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According to records cited by Atlas Obscura, Dinah was a mother to daughter Bess, and had a grandson named Cyrus. Many other details about her life, including her birthday, her birthplace, her last name and appearance are unknown. It is however certain that Dinah was enslaved at Philadelphia’s Stenton House.

In 1776 shortly after the Declaration of Independence was signed, Dinah encountered two British soldiers who told her that they were going to burn down the Stenton House. After the pair retreated to the adjacent barn to gather wood, Dinah alerted other British soldiers who had stopped by the residence in search of deserters, to the would-be arsonists’ presence. The soldiers were promptly arrested thus saving the Stenton House, Dinah’s family and other occupants of the house.