Benjamin Banneker was born on November 9, 1731 in what is today Baltimore

County, Maryland.

According to accounts his grandmother, Molly Welsh, was a white English

woman who was sent to the American colonies as an indentured servant.  

After serving her indentured time, she was able to obtain her own

property—which was a remarkable thing for a woman to do in the late 1600s. 

She then purchased enslaved people to work her land...she ended up buying

two human beings—one of whom was said to be the son of an African king,

whose name was Bannaka.