Born in 1818 during the height of slavery in the Georgia cotton belt
Her early life, including her family, is a mystery. Like most enslaved people in the American South, she lacked a legal family name She was given the name Bridget without a surname, and was later nicknamed Biddy. at an early age, she was separated from her family and sold to another slaveholder. She tended to the slaveholder's children and sickly wife, and became an expert nurse and midwife. Other slave women taught her nursing, midwifery and livestock care. She learned the natural healing traditions slaves adapted from Africa, the Caribbean, and Native American culture. The household traveled to Mississippi in 1838 in search of better cropland. During her time in mississippi, she gave birth to three daughters of her own— Ellen, Ann, and Harriet. The father of Biddy's children remains a historical mystery.
In 1844, her master gave Biddy away as a wedding gift to Robert and Rebecca Smith who desired Biddy's unique set of skills.
In 1844, Smith and his wife were baptized into the Church of Christ of Latter-day Saints. - a Mississippi Mormon convert. In 1848, they joined thousands of other Mormon migrants in the long overland trail to what would become the Territory of Utah. At this time Utah was still a part of Mexico. Along with his family, Smith forcibly transported ten enslaved laborers to Utah, including Biddy and her children. The Smiths were Mormons fleeing religious persecution and seeking a new beginning. There he would help establish a Mormon community in what would become Salt Lake City, Utah. Mason walked most of the way, tending to a flock of sheep, baby Harriet strapped to her back. They traveled over 2,000 miles by wagon train with Biddy taking on much of the brunt work, walking on foot steering cattle, tending livestock and feeding the party of 56 whites and 34 slaves, including Biddy's children. The Smiths settled in the new promised land of Salt Lake City for two years.
The discovery of gold in California in 1848 changed the course of Biddy's life. She entered the state in 1851 with the Smiths, who sought better fortune in the West.
Robert Smith followed Brigham Young to San Bernardino, California and took his slaves with him. In 1851, Smith moved his family once again joining a group of Mormons traveling to San Bernardino in the new state of California in a 150-wagon caravan Ignoring Brigham Young's warning that slavery was illegal in California, Smith brought Mason and other enslaved people to the new Mormon community. Luck came for Mason and her daughters after arriving in California, discovering that slaves were free in that state. Along the way, Mason met free black people who urged her to legally contest her slave status once she reached California. Technically, Mason and her children had also become free the minute they stepped into California. The new California constitution stated that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude unless for the punishment of crimes shall ever be tolerated in this state.
As tensions brewed between North and South, Smith became increasingly nervous that his "slaves" would be forcibly wrested from his control. He also had a falling out with Mormon leaders in San Bernardino, and once again fell on hard times. Fearing that he would lose his enslaved persons, Smith decided to move to Texas, a slave state. deciding to move everyone to Texas, where slavery was still legal. In 1855, he took Mason, her daughters, and his other former slaves into an isolated canyon in Santa Monica to keep them from being taken from him. He planned to take them to Texas, hoping to take advantage of a California statute that stated that adults who voluntarily returned to a slave state would again be enslaved.
Freed slave Elizabeth Rowan, who distrusted Smith, sent word to Los Angeles County Sheriff Frank Dewitt that Biddy and the other slaves needed help. Dewitt, aided by wealthy black businessman Robert Owens, rode to their camp and served Smith a writ of habeas corpus. He was ordered to appear in court for "persuading and enticing and seducing persons of color to go out of the state of California." The sheriff gathered a posse and apprehended Smith's wagon train in Cajon Pass, California.
A Sheriff asked Smith to appear in court to prove ownership of the family. He failed to appear in court and Mason won freedom for herself and her daughters. After spending five years enslaved in California, Mason challenged Smith for her freedom. On January 21, 1856, L.A. District Judge Benjamin Hayes approved Mason's petition. The ruling freed Mason and thirteen members of her extended family.
She took the surname Mason from the middle name of Amason Lyman, who was the mayor of San Bernardino and a Mormon Apostle. After a judge declared all of Smith's slaves free Biddy chose the surname Mason and eventually moved into Robert Owen's residence. She earned a living as a midwife and nurse who volunteered her services to people in need. She worked as a nurse and midwife in the years after, living frugally until amassing enough money to purchase land.
She saved money and ten years later became one of the first African American women to own property in Los Angeles. Through rental and commercial real estate investments Biddy became substantially wealthy and along with her son-in-law Charles Owens, she built the First African Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1866, a 48-year-old woman named "Biddy" Mason purchased two lots land for $250 on Spring Street (said to be somewhere between Fourth and Fifth Streets) in what would later become Downtown Los Angeles. At the time, this was the edge of town and even considered rural. It was Mason's first real estate purchase from money she had carefully saved from more than six years working as a nurse and midwife. What made the transaction so unique for Los Angeles was that she was African American and had even endured being a slave for most of her life except the six years prior. From that first purchase, she went on, over the next 25 years, to become one of the wealthiest African Americans west of the Mississippi River and a leading philanthropic citizen in Los Angeles. She continued working as a midwife and nurse, saving her money and using it to purchase land in what is now the heart of downtown L.A. Biddy nurses the sick, comforts prisoners, and pays a grocery at Fourth and Spring to feed all the families made homeless by seasonal floods, 1880-1890.
