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Commonwealth Museum   Secretary of the Commonwealth William Francis Galvin
Commonwealth Museum Secretary of the Commonwealth William Francis Galvin

Virtual Tour Detail

Mum Bett

Painting of Mum Bett Elizabeth Freeman, better known as Mum Bett, and her younger sister Lizzie were the slaves of John Ashley of Sheffield, Massachusetts. When Ashley's wife tried to strike Lizzie with a kitchen shovel, Mum Bett deflected the blow, and seriously injured her own arm. As a result of the incident, Mum Bett left the Ashley house, never to return.

In 1781 Mum Bett sued for her freedom and turned to a prominent attorney in Stockbridge, Theodore Sedgwick. Mum Bett may have been encouraged to pursue her suit after listening to a reading of the Declaration of Independence and hearing talk of a new Massachusetts Constitution.