Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman (c. 1822 - 1913) listened to the Bible stories her mother told her as a child and later found guidance in the Old Testament stories of deliverance. Abolitionist Thomas Garrett said of her, "I never met with any person of any color who had more confidence in the voice of God, as spoken direct to her soul."

She escaped slavery herself in 1849 after the death of her owner when it was likely she and others would be sold to settle the estate. She arrived in Philadelphia after traveling at night along the Choptank River from Dorchester County on the eastern shore of Maryland. Over the next twelve years she returned south 19 times to free at least 70 enslaved people, including many family members. During the Civil War she worked as a cook and nurse for the Union Army as well as a scout and spy behind enemy lines, and led the raid on the Combahee Ferry.

After the war she returned to her home in Auburn, New York, where she worked for women's suffrage and was active in the AME Zion church, donating land to the church for the Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged, opened in 1908.

A point of interest on Maryland's self-guided tour of her route include the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park and the present-day New Revived United Methodist Church in Taylors Island.http://www.harriettubmanbyway.org/

Read more about Harriet Tubman herehttp://www.harriettubman.com/callhermoses.html