5 little-known black female slave traders who changed the course of history

Mary Faber

Married to Paul Faber, an American ship captain who had opened a factory in the upper Pongo around 1809, Mary Faber of Sangha in the upper reaches of the Rio Pongo was described in 1838 as a Nova Scotian from Freetown.

Paul and Mary Faber established a factory at Sangha in the Bangalan branch of the Rio Pongo. During this period, Paul Faber carried slaves to the Americas, while Mary remained at Sangha where she maintained the family business and gave birth to a son, William.

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Mary Faber was supported by a resident Fula governor and soon became the most powerful trader in the upper river. She had, in effect, inherited the power base held by John Ormond, Jr., in the early 1830s.

The Faber commercial empire expanded in the Bangalan and Fatala branches where it maintained large groundnut plantations into the mid-1850s, according to tubmaninstitute.ca.