Born into slavery on a Maryland plantation, Araminta Ross’s parents nicknamed her “Minty.” Minty later took her mother’s name, Harriet, to honor her.
At age twelve, she stepped between an overseer throwing a heavy object at a fugitive slave. It struck Harriet instead, breaking her skull. The injury caused headaches and narcolepsy that lasted all her life. She fell deeply asleep at random.
She married a free black man, John Tubman, around 1844.
Learning that she and two of her brothers were about to be sold, they escaped on September 17, 1849. Her brothers returned to the plantation, but Harriet pushed on, following safe houses on the Underground Railroad. She walked about 90 miles to freedom in Pennsylvania. Over the next few years, she rescued about 70 people, including her parents and other family members. Her husband had remarried and chose to stay in Maryland.
When the Civil War began, Harriet worked as cook, nurse, and laundress at Fort Monroe, Virginia. She assisted fugitive slaves there.
In May of 1862, soldiers and fugitives were dying of diseases when she arrived in Port Royal, South Carolina. Her knowledge of local roots helped significantly in treating their illnesses.
In 1863, Harriet, reporting directly to General David Hunter and General Rufus Saxton, commanded a team of espionage scouts searching for escape routes for slaves.
She found warehouses and ammunition and reported the locations to Colonel James Montgomery.
Late on June 2, 1863, Harriet led 150 black men, soldiers of 2nd South Carolina Battalion, on the Combahee River Raid. The surprise attack freed over 750 slaves.
After the war ended, Harriet and her family settled in Auburn, New York, and she continued to help folks in need.
-Sandra Merville Hart
Sources
Biography.com Editors. “Harriet Tubman,” A&E Television Networks, 2019/03/30 https://www.biography.com/people/harriet-tubman-9511430.
“Harriet Tubman,” History.com, 2019/03/30 https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/harriet-tubman.
“Role in the Civil War,” Harriet Tubman Historical Society, 2019/03/30 http://www.harriet-tubman.org/role-in-the-civil-war/.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Harriet Tubman: American Abolitionist,” Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2019/03/30 https://www.britannica.com/biography/Harriet-Tubman.
Sandra Merville Hart 