Mariah Ritty Ross was an African American woman who was born into slavery but later gained her freedom. She is best known as the sister of Harriet Tubman, an American slave abolition activist. Also called Mary, Mariah was the second eldest child with eight siblings. She and two of her sisters were sold as slaves at a very young age. There isn’t much legal or written evidence on Mariah Ritty Ross because slaves could not afford the luxury of recordkeeping at the time.
To know more about Mariah Ritty Ross, her life in slavery, and later as a free woman, keep on reading.
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Personal Life of Mariah Ritty Ross
Mariah Ritty was born in 1811 to Harriet (also called Rit) Green and Benjamin (Ben) Ross. At the time of her birth, Mariah’s father and mother were 21 years and 16 years old respectively. During that period of slavery in America, there was a law which stated that if the status of the mother is slave, despite the status of the father, the child would be born in slavery.
Therefore, when Mariah’s maternal grandmother, Modesty, was brought as a slave from Africa in America through the Atlantic slave trade, Mariah and her family were condemned to a life of servitude. Mariah Ritty and her two sisters, Linah and Soph, were sold to Deep South from where Mariah and Linah escaped.
There is no mention of Soph anywhere. Due to her slave status, Mariah Ritty Ross was unable to attend formal schooling. Mariah lived her entire life illiterate as most slaves were not taught to read or write.
Life of Mariah’s Parents and Siblings
Mariah’s mother was sold to the Brodess family at a very young age. She worked as a cook for Mary Pattinson Brodess. Ben, Rit’s husband, was sold to Mary’s second husband, Anthony Thompson. He worked as a woodsman in Thompson’s plantation near Blackwater River, Madison community, Dorchester County, Maryland, United States. Mariah’s parents, Rit and Ben married in 1808 when they were just 13 and 18 years respectively.
In the same year their eldest child, Linah, was born. After escaping with Mariah from Deep South, where Soph (Mariah’s younger sister), Mariah, and Linah were sold, Linah married Harkness Jolley in 1822. She had two daughters and lived with her family in Dorchester. Ben Ross and Rit Green had a total of 9 children, 5 daughters and 4 sons.
They were Linah (1808-passed away), Mariah (1811-passed away), Soph (1813-passed away), Robert (1816-1889) “who later changed his name to John Stewart”, Araminta Minty (1820-1913) “popularly known as Harriet Tubman”, Benjamin (1823-1863) “later became James Stewart”, Racheal (1825-1859), Henry (1830-1912) “changed his to William”, and Moses (1832-passed away).
All About Harriet Tubman, Famous Sibling of Mariah Ritty
Born into slavery in Maryland in 1822, Harriet Tubman knew firsthand the brutal reality of life as a slave. She escaped in 1849, and over the next decade, she helped more than 70 other enslaved people escape to freedom. Tubman was fearless in her quest to help others and became known as the “Moses” of her people. She made numerous dangerous trips back into slave territory, always at great risk to her own safety.
Tubman was also an active participant in the Underground Railroad and a Union spy during the Civil War. After the war, she continued to fight for the rights of African Americans, helping to establish schools and housing for freed slaves. Tubman risked her life to help others and her legacy continues to inspire those who fight for justice and equality.
Conclusion
The last known location of Mariah Ritty Ross was Ithaca, Tompkins, New York, United States in the 1870s.