In 1872 she founded the First African Methodist Episcopal Church. There she organized First A.M.E. Church, the oldest African American Church in the city. As the town of Los Angeles grew, her property became prime urban lots and she accumulated a fortune By the time she died in 1891, she had amassed a fortune, making her the "richest colored woman west of the Mississippi."
After her death in 1891, she was buried in Evergreen Cemetery. In 1988, her burial place was marked with a gravestone.
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In 1847, the household began a long trek West to join other Mormons in the new promised land of Salt Lake City. They traveled with a large Mormon caravan through Iowa, Nebraska, and Wyoming. Mason walked most of the way, tending to a flock of sheep, baby Harriet strapped to her back. The Smiths settled in Salt Lake City for two years.Born in 1818 during the height of slavery in the Georgia cotton belt
Her early life, including her family, is a mystery. By the time she was a young adult she was a slave on a farm in Mississippi. She tended to the master's children and sickly wife, and became an expert nurse and midwife. She was also made to work in the fields and take care of livestock. During her time in Mississippi, she gave birth to three daughters of her own— Ellen, Ann, and Harriet.In 1851, the restless Smith again packed up his household and joined a group of Mormons traveling to San Bernardino in the new state of California. In San Bernardino, Smith claimed a patch of land along the Santa Ana River. He got into the booming cattle business, and for a short time met with great success.
Technically, Mason and her children had also become free the minute they stepped into California. The new California constitution stated that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude unless for the punishment of crimes shall ever be tolerated in this state.
As tensions brewed between North and South, Smith became increasingly nervous that his "slaves" would be forcibly wrested from his control. He also had a falling out with Mormon leaders in San Bernardino, and once again fell on hard times. In 1855, he took Mason, her daughters, and his other former slaves into an isolated canyon in Santa Monica to keep them from being taken from him. He planned to take them to Texas, hoping to take advantage of a California statute that stated that adults who voluntarily returned to a slave state would again be enslaved.
Freed slave Elizabeth Rowan, who distrusted Smith, sent word to Los Angeles County Sheriff Frank Dewitt that Biddy and the other slaves needed help. Dewitt, aided by wealthy black businessman Robert Owens, rode to their camp and served Smith a writ of habeas corpus. He was ordered to appear in court for "persuading and enticing and seducing persons of color to go out of the state of California."
free at age 38
Like most enslaved people in the American South, she lacked a legal family name Biddy's long road west began at an early age, when she was separated from her family and sold to another slaveholder. Sometime in the early 1840s, Biddy came into the household of Robert M. Smith in Franklin County, Mississippi. During her years in Mississippi, Biddy gave birth to three daughters. Their paternity is not known.As the town of Los Angeles grew, her property became prime urban lots and she accumulated a fortune By the time she died in 1891, she had amassed a fortune, making her the "richest colored woman west of the Mississippi."
Born into slavery in the Georgia cotton belt, Biddy was forcibly transported across the continent – first to Mississippi, then to Utah, and finally to southern California in the early 1850s. Although California was technically a free state, her master kept Biddy and thirteen others in bondage until 1856, when they finally won their freedom in a Los Angeles courtroom. Biddy, as a freedwoman, built a career in medicine and a substantial fortune in L.A. real estate. From that fortune and her generous spirit, she laid the foundations for the city's first permanent African American community.
In 1844, Smith and his wife were baptized into the Church of Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Several years later, they joined thousands of other Mormon migrants in the long overland trail to what would become the Territory of Utah. Along with his family, Smith forcibly transported ten enslaved laborers to Utah, including Biddy and her children. Biddy herded cattle and prepared meals on the journey. She may have also served as a midwife to the migrants, drawing on skills she learned in Georgia and Mississippi.
The Smith party settled among other LDS slaveholders in Cottonwood Canyon, southeast of Salt Lake City.
Biddy came to California in 1851 as part of a new LDS colony at San Bernardino. Governor Brigham Young authorized the Mormon settlement there to extend the reach of his Church. Within several years, it was comparable in size and -- by some metrics -- more prosperous than neighboring Los Angeles.
Biddy, along with Hannah (another woman owned by Smith), performed valuable work as midwives in the growing settlement. Although California had prohibited human bondage in its 1850 constitution, lawmakers and jurists empowered slaveholders within the state.
