The story of John Tubman: Harriet Tubman's first husband
Harriet Tubman, born Araminta Ross, is an important part of history. She helped several enslaved people escape from the South to the North and further into Canada, all while there was a bounty on her head. Her first husband, John Tubman, refused to go with her, which led to the break of their marriage.
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Slavery was eventually abolished in 1865 following the American Civil War. Harriet then settled in New York, where she remarried and passed away in her 90s. John Tubman started another family in the South but met a tragic end.
John Tubman's profile summary
| Full name | John Tubman |
| Place of birth | Dorchester County, Maryland, United States |
| Date of death | September 1867 |
| Place of death | Airey, Dorchester Country, Maryland |
| Resting place | Airey Cemetery |
| Cause of death | Gunshot wound |
| Marital status | Married (twice) |
| Wife | Harriet Tubman (1844 to 1849), Caroline (1850-1867) |
| Children | Four, including William Anthony and Alexander |
| Known for | Being Harriet Tubman's husband |
How long was Harriet Tubman married to John Tubman?
Harriet Tubman and John Tubman were married for about five years. They met in the early 1840s on a plantation in Dorchester County, Maryland.
At the time, Harriet was still going by her birth name, Amarinta Ross. She had been born into slavery, but John was born free and took up temporary jobs. According to NPS, half of the African American community in Dorchester County was free, and enslavers held around four slaves to work in their plantations.
Slaveholders did not force marriages between the slaves, but the union between John and Harriet meant that their children would take on Harriet's status as enslaved people. Despite knowing about the consequences, they tied the knot in 1844. Harriet was around 22 years old, and her husband was a little older.
Source: Original
John Tubman did not share Harriet's vision to escape slavery
When Harriet's enslaver, Edward Brodess, passed away in 1849, she knew her family would be separated. She started plotting her escape to the North and hopefully save her marriage. She was counting on John's support, but he turned her down and chose to remain in Maryland, where he owned a farmstead.
Harriet and her two brothers, Henry and Ben, escaped from their Maryland plantation in the fall of 1849. Her brothers changed their minds and turned back. She continued on her own and successfully made it to Philadelphia.
Harriet came back the next year to get her husband and her family members. She found that John had already married another wife, a free woman called Caroline. Despite feeling betrayed, Harriet made 13 trips to Maryland, managing to rescue her family, friends, and others.
Source: Getty Images
Did Harriet Tubman have children with John?
Harriet did not welcome any children during her first marriage. She would later adopt a girl called Gertie Davis in 1874 but she never had biological kids. John Tubman's second wife welcomed four children, including William Anthony (1860-1930) and Alexander Tubman (1862-1945).
What happened to Harriet's husband?
John Tubman was shot and killed in September 1867 by a white man called Robert Vincent after they got into a dispute. The two men had been neighbours for several years.
Robert was later found not guilty of the murder, citing self-defence by an all-white jury. John was buried at Airey Cemetery in Dorchester, Maryland, according to Find a Grave.
Who was Harriet Tubman's second husband?
Harriet remarried in 1869. She met her second husband, Nelson Charles Davis at her boarding house in New York. Davis was more than two decades her junior. He had been an enslaved person in North Carolina and served in the enslaved Union Army during the Civil War.
The Davises lived in Auburn, New York, where they ran a boarding house and brick-making business. They also raised pigs and chickens.
Nelson died in 1888 from tuberculosis, while Harriet passed away about 25 years later in March 1913 from pneumonia. They were both buried at Fort Hill Cemetery in Auburn.
Source: Getty Images
Who saved Harriet Tubman from slavery?
Harriet made her escape from slavery on her own. When she finally fled from Maryland in 1849, she walked about 90 miles before reaching Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which was a free state.
A $100 bounty was placed on her head by Eliza Brodess. The Black History legend managed to evade the fugitive slave hunters with help from fellow abolitionists, both Blacks and Whites, including Martha Coffin Wright, Thomas Garrett, and Frederick Douglass. They set up a network of routes and safe houses called the Underground Railroad.
Harriet is said to have helped at least 70 enslaved people escape to freedom and instructed others how to handle it on their own, according to History. Her work earned her the moniker, The Moses of Her People and in her own words, she said,
I never ran my train off the track, and I never lost a passenger.
Source: Getty Images
John Tubman is often overshadowed by the legendary legacy of his first wife, Harriet Tubman. While his place in history seems insignificant, he played an important part in Harriet's early life.
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