| Description | Molly Horniblow (d. 1853) was one of three children born to a slave woman and her master. She belonged to Joseph Horniblow and then to his widow Elizabeth Horniblow. Molly became a formidable matriarch, and her children included Mark Ramsey, Betty, Becky, Delilah, and Joseph. Their father or father(s) are not known. Joseph was sold when he was 12, but eventually escaped to freedom. Elizabeth gave one of the Molly's daughters to each of her own daughters when they married. Molly's daughter was given to the invalid Margaret Horniblow. Delilah married Elijah Knox, a slave probably fathered by a poor white farmer named Henry Jacobs. Delilah and Knox had two children, John S. and Harriet. When Elizabeth Horniblow died, it was widely know that she intended for Molly to be freed. The executors ignored this and told Molly that she would be sold to pay a bill. When she was auctioned, people were reluctant to bid, so Hannah Pritchard, Elizabeth Horniblow's sister, was able to purchase both Molly and her oldest son, Mark, using money that Molly had accumulated. Molly set up a bakery shop. Her son Mark technically remained her slave because she needed a certain amount of property to be free. When her granddaughter, Harriet Jacobs needed to escape from Dr. Norcom, Molly hid her for seven years until she managed to flee north. In the mean time, she raised Harriet's two children by Samuel Tredwell Sawyer, Joseph and Louisa, until they also went north. In 1842, Molly began legal proceedings to be allowed to free Mark on the grounds that he was her only heir. She eventually succeeded, and Mark and his wife Ann lived in her house until his death in 1858. When Molly died in 1853, she had outlived two of her daughters, seen her two sons, her granddaughter Harriet and two great grandchildren escape slavery Jean Fagan Yellin thinks that it may have been the death of Molly that inspired Harriet to write the story of her own life. |
