuse (Massachusetts Historical Society; National Constitution Center). The sources differ on whom the shovel was aimed at — her sister, or another household member — but they agree on what Freeman did (Massachusetts Women’s History Center; National Constitution Center).

What first moved Freeman to seek her freedom is reported three ways, and no source establishes one version as certain (Massachusetts Women’s History Center):

Account	What it says	Reported by
Overheard discussions	She overheard Ashley and his guests discussing liberty and equality, including the Sheffield Declaration drafted at Ashley’s home in 1773	National Constitution Center; Atlas Obscura
Declaration of Independence	She heard a public reading of the Declaration of Independence and asked why its equality language did not apply to her	Massachusetts Historical Society; Massachusetts Women’s History Center
Massachusetts Constitution	She attended a public reading of the 1780 Constitution and heard “All men are born free and equal” as binding law	New-York Historical Society

Brom and Bett v. Ashley

In May 1781, Freeman sought out Theodore Sedgwick, a lawyer in nearby Stockbridge, and asked him to take her case (Massachusetts Women’s History Center). Sedgwick filed a writ of replevin — a court order for the return of unlawfully held property — on behalf of Freeman, under her enslaved name “Mum Bett,” and an enslaved man named Brom (Massachusetts Historical Society). Historians think Sedgwick added Brom to the case so it would not be dismissed simply because Freeman was a woman (New-York Historical Society). Ashley refused the writ, and the case went to the Court of Common Pleas at Great Barrington (Massachusetts Historical Society).

Sedgwick’s argument rested on the newly ratified Massachusetts Constitution, not on the 1773 Sheffield Declaration itself: if all men were born free and equal, slavery could not be lawful in the state (Massachusetts Historical Society; National Constitution Center). The case was argued on 21 August 1781, and the jury took one day to agree, freeing Freeman and Brom on 22 August and ordering Ashley to pay each of them 30 shillings plus trial costs (National Constitution Center). Ashley appealed to the Supreme Judicial Court but dropped his appeal before it was heard, presumably because the intervening Quock Walker decisions made clear that no Massachusetts court would uphold slavery (Massachusetts Historical Society). Freeman’s case was then cited as precedent in the Quock Walker litigation, in which Chief Justice William Cushing declared in April 1783 that slavery was incompatible with the constitution; together the cases effectively ended slavery as a legal practice in Massachusetts (Atlas Obscura; Massachusetts Historical Society).

A free life in Stockbridge — and a monument 193 years later

Freeman refused Ashley’s offer of paid work in his household and instead became a paid domestic worker for the Sedgwick family, helping raise Theodore Sedgwick’s seven children (The Trustees of Reservations; National Constitution Center). She also became widely known as a healer, midwife, and nurse (National Constitution Center). During Shays’ Rebellion in 1787, she single-handedly defended the Sedgwick house from a small mob, hiding the family silver in her own chest and talking the intruders out of searching it (Massachusetts Historical Society; New-York Historical Society).

By 1803 she had saved enough to buy a house and 19-acre farm of her own in Stockbridge, where she lived with her daughter and extended family (The Trustees of Reservations; Atlas Obscura). At her death she was the second-wealthiest Black landowner in the Stockbridge area, leaving an estate that included 19 acres of land, furniture, jewellery, and fine clothing (Massachusetts Historical Society). She died on 28 December 1829 and was buried in the Sedgwick family plot in Stockbridge, the only non-Sedgwick in its inner circle (Massachusetts Historical Society). The Sedgwick family, however, kept calling her Mumbet — short, one museum account says, for “Mother Beth” — rather than the name she had chosen for herself (New-York Historical Society).

Her public recognition came late: in the 1770s about 2 percent of Massachusetts’s roughly 250,000 residents had been enslaved, yet her story was long a footnote even in the Berkshires (Atlas Obscura). That began to change when a 7.5-foot bronze statue of Freeman by sculptor Brian Hanlon was unveiled in Sheffield on 21 August 2022, exactly 241 years after her court victory, and the town proclaimed 21 August Elizabeth Freeman Day (iBerkshires; Atlas Obscura).

Frequently asked questions

Who was Elizabeth Freeman?

Elizabeth Freeman (c. 1744–1829), known while enslaved as Mum Bett, was an enslaved woman in Sheffield, Massachusetts, who sued her enslaver for her freedom in 1781 and won (Massachusetts Historical Society). Afterward she chose her own name, worked for the Sedgwick family, and became a healer, midwife, and property owner in Stockbridge (National Constitution Center).

What was Brom and Bett v. Ashley?

It was the 1781 freedom suit in which Freeman and Brom, both enslaved, sued Colonel John Ashley in the Berkshire County Court of Common Pleas (Massachusetts Historical Society). Their lawyer, Theodore Sedgwick, argued slavery violated the Massachusetts Constitution’s equality clause (National Constitution Center). The jury agreed, freeing both and awarding each 30 shillings plus trial costs (National Constitution Center).

Did Freeman hear the Sheffield Declaration being discussed?

That is reported, not certain (Massachusetts Women’s History Center). One account says she overheard Ashley and guests discussing liberty, including the 1773 Sheffield Declaration (National Constitution Center). Others say she heard a public reading of the Declaration of Independence or the 1780 Constitution (Massachusetts Women’s History Center). Sources disagree, so this profile presents all three accounts (Massachusetts Women’s History Center).

What did Freeman do after winning her freedom?

She refused Ashley’s offer of paid work and became a paid domestic worker for Theodore Sedgwick’s family, raising his seven children (The Trustees of Reservations). She also worked as healer, midwife, and nurse, defended the Sedgwick house during Shays’ Rebellion, and by 1803 had bought a house and farm of her own in Stockbridge (Massachusetts Historical Society; New-York Historical Society).

Where is Elizabeth Freeman buried?

She is buried in the Sedgwick family plot in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, the only non-Sedgwick in its inner circle (Massachusetts Historical Society). Her marble gravestone calls her Elizabeth Freeman, “known by the name of MUMBET,” and praises a woman who “could neither read nor write, yet in her own sphere she had no superior nor equal” (Massachusetts Historical Society).

What this profile does not claim

• It does not claim that Freeman certainly overheard the 1773 Sheffield Declaration discussions. That account is reported, not certain, and two other accounts exist (see the table above) (Massachusetts Women’s History Center).
• It does not claim that she cited the 1773 Sheffield Declaration (or “Resolves”) themselves in her case. Her case was argued on the 1780 Massachusetts Constitution’s equality clause (Massachusetts Historical Society).
• It does not claim the shovel was aimed at a specific person: sources differ on whether Hannah Ashley meant to strike Freeman’s sister or another household member (Massachusetts Women’s History Center; National Constitution Center).
• It does not claim a settled date for her house purchase (1803 in two sources, 1808 in one) or a settled rendering of her daughter’s name (Elizabeth in one account, Betsy in another) (The Trustees of Reservations; Massachusetts Women’s History Center).
• It does not claim anything about Brom’s life after the verdict, which is unrecorded in every source consulted (Massachusetts Historical Society).
• It does not claim Freeman’s case alone ended slavery in Massachusetts. Her case preceded and was cited in the Quock Walker litigation, and it was Chief Justice Cushing’s 1783 ruling that declared slavery incompatible with the constitution (Massachusetts Historical Society).
• It does not present the “one minute’s freedom” quotation as her own writing. She could neither read nor write; the words survive as recorded by Catharine Maria Sedgwick (New-York Historical Society).