Archaeologists Discover Site That Was Once Home Of Harriet Tubman's Father Last year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service bought 2,600 acres in Maryland for $6 million. The land was purchased to help mitigate future sea-level rise — but it turned out to have affected history. Archaeologists have determined part of the site was the home of Harriet Tubman's father, Ben Ross. The abolitionist and famed Underground Railroad conductor was born Araminta Ross in March 1822 on the Thompson Farm. Ten acres of the property were bequeathed to Tubman's father by owner Anthony Thompson in the 1800s. Ross was still a slave when Thompson died, but he was freed in the early 1840s and received the land.