Harriet Tubman, originally named Araminta Ross, was one of 11 children born to slaves Harriet Greene and Benjamin Ross on a plantation in Dorchester County, Maryland. She later adopted her mother's first name. Harriet was put to work at the age of five and served as a maid and a children's nurse before becoming a field hand when she was 12. A year later, a white man—either her overseer or her master—hit her on the head with a heavy weight. The blow left her with permanent neurological damage, and she experienced sudden blackouts throughout the rest of her life. In 1844 she received permission from her master to marry John Tubman, a free black man. For the next five years Harriet Tubman l