Biddy mason biography

Biddy mason descendants

Bridget "Biddy" Mason was born into slavery in the Deep South, walked to California as part of a pioneer caravan, fought for her freedom in court, and died a wealthy real-estate investor in Los Angeles. Her perseverance enabled her to find freedom and financial success, ultimately helping numerous others through her philanthropic work.

Mason was born into slavery in Mississippi, 1818. She was then owned by slaveholders in Georgia and South Carolina before being returned to Mississippi. Mason’s last enslaver was a Mormon convert who decided to journey to the Mormon community being established in what would become Salt Lake City, Utah. At this time Utah was still a part of Mexico. In 1848, Mason, then 30 years old, walked 1,700 miles behind a 300-wagon caravan destined for the Salt Lake Valley. Along the route, Mason was responsible for setting up and breaking camp; cooking the meals; herding cattle; and serving as a midwife. She also took care of her three young daughters, aged 10, 4, and a newborn.

In 1851, Mason’s enslaver moved once again, this time to California. Despite slavery being illegal in the new state, Mason and other enslaved people were taken along as property. Along the way, Mason met Charles H. and Elizabeth Flake Rowan, a free Black couple. The Rowan’s, and others, informed Mason of California’s free state status and urged Mason to legally contest her enslavement.

Mason Earns Her Freedom

After spending five years enslaved in California, Mason took legal action for her freedom. Mason’s enslavers attempted to relocate Mason and her family to Texas, where slavery was legal. Mason’s free Black friends intervened by alerting the local sheriff’s office, who took Mason and her family into protective custody. Mason’s case for freedom was sent to the courts, where Black people were not allowed to testify. However, events led to Mason stating her case in front of the judge. On January 21, 1856, in the case of Mason v. Smith, Los Angeles District Judge a

Biddy mason family tree

Bridget “Biddy” Mason

Biography

Labor
Land
Slavery
Women's Voices
Slavery & Abolition, 1800-1860

The Long Walk to Freedom

Bridget “Biddy” Mason (1818–1891) was born enslaved in Hancock, Georgia, and was purchased circa 1836 by Robert and Rebecca Smith, who owned a plantation in Logtown, Mississippi. In 1847, Robert Smith became a Mormon and moved his family and the 19 enslaved people on his property to Utah. Mason’s duties on the 2,000-mile trek, much of which she walked, included herding the cattle, preparing meals, serving as a midwife, and caring for her three daughters, all presumably fathered by Smith. Four years later, when Brigham Young started a Mormon community in California, Smith moved his household to San Bernardino. Realizing that California had been admitted to the Union in 1850 as a free state, Biddy Mason soon petitioned the court for her freedom. Although she was forbidden as an enslaved person from testifying in court, the judge conferred privately with Mason and granted her and her daughters their freedom in 1856.

A Woman of Independent Means

Ellen Mason Owens Huddleston, daughter of Biddy Mason, 1880– 1890

Bridget “Biddy” Mason at the Owens family house, Los Angeles, CA. Mason is center with white collar, ca. 1870

Charles Owens block purchased by Biddy Mason in 1866, Spring Street, 1907– 1908

In 1856, after Biddy Mason and her daughters gained their freedom, Mason’s daughter Ellen married a free man named Charles Owens, the son of a renowned businessman in the African American community of Los Angeles. Owens had helped Mason with her court petition and later invited her to live with the Owens family. Using her skills as a nurse and midwife, she assisted with hundreds of births to mothers of diverse races and social classes; such skills helped lead to Mason’s financial independence. By 1866, she was able to purchase a house and sizable property at South Spring Street, becoming one of the fir

Bridget Biddy Mason (1818-1891) is an American Hero. Born enslaved, Mason became one of the first prominent citizens and landowners in Los Angeles in the 1850s and 1860s. She also founded the First African Methodist Episcopal Church in Los Angeles in 1872.

Mason was born in Mississippi in 1818. She was given the name Bridget without a surname, and was later nicknamed Biddy. She was owned by slaveholders in Georgia and South Carolina before being returned to Mississippi. Robert Marion Smith, her last owner, was a Mississippi Mormon convert. He decided to follow the call of the church and moved his family and enslaved persons to the West. There he would help establish a Mormon community in what would become Salt Lake City, Utah. At this time Utah was still a part of Mexico.

In 1848, Mason, then 30, walked 1,700 miles behind a 300-wagon caravan. The caravan eventually arrived in the Holladay-Cottonwood area of the Salt Lake Valley. Along the route, Mason was responsible for setting up and breaking camp; cooking the meals; herding cattle; and serving as a midwife. She also took care of her three young daughters, aged 10, 4, and a newborn.

In 1851, Smith moved his family once again. This time a 150-wagon caravan headed for San Bernardino, California. Ignoring Brigham Young’s warning that slavery was illegal in California, Smith brought Mason and other enslaved people to the new Mormon community. Along the way, Mason met Charles H. and Elizabeth Flake Rowan, a free black couple. The Rowan’s, and others, urged her to legally contest her slave status once she reached California.

Fearing that he would lose his enslaved persons, Smith decided to move to Texas, a slave state. They were prevented from leaving by the Owens family. One of Robert Owens’ sons was romantically involved with Mason’s 17 year old daughter. Owens told the L.A. County Sheriff that slaves were being illegally held. The sheriff gathered a posse and apprehended Smith’s wagon train in Cajon Pass, Cal

Why is biddy mason important

Biddy mason parents

Born enslaved in Georgia, Bridget “Biddy” Mason walked more than 2,000 miles through rugged terrain to California where she eventually won her freedom in a landmark court case and became a celebrated philanthropist.

Mason was forced to travel West with Robert and Rebecca Smith, slaveholders who had joined the Mormon migration to Utah. The Smiths eventually took Mason and her three children to San Bernardino in California. While California was supposedly a “free state,” Smith continued to hold them captive. Mason and her children befriended free blacks who alerted the local sheriff when the Smiths made plans to take Biddy and her daughters to Texas with them. The sheriff took Mason and her family into protective custody under a writ of habeas corpus.

Habeas corpus: From Latin, habeas corpus translates as “you (shall) have the body.” This writ requires an accused person be brought before a court or judge to ensure that imprisonment is legal. According to the U.S. Constitution, all people have the right to due process, or agreed-upon legal methods, before being put in prison.

Judge Benjamin Hayes circumvented racist testimony laws that prevented blacks from testifying against whites by interviewing Mason in his chambers. There, she said that she did not want to go back to the South with the Smiths. As a result, in 1856, Hayes ruled that Mason and her children were “free forever.” Mason became a doctor’s assistant and ran a midwifing business. She accumulated a fortune worth about $7.5 million in today’s dollars, making her one of the richest women in Los Angeles. She established a homestead in what became downtown Los Angeles. Mason used her wealth to establish a daycare center for working parents and created an account at a store where families who lost their homes in flooding could get supplies. She also co-founded and financed the First African Methodist Episcopal (FAME) Church, which is still going strong. Known as Grandma Mason, she died in