Do you know who Biddy Mason is? If not Biddy Mason is a woman who was born as a slave on August 15,1818 in Hancock,Georgia. She was separated from her parents as a child and was sold several times . She spent her childhood working on John Smithson’s in South Carolina, Biddy’s job was to herding the cattle, fixing meals, and acting as a nurse or midwife to anyone who needed her. She learned how to behave toward her master and toward the master’s wife and children. She learned how to cook and clean, scrub floors and sweep out fireplaces , wash grimy clothes and dirty dishes. In 1836, John Smithson sold Biddy and all his slaves as a wedding present to his cousin Robert Marion Smith and Rebecca Crosby Smith.

By the time Biddy was a teenager, she knew as much about treating fevers and …show more content…
She quickly found a job as a nurse and midwife for Dr. John S. Griffin of Los Angeles. Dr. Griffin knew both Robert Owen and Judge Hayes, so he heard about Biddy’s nursing skills. He paid her $2.50 a day ( a good salary, when a boardinghouse meal cost about 50 cent). Biddy saved ever penny so that one day she could buy a house of her own. Biddy always carried a big black bag with different medicines. Biddy had saved up penny by penny until she had $250. In 1866 she bought land one mile south of town , on Thrid and Spring Streets, where there were lots of vineyards. Orange trees and gardens. Her land had “a ditch of water” and a “willow fence’. She loved her new home.Biddy had built two houses on her land, but she didn’t move in yet. Her land was worth a fortune. Biddy Mason was a rich woman. In factshe was one of the richest woman in Los Angeles. She had enough money to stop working and buy anything she want, Biddy wasn’t that way, she didn’t want to sit at home. She did not want to buy things for her. She didn’t stop helping help taking care of people. Biddy Mason died on January 15, 1891 in Los Angeles,