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Birth
Sojourner Truth, birth name Isabella Baumfree, is born into slavery by parents James and Elizabeth in Ulster County, New York. Isabella was one of 13 children, although she never knew many of her siblings, who were sold to other slave owners. She is owned by Charles Hardenburgh. -
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Sold for the First Time
Isabella is sold for the first time at the age of 9. She, along with some sheep, is auctioned off to John Neely for $100. Neely is a cruel and abusive owner who beats her often, especially since her first language was Dutch and she didn't learn English until the English speaking Neely bought her. It was here that she began to find refuge in religion: praying out loud when she was beaten or hurt.
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Sold for the Second Time
2 years later, she is sold again, for $105 to Martinus Schryver. Schryver was a tavern keeper who lived in the small town of Port Ewen.
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Sold for the Third Time
Isabella is sold for the last time to John Dumont, a farmer, for $175. She remains in his service for 16 years.
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Falling in Love
While in the service of the Dumonts, Isabella met and fell in love with a slave named Robert. However, they were not allowed to be together because Robert was owned by another farm. Any children would have been Dumont's property, so Robert's owner forbid it. One night, Robert came to see her, but was caught and brutally beaten. Her first child, Diana, was born shortly after, but Isabella never saw Robert again. -
Marriage and Children
While still a slave for the Dumonts, Isabella was forced to marry another slave, Thomas. They had four children, Peter (1822), James (date unknown, died young), Elizabeth (1825), and Sophia (1826). -
Escape
In 1826, Isabella walks away from Dumont's farms with her infant daughter because he reneges on a promise to free her. She goes to work with the Van Wagenen family. Later, she said "I did not run off, for I believed that wicked, but walked off, believing that to be all right." Dumont visited, threatining to take Sophia if she did not come back, but Isaac Van Wagenen offered to buy her services for $20, until the state emancipation took place. -
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Religious Revelation
While staying with the Van Wagenens, Isabella underwent a life changing religious experience, later saying that she had become "overwhelmed with the greatness of the Divine prescence." She began attending the Methodist Church.
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Peter's Trial
While she is still with the Van Wagenens, Isabella's old master, Dumont, leases her oldest son Peter to another slaveholder. While there, Peter, who is five years old, is sold illegally. Isabella recieves word and immediately goes to trial to get him back. After a month of legal proceedings, Peter is returned to her, scarred and abused. Isabella becomes the first black woman to win a case against a white male. -
New York Emancipates all Slaves
Slavery is legally abolished in the state of New York, setting Isabella free from the Van Wagenen's service. -
Leaving Ulster County
Isabella leaves Ulster County to move to New York City with a white evangelical teacher, Miss Gear. She quickly became known as a remarkable preacher with "divine influence." -
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The Kingdom
Isabella meets Elijah Pierson and becomes his housekeeper. Pierson ,a religious reformer, speaks of following the laws of the Old Testament for salvation. He treated her an equal, encouraging her to preach too. He led a small group of followers, called the "Kingdom". Soon after Robert Matthias (Prophet Matthias) took over as the group leader. The activities of the group became increasingly bizarre.
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Accusations
In 1834, Elijah Pierson died. The group disbanded, but the family who owned the house, the Folgers, accused Robert and Isabella of poisoning him and stealing his money. Eventually, they were aquitted of all charges. Isabella settled in New York City, soon losing the little money and possessions she had. -
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Peter's Disappearance
In 1839, Peter takes a job on a a ship called the Zone of Nantucket. Sojourner recieves 3 letters from him in 1840 and 1841, but when the ship returned in 1842, Peter was not on it. She never heard from Peter again; it was presumed that he died at sea.
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Sojourner Truth
Isabella leaves New York, resolving to become a traveling preacher. As she told her friends, "The Spirit calls me, and I must go." She changes her name to Sojourner Truth. Sojourner begins to wander, preaching abolition and religion. -
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The Northampton Association of Education and Industry
Sojourner joins the Northampton Association of Education and Industry in Massachusetts. They were a group of about 210 members that lived and made profit by raising livestock, running grist and saw mills, and operating a silk factory. Unlike the Kingdom, it was founded by abolitionists. The group was strongly anti-slavery, religiously tolerant, supported woman's rights. Here, Sojourner met and worked with many famous abolitionists, such as Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison -
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A Memoir
In 1846, the Association disbands due to debt. Sojourner goes to live with one of the Association's founders, George Benson, who has established a cotton mill. At around this time, she begins dictating her memoir, The Narrative of Sojourner Truth: A Northern Slave, to another former Association member, Olive Gilbert. In 1850, it is privately published.
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Traveling and Preaching
After her book is published, Truth speaks and preaches abolition, woman's rights, and Christianity. She makes money by selling copies of the memoir when she speaks. Sojourner continues to speak until a few months before the end of her life.
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Ain't I a Woman?
