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Best children. and that was sarah. and then sara, my seven times great grandmother who changes the trajectory of her children in all of her descend into followed. there was a law back in 1705, that declared that all children that are enslaved or free, their condition would be based on whatever their mother was. remember, sara and best arrived free people. so sarah has a lawsuit that is filed, saying that we are free. this is the actual lawsuit filed by sarah. suing for her freedom, and for the freedom of her descendants. and that deposition? it was from a witness who saw mary and best arrive decades earlier. so in 1791, the court agreed with sara and her children and grandchildren and all of those relatives who were descendants of mary and bess. are gonna be free. that my ancestors, filed and ....
With sara and her children and grandchildren and all of those relatives who were descendents of mary and beth s are going to be free. that my ancestors filed and sued for their freedom, and it is remarkable. we are not done. we are not done. okay. we are not done. okay. let me get a kleenex. i told you to have a box there. but not all of sara s family was free. before she was free, her daughter was sold, rachel, and then for the next 20 years unaware of the court s ruling, they remained in bondage. when she learned of the decision, more than a quarter century of her mother s court-breaking decision, she ....
So soon after the end of slavery, get the money to buy 23 acres? absolutely. and the thing of it is, i would even question, he said he was freeborn. well, for some answers, we have to go back more than 300 years to my great-great-great-great-great- great-great-great-great-great- grandmother mary. she arrived on a ship in north ummerland county, virginia, in 1712, before america was america. her granddaughter, my eight-times great grandmother, bess, was with her. that s according to this centuries-old deposition that dr. murphy s team uncovered. why a deposition? we ll learn that a little later. and bess at the time was about 13 years old. witnesses apparently said they looked like that they were indians. researchers believe that mary and bess were actually matabonia ....
With sarah and her children and grandchildren and all of those relatives who were descendants of mary and bess are going to be free. that my ancestors filed and s sued for their freedom, it is remarkable. we re not done. we re not done. we re not done. okay. we re not done. let me get a kleenex, doctor i told you, have a box there. not all of sarah s family was freed. before the court s decision, sarah s enslavers illegally sold her daughter, rachael, and then rachael was sold again. and for the next 20 years, unaware of the court s ruling, rachael and her children remained in bondage. when she learned of the decision in 1807, more than a quarter century after her mother s groundbreaking lawsuit for freedom, rachael filed this lawsuit against her enslaver, ....
1870s yes. reporter: so soon after the end of slavery get the money to buy 23 acres. absolutely. and the thing of it is that i would question that he said that he was free-born. reporter: for answers we have to go back more than 300 years to my great great great great great great great grandmother mary. she arrived a ship in north umberton county in 1812, and her mother, my eight-time grandmother bess was uncovered in a deposition. at that time, she was about 13 years old, and witnesses said they apparently looked like indians. researchers said they were ....