By 1856, Smith laid claim to fourteen enslaved women and children, including Biddy and her three children, making him the largest slaveholder in the American Far West.
After running afoul of the LDS establishment in San Bernardino, Smith attempted to leave the colony for Texas, where skilled slaves like Biddy and Hannah would fetch handsome prices. But, while he camped in the Santa Monica Mountains, Smith was served with a writ of habeas corpus, commanding him to present the enslaved people under his control.
In the ensuing trial, Judge Benjamin Hayes of the Los Angeles District Court indicated that he would rule against Smith.
Smith absconded rather than defend the case.
As a result, Biddy and thirteen other women and children were finally emancipated in one of the largest freedom suits in American history. Biddy took the last name Mason and began a remarkable career as a freedwoman.
She became a renowned healer and midwife, while also investing in real estate in the young boomtown of Los Angeles.
As L.A. grew rapidly, beginning in the 1870s, so too did Biddy's fortune. Her largesse and her medical skills served the community of Los Angeles. Biddy tended to the sick, to orphans, and to prisoners. She also co-founded the city's first black house of worship, First African Methodist Episcopal Church.
By the time of her death in 1891, she was worth an estimated $300,000 (roughly $8.5 million today).
Biddy Mason was born into slavery
In Georgia during the height of slavery in 1818. She was forcibly transported to Mississippi in the early 1830s. In the early 1840s, she was purchased by Robert Smith Robert Smith was a convert to the new Mormon faith, which had been founded by Joseph Smith (no relation) in 1830. in the late 1840s, the great Mormon Exodus to Utah included a large contingent known as the 'Mississippi Saints,' of which Robert Smith was one, The Smiths spent time in the pro-slavery Mormon settlement of Cottonwood Canyon, Utah before coming to California in 1851 to help settle the Mormon colony of San Bernardino.
California joined the United States as a free state in 1850
By 1838 Biddy's daughter Ellen was born, followed by Ann in 1844 and Harriet in 1847. The father of Biddy's children remains an historical mystery. In 1848, the Smiths uprooted Biddy and her children and traveled from Mississippi to Iowa and then to Utah. The Smiths were Mormons fleeing religious persecution and seeking a new beginning. They traveled over 2,000 miles by wagon train with Biddy taking on much of the brunt work, walking on foot steering cattle, tending livestock and feeding the party of 56 whites and 34 slaves, including Biddy's children. The discovery of gold in California in 1848 changed the course of Biddy's life. She entered the state in 1851 with the Smiths, who sought better fortune in the West. In time, Biddy challenged her legal status as a slave in California. As California entered the Union as a free state, Judge Benjamin Hayes declared Biddy "free forever" in 1856. The judge discovered Smith's plan to flee into Texas where slavery was legal. Upon acquiring her freedom, Biddy took on the full name of Bridget "Biddy" Mason.Bridget "Biddy" Mason
Born into bondage on August 15, 1818, Bridget "Biddy" Mason lived in Hancock, Georgia during the height of slavery. She was torn from her enslaved mother and sold to a slave owner, John Smithson, who traveled with her to Mississippi in 1838 in search of better cropland. She was soon thrust into the backbreaking existence of planting and picking cotton beneath the sweltering Southern sun. Legally, slaves could not learn to read or write so Biddy never acquired such literacy skills. However, slave women taught her nursing, midwifery and livestock care. She learned the natural healing traditions slaves adapted from Africa, the Caribbean, and Native American culture. In 1844, her master gave Biddy away as a wedding gift to Robert and Rebecca Smith who desired Biddy's unique set of skills.
Mason was born a slave in Mississippi in 1818
She and her three daughters eventually became the property of a Mormon family that migrated to Utah. From there, Mason and her family came to California, where she won her freedom in the courts in 1856. Because many parents gave Mason, a midwife, land in payment for delivering their children, she became a wealthy landowner. Sixteen years after she was freed, a small group of blacks met in Mason's living room at the corner of Spring and 4th streets to form the first black church in Los Angeles. Mason later founded an elementary school.
One of the wealthiest African Americans west of the Mississippi River:She buys land:
In 1866, a 48-year-old woman named "Biddy" Mason purchased two lots land for $250 on Spring Street (said to be somewhere between Fourth and Fifth Streets) in what would later become Downtown Los Angeles. At the time, this was the edge of town and even considered rural. It was Mason's first real estate purchase from money she had carefully saved from more than six years working as a nurse and midwife. What made the transaction so unique for Los Angeles was that she was African American and had even endured being a slave for most of her life except the six years prior.
