Biddy Mason (1818-1891) was a southern slave who become free after she moved with her masters to California. She built a career in Los Angeles as a nurse and a midwife, bought a piece of property, and used her business skills to become of the wealthiest black women in the United States after the Civil War, as well as a notable philanthropist.

Lived as a Slave

Bridget Mason, known to everyone as "Biddy," was born into slavery on August 15, 1818. Her place of birth was probably Hancock County, Georgia, though some historians cite it as Mississippi. She was of mixed African American and Native American descent, but the names of her parents are unknown. As a slave child, she was separated from her parents and sold several times, working on plantations in Georgia, Mississippi, and South Carolina. She spent much of her childhood working on John Smithson's plantation in...