Russell Wilson's great-great-great-great grandmother fought for her rights as an 18-year-old in 1824, but it took 23 years for her and her family to finally gain freedom.
Wilson learned the story of Charity Southgate from historian Henry Louis Gates Jr. at the Richmond Forum Saturday night as part of PBS' show, "Finding Your Roots."
The Richmond Times-Dispatch chronicled the evening.
Southgate, a slave, was born to a white woman and should have been free according to the law. She sued when she was 18, and the judge ruled that she would be granted her freedom 10 years later.