Sarah was an African American woman residing in Pasquotank County, North Carolina. Sarah had been enslaved by Thomas Nicholson, a Quaker minister. Due to the Nicholson's religious beliefs, he freed Sarah in about 1776. Later, North Carolina passed a law stating that enslaved people could not be freed without permission of the courts. In 1778 local officials arrested Sarah, arguing that she had violated the law even though she had been emancipated prior to the law, and sold her labor at public auction. Any further information regarding this individual has not been located.