Biddy Mason: From Enslaved Midwife to Pioneer of Los Angeles 🌟

Author - Educator - Life Coach - Veteran

November 30, 2025

Story Matters

“Biddy’s life is a powerful testament to courage, resilience, and the transformative power of perseverance —“

If you haven’t seen “American Primeval” on Netflix, I highly recommended. This story reminded me of the journey the Mormons took from the around the East Coast to Salt Lake City, Utah, for religious freedom, with their enslaved and indentured servants, their animals, their furniture, their wives, and everything they owned—

they traversed across the wild, wild, west for months. As in Netflix series, it shows just how wild as shit, those treks got!

“From the Western frontier to the foundations of Los Angeles, Biddy helped shape a legacy where freedom wasn’t just won—it was shared.”

Early Life & Escape to the West

Born into slavery in 1818, likely in Hancock County, Georgia, Biddy (born Bridget) was taught essential skills—herbal medicine, livestock care, domestic work, and midwifery—by other Black women on the plantation. During the Mormon-led migration of 1847, Biddy and her three young daughters walked over 1,700 miles from Mississippi to Utah, caring for animals, setting up camp, and delivering babies along the way.

Freedom Battle in California

In 1851, they moved further to San Bernardino, California—a slave brought illegally to a free state. In December 1855, fearing her owner would take them to Texas, Biddy’s free Black friends alerted authorities. Taken into protective custody, she petitioned the court in January 1856. Although California law barred Black testimonies, Judge Benjamin Hayes privately questioned her and declared her and 13 others “free forever.”

Building a Legacy in Los Angeles

After gaining freedom at age 38, she worked for Dr. John S. Griffin as a nurse and midwife—also serving the city jail during a smallpox outbreak. In 1866, at age 48, she invested $250 in her first real estate plot on Spring Street in downtown L.A.—one of the first Black landowners and female property owners in the region. Through savvy investments and thrifty living, by her death in 1891, her estate was valued around $300,000 (~$6–7 million today).

A Life of Service & Philanthropy

Biddy co-founded the First African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1872, the oldest Black church in L.A. Known as “Grandma Mason”, she cared for the homeless, visited prisoners, offered shelter and meals in times of floods, and ran one of L.A.’s first daycare services.

Her guiding words: “If you hold your hand closed, nothing good can come in. The open hand is blessed, for it gives in abundance, even as it receives.”

Enduring Legacy

Passed away in 1891 and buried in an unmarked grave—later commemorated with a tombstone in 1988, with Mayor Tom Bradley and 3,000 churchgoers in attendance . Today, Biddy Mason Memorial Park stands in downtown Los Angeles, marking her incredible journey from bondage to benevolence .

Why Biddy Mason’s Story Matters

Biddy’s life is a powerful testament to courage, resilience, and the transformative power of perseverance. From the Western frontier to the foundations of Los Angeles, she shaped a legacy where freedom wasn’t just won—it was shared.

Today

Spring Street is where Biddy Mason brought her first property, and is where her memorial park sits. She was the first Black woman to do so in Los Angeles, and she would go on to help others.

She’s part of a mural at the First AME Church in South LA, a church she helped build into a cornerstone of LA’s Black community. This all earned her two titles —the ‘Godmother of Black LA’ and the ‘Grandmother of all LA.’

📷 Photo Credits

Historic portrait of Biddy Mason (used in early 1900s publications; from Los Angeles Public Library) Remnant of Spring Street property, L.A. Illustrations of Biddy Mason and Dr. Griffin in murals (e.g., UC San Francisco) Golden-era portrait courtesy of ACLU’s Gold Chains series