She was a member of the class of Free Colored in Charleston, South Carolina: both her mother and her stepfather had been slaves, but were manumitted in 1798.
Her stepfather bought the Burrows-Hall House hotel in 1815, and developed it into the famous Jones Inn, one of the most successful hotels in Charleston, frequented by the rich white elite.
She managed it with great success and it continued to be one of the most elite hotels in Charleston.
[1] As was common for other Free Colored businesspeople, she used slave labour in her staff: in 1840, she is listed as the owner of five slaves working in her hotel.
[2] She retired in 1847 and left the hotel to her former business associate Eliza A. Johnson.