From that first purchase, she went on, over the next 25 years, to become one of the wealthiest African Americans west of the Mississippi River and a leading philanthropic citizen in Los Angeles. Born in Georgia on August 15, 1818, Bridget (she had no surname) was given as a wedding gift to Robert Smith and his bride. The Smith household thereafter moved with their slaves to Mississippi where they were later converted to become Mormons. The Smith's slaves were not freed and not baptized into the Mormon faith.
First African-American woman to own land in Los Angeles: She and her daughters moved to Los Angeles where she found employment as a nurse and midwife. Hard work and her nursing skills allowed Mason to become economically independent. She later bought a site in what is now downtown Los Angeles on Spring St. for $250, becoming the first African-American woman to own land in Los Angeles. In 1884, Mason sold a parcel of her land for $1500 and built a commercial building with spaces for rental on the remaining land. She continued making wise decisions in her business and real estate transactions and her financial fortunes continued to increase until Mason had accumulated a fortune of almost $300,000. Mason gave generously to various charities and provided food and shelter for the poor of all races. She also remembered those in prison whom she visited often. In 1872, she and her son in-law, Charles Owens, founded and formed the Los Angeles branch of the First A.M.E. Church, Los Angeles's first African-American congregation which began having services in Mason's living room.Owner Smith no shows to court:
In 1851, Smith moved his household again, this time to San Bernardino, Ca. Smith sensed that Mason and her three daughters might seek their freedom in California, therefore he planned to take them back South. Luck came for Mason and her daughters after arriving in California, discovering that slaves were free in that state. She petitioned a court in 1856 for her and her daughters freedom. A Sheriff asked Smith to appear in court to prove ownership of the family. He failed to appear in court and Mason won freedom for herself and her daughters.
Walked out west in wagon trainBorn without a last name:
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.San Bernardino, California not a slave state:
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.Sheriff's posse stopped wagon train heading to Texas:
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, California.After spending five years enslaved in California, Mason challenged Smith for her freedom. On January 21, 1856, L.A. District Judge Benjamin Hayes approved Mason's petition. The ruling freed Mason and thirteen members of her extended family. She took the surname Mason from the middle name of Amason Lyman, who was the mayor of San Bernardino and a Mormon Apostle.
Los Angeles;
Mason moved her family to L.A. where her daughter married had the son of Robert and Minnie Owens. She continued working as a midwife and nurse, saving her money and using it to purchase land in what is now the heart of downtown L.A.First AME Church:
There she organized First A.M.E. Church, the oldest African American Church in the city.Philanthropist:
Mason used her wealth, estimated to be about $3 million, to become a philanthropist to the entire L.A. community. She donated to numerous charities, fed and sheltered the poor, and visited prisoners. Mason was instrumental in founding a traveler's aid center and an elementary school for black children.
Seven Month Journey to Utah:At 18 she was gifted to owner's cousin:
On John Smithson's South Carolina plantation Biddy assisted in the household and learned about midwifery. When she was 18 Smithson "gifted" her to his cousin Robert Marion Smith as a wedding present. During her time with Robert and his wife in Mississippi Biddy's reputation and experience as a midwife grew. She also gave birth to three children who were likely fathered by Robert Smith: Ellen, Ann, and Harriet.
In 1847 after Smith converted to Mormonism he moved his family and slaves to Utah where there was an established Mormon settlement. Biddy is said to have walked behind Smith's wagon train for most of the cross-country trek carrying one of her children and was responsible for assisting in the births of a number of babies born during those seven months.Moved to California:
Robert Smith followed Brigham Young to San Bernardino, California and took his slaves with him. One of Biddy's daughters had a suitor who informed Mason and possibly the other slaves that according to California law, any slave who came within its borders was considered a free person. Smith reacted to California's anti-slavery stance by deciding to move everyone to Texas, where slavery was still legal. His plan was thwarted when the suitor's father Robert Owens filed a petition against Smith for illegally keeping slaves. After a judge declared all of Smith's slaves free Biddy chose the surname Mason and eventually moved into Robert Owen's residence. She earned a living as a midwife and nurse who volunteered her services to people in need.She saved money and ten years later became one of the first African American women to own property in Los Angeles. Through rental and commercial real estate investments Biddy became substantially wealthy and along with her son-in-law Charles Owens, she built the First African Methodist Episcopal Church.
When she died at 73 in 1891 she was buried in an unmarked grave in Boyle Heights. Almost 100 years later a tombstone was erected during a ceremony attending by thousands of people.
Source: Los Angeles Herald, January 16, 1891
Evergreen Cemetery open 9 - 4 Section G, Lot 320:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Evergreen+Cemetery/@34.0425193,-118.2034335,15.53z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x80c2c5f8e8981003:0x57b011bbd723b5c6!8m2!3d34.0401408!4d-118.1982942
Became one of the first African American women to own property in Los Angeles. In 1872 she founded the First A.M.E. Church, LA's oldest African American Church
