Enduring Strength: Harriet Greene Ross and the Family That Shaped Harriet Tubman

Basic Information

Origins and Names

Harriet Greene Ross—most often remembered as “Rit”—entered the historical record in fragments: a name in a ledger, a notation in a will, a child counted in a property inventory. Born on Maryland’s Eastern Shore in the 1790s to a woman named Modesty, she lived in a world where births were tallied as assets and kinship ties were constantly at risk of being severed. Her surname appears as Green or Greene in different documents, a small variation that hints at a larger truth: the paper trail of enslaved families is often thin, smudged, and contested. Yet through the haze, a clear figure emerges—Rit, a woman of fierce resolve whose children, nine in all, became her mission.

Marriage and Household Under Slavery

Around 1808, Rit formed a marital bond—unrecognized by law but solemn in intent—with Benjamin “Ben” Ross, an enslaved woodsman, timber estimator, and later foreman. Their partnership stitched together two nearby plantations, as Rit labored in domestic roles while Ben worked in the forests and swamps that fed the Chesapeake’s lumber economy. Their home life, like so many enslaved families’, was braided from scarce time together, whispered plans, and faith that the next day might still find them under one roof.

From the 1810s through the early 1830s, Rit and Ben welcomed children whose lives would etch themselves into American history: Linah, Mariah Ritty, Soph, Robert, Araminta “Minty” (later Harriet Tubman), Ben, Rachel, Henry, and Moses. Enslaved parenthood demanded impossible choices and constant vigilance. Rit’s determination hardened into a shield: she is remembered for interposing herself—body and voice—between slave traders and her children, a living bulwark against forced separations.

Children and Family Network

Family ties were Rit’s universe. The list below reflects the nine children attributed to Rit and Ben, with approximate birth windows and brief notes drawn from family memory and period records.

Rit’s extended kin—neighbors, in-laws, and church companions—formed the latticework supporting escapes, messages, and small mercies. That hidden network, nurtured by women like Rit, became the subterranean currents that later fed the Underground Railroad.

Trials of Sale and Resistance

The domestic sphere could become a battlefield in a heartbeat. One remembered episode has Rit barring a doorway and declaring that the man who tried to take her child “would have to ride over her”—an iron vow framed by the walls of a slaveholder’s house. In another, she and her kin hid a youngster from traders, stretching a few days of safety into weeks. These are not just anecdotes; they are the plotlines of a mother’s life under bondage. In the arithmetic of slavery, children were capital; in Rit’s arithmetic, they were covenants. Her stubborn love taught Minty the grammar of resistance long before Minty learned to read the North Star.

Ben’s Manumission and the Pull of the North

A turning point arrived when Ben Ross was manumitted by the terms of his enslaver’s will, taking effect when Ben reached a specific age in 1840. Freedom, however, came hedged with danger. Even as a free man of color, Ben faced surveillance and legal constraints on movement, work, and association. The 1850s sharpened these edges: new federal laws extended the reach of slave catchers and increased the peril to free and enslaved Black families alike.

In 1849, Minty escaped Maryland and, under the name Harriet, began forging the channels that would carry others to safety. By 1857 she returned with quiet determination to guide her aging parents northward. The journey—timed, coded, and perilous—ended in freedom’s shadow. The family first spent time in safer Northern communities and eventually anchored in Auburn, New York, where Harriet acquired a home that became a refuge for her parents and a revolving door of kin and community.

Life in Auburn and Later Years

Auburn offered Rit something slavery never could: the simple luxury of continuity. Church bells, neighbors’ greetings, the rhythm of harvests and winters—these ordinary markers stitched a quilt of relative stability. Harriet’s household in Auburn became a magnet for relatives, veterans, and the poor. Within that bustle, Rit aged, prayed, told stories, and watched children’s children grow. Records point to her death around 1880, closing a life that began in bondage and ended under a roof secured by her daughter’s grit.

Timeline of Key Events

The Household as Hearth and Headquarters

Rit’s work—cooking, caregiving, spinning the domestic wheels—was more than labor; it was strategy. Meals became meetings. Songs floated coded messages. Children learned to listen as much as they learned to speak. Even after the family’s relocation, the Auburn home functioned as both hearth and headquarters. Harriet’s famous public deeds were anchored by private routines Rit helped establish: how to welcome strangers, how to stretch a pot of stew, how to keep courage warm in winter.

Names, Spellings, and the Paper Trail

The historical record alternates between “Green” and “Greene,” “Rit” and “Ritta.” Such shifts are not anomalies but signatures of the era’s record-keeping. Enslaved people had their identities filtered through the hands of clerks and overseers; every variation is a reminder of how easily a life could be misfiled. Within the family and its memory keepers, however, the person behind the paper never wavered: a mother whose first and last instinct was to protect.

Family Data at a Glance

FAQ

Is Harriet Greene Ross the same person as “Rit” Ross?

Yes. “Rit” or “Ritta” is the familiar name used for Harriet Greene (Green) Ross.

How many children did she have?

Nine, including Araminta “Minty” Ross, later known as Harriet Tubman.

Where was Rit born and where did she die?

She was born in Dorchester County, Maryland, in the 1790s and died around 1880 in Auburn, New York.

Was Rit’s marriage to Ben Ross legally recognized?

No; enslaved marriages were not recognized by law, though the bond was solemn and enduring.

What work did she perform?

Primarily domestic labor—cooking, household service, caregiving—alongside the unrecorded work of sustaining family life.

Did Rit gain her freedom?

By the late 1850s she was living in the North under her daughter’s protection; the exact legal steps varied with time and circumstance.

What influence did she have on Harriet Tubman?

Profound; Rit’s protective ferocity, faith, and strategic instincts shaped Harriet’s resolve and methods.

Why are her name and details recorded in different ways?

Enslaved people’s identities were often documented inconsistently by others, leading to variant spellings and gaps.

Which children were sold away?

Several older sisters faced sale and forced relocation; specifics vary by account, but the risk defined the family’s early decades.

Did Rit live with Harriet Tubman in Auburn?

Yes; Rit spent her later years in or near Harriet’s Auburn household, surrounded by kin and community.