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Biography · Biography & Culture

Mary Barnes Cabell

1815–1900

United States

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Biography

Mary Barnes Cabell (February 1815 – June 11, 1900) was an American freedwoman who enabled the foundation of Institute, West Virginia. Her story was dramatized in a movie in 2020 called River of Hope. Cabell, born Mary Barnes, was born enslaved in 1815 and was purchased by bachelor farmer Samuel I. Cabell in Virginia.

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Biography text · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source checked 2026-10-13

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