She was born a free woman as the granddaughter of a freedman landowner who served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.

Her family were part of a small free black community in Great Barrington that had long been landowners in Massachusetts.

Her great-grandfather served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, which may have led to him obtaining his freedom in the late 18th century.

She gave birth to a son, William Edward Burghardt Du Bois, on February 23, 1868.

Du Bois worked as a servant to support her son and received assistance from her brother and neighbors.