Sojourner's most famous speech, advocating gender equality and woman's rights, "Ain't I a Woman?" is given at the Women's Convention in Akron, Ohio. Although the exact words of her speech are debated, the most widely used version was published by Frances Gage. Gage made several additions, such as a Southern accent and the repeated question "Ain't I a woman?", hence the name of the speech. In fact, that version is most likely inaccurate, as it was published 12 years after the speech was given. -
Is God Dead?
At a convention, Frederick Douglass, well known former slave and abolitionist, speaks despondently of the cause's circumstances. Sojourner rises to admonish him, asking "Frederick, is God dead?" The question "Is God dead?" was later inscribed on her tombstone. -
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The Progressive Friends
Sojourner became involved with a group that branched off the Quakers, called the Progressive Friends. They supported abolition, woman's rights, non violence, and believed in communicating with spirits. She sells her home in Northhamptom and buys a home in Harmonia, Michigan (close to Battle Creek) to be near them. -
Abraham Lincoln, 16th President
Abraham Lincoln becomes the 16th President of the US, right when the Civil War is starting. Sojourner later meets him and speaks with him while working with freed slaves. -
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The Civil War
The Civil War divided the nation. During this time, Sojourner spoke for the North, speaking about black enlistment and freeing slaves. Her grandson, James Caldwell, enlisted in the 54th Regiment.
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The Libyan Sibyl Statue
The London World Exhibition awards a prize to William Story's statue, Libyan Sibyl. It is based off Sojourner Truth, which increased her reputation even more. -
The Emancipation Proclamation
President Abrham Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation. Although it did not completely end slavery, it abolished it in states that had seceded from the Union, and was an important step to ending slavery in America. -
The Libyan Sibyl
Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, published a rather romaticezed account of her meeting with Sojourner Truth- Sojourner Truth, the Libyan Sibyl. Published in April 1863, it depicter her as a mysterious and powerful African, giving her a nonexistent Southern accent and fitting her into Stowe's vision of blacks in general. The article increased Truth's fame, and her identity became almost unanimous with "the Libyan Sibyl." -
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Working with Freed Slaves
During the Civil War, Sojourner worked with freed slaves at a government refugee camp. She was also employed by the National Freedman's Relief Association in Washington, D.C., (Freedman's Bureau), even getting to meet and talk with President Lincoln in October. Later goes to work at the Freedman's Hospital
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Battle Creek
Sojourner moves from Harmonia to nearby Battle Creek, Michigan. She converts William Merrit's barn into a house, and lives there with her grandson Sammy. -
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Campaigning for the Slaves
Sojourner begins campaigning for the government to provide land for freed slaves in the new West. She pursued this for 7 years with little success. -
Illness
In 1874, both she and Sammy fell ill. Both are forced to return home to Battle Creek from Washington DC. -
Sammy Banks' Death
Sojourner's 24 year old grandson Sammy dies of illnes. He had been her traveling companion for many years, and read and wrote for her, as she was illiterate, never having been taught to read and write. -
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Helping the Exodusters
2 years after Sojourner stopped campaigning for land for freed slaves, many slaves begin migrating north and west on their own. Sojourner spends a year in Kansas helping the refugees, who called themselves "Exodusters." -
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Temperance and Capital Punishment
Sojourner makes some limited appearances around Michigan, speaking for temperance (abstinence from alcohol), and against capital punishment.
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Ulcers and Treatment
In July of 1883, Sojouner develped ulcers on her legs and went to Dr. John Harvey Kellogg at the Battle Creek Sanitarium. Sojouner returned home after treatment. -
Death
Sojourner Truth passes away on November 26, 1883, in her home in Battle Creek, Michigan at 86 years old. she was buried in the Oak Hill Cemetary next to her grandson. It was reported that over 1,000 people attended her funeral. On her tombstone were the words "Is God dead?" -
Painting
Frances Titus, Sojourner's friend and traveling companion, commissions artist Frank Courter to paint the meeting between Sojourner and President Lincoln. -
The Right to Vote
On June 4, 1919, Congress passed an amendment to the Constitution that gave women the right to vote. Although Sojourner was long dead, she fought for gender equality and woman's rights for most of her career. -
Memorial Stone
In 1935, a memorial stone to Sojourner Truth was placed in Monument Park, close to Battle Creek. -
Hall of Fame
In 1981, Sojourner Truth was inducted into the National Woman's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, New York. -
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200th Anniversary
In 1997, a year long celebration of Sojourner Truth's 200th anniversay of birth was held in Battle Creek. During the Week of Truth, October 12 - 18, the Battle Creek National Woman's Conference invited scholars and leaders on women's issues from around the country to lead a week-long conference on Sojourner Truth, her issues and her legacy. -
Mars Probe
In 1997, the probe Sojourner, after Sojourner Truth, is sent to Mars. It lands on Independence Day. From the website-
"The name Sojourner was chosen for the Mars Pathfinder rover after a year-long, worldwide competition in which students up to 18 years old...select a heroine and submit an essay about her historical accomplishments. The students were asked...how a planetary rover named for their heroine would translate these accomplishments to the Martian environment. "
