the 86th Academy Awards. Early life Solomon Northup was born in the town of Minerva in Essex County, New York on July 10, 1807 or July 10, 1808. His mother was a free woman of color, which meant that her sons, Solomon and his older brother Joseph, were born free according to the principle of partus sequitur ventrem. Solomon described his mother as a quadroon, meaning that she was one-quarter African, and three-quarters European. His father Mintus was a freedman who had been a slave in his early life in service to the Northup family. Born in Rhode Island, he was taken with the Northups when they moved to Hoosick, New York, in Rensselaer County. His master, Henry Northrop, manumitted Mintus in his will, after which Mintus adopted the surname Northup. His surname was sometimes spelled Northrup in records. Upon attaining his freedom, Mintus married and he moved to Minerva with his wife. According to Northup, his father was "a man respected for his industry and integrity". A farmer, Mintus was successful enough to own land and thus meet the state's property requirements for the right to vote. His sons received what was considered to be a good education for free black people at that time. As boys, Northup and his brother worked on the family farm. He spent his leisure time playing the violin and reading books. Mintus moved his family to Washington County, New York and worked on several farms owned by the Northups. From Minerva, they moved to the farm of Clark Northup near Slyborough (Slyboro) in Granville, Washington County for several years. The family of four then lived at Alden Farm, a short distance north of Sandy Hill (now called Hudson Falls). They later moved to an area east of Fort Edward on the road from Fort Edward to Argyle, where Mintus lived until his death. Mintus died at Fort Edward on November 22, 1829, and was interred at the Hudson Falls Baker Cemetery. His mother died during Northup's enslavement (1841 to 1852). According to her daughter-in-law Anne and Nicholas C. Northup, she died around 1846 or 1847 in Oswego County, New York. Marriage and family Solomon Northup married Anne Hampton on December 25, 1829, one month after the death of his father, or on November 22, 1829, according to sworn depositions by Anne Northup, Josiah Hand, and Timothy Eddy, the latter of whom was the