Sojourner Truth

c. 1797: Sojourner Truth, originally named Isabella Baumfree, was born into slavery in Ulster County, New York12. Her parents were John & Elizabeth Baumfree

1800 Isabella was sold with her family to Col Charles Hardenbergh in Esopus, New York.

1808 When Hardenbergh died, Isabella was separated form her parents and sold to John Neely for $100 plus a flock of sheep.

1809 sold again to Martin Schriver.

1810 Sojourner was sold again, this time to John & Elizabeth Dumont.

1814 married fellow slave, Thomas.

Her first child, James, died in childbirth.

1815 her second child, Diana, was born.

1821 Peter was born to Isabella and Thomas.

1825 - Elizabeth was born

1826 - Sophia was born.

July 4, 1826 - was the date Dumont had promised she would be freed but it didn't happen. Truth then escaped.

1826 she and her youngest daughter were taken in, as a free people, by Isaac & Maria Van Wagenen family who were Quakers. When Dumont demanded her back, the Van Wageners offered to pay $20 until the New York Anti-Slavery Law emancipating all enslaved people took effect in 1827. Dumont agreed.

c1827 - Isabella had a vision of Jesus and felt she was baptised in the Holy Spirit, giving her strength to resist her former master. She became a devout Methodist and an itinerant preacher, preaching from the Bible against slavery for for women's rights.

1. She also identified with the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Kingdom of Matthias, Millerites and Shakers.

1827: She was emancipated from enslavement by New York state law3.

1828: She went to court to recover her son who had been sold illegally into slavery in the South, becoming the first black woman to win such a case against a white man2.

1829: She moved to New York City with her two youngest children1.

1843: She left New York City and took the name Sojourner Truth12.

1850: She travelled throughout the Midwest, where she spoke on behalf of the abolitionist movement1.

1851 The Narrative Of Sojourner Truth was published.

1851: She delivered her best-known speech, “Ain’t I a Woman?”, at the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio2.

1857 moved to Battle Creek, Michigan.

1863 Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, formally ending slavery in the USA.

1864 - Sojourner met with Abraham Lincoln and then worked for the national Freedman's Relief Association to improve conditions for former slaves and at the Freedman's Hospital..

During the Civil War: Truth helped recruit black troops for the Union Army24.

After the Civil War: She tried unsuccessfully to secure land grants from the federal government for formerly enslaved people.

November 26, 1883: Sojourner Truth passed away in Battle Creek, Michigan