 The Christmases traveled with their five-year-old daughter, Norma, and Winston to the Winslow House in St. Anthony, Minnesota, which was a free state.Winston had already determined to seek her freedom there and told her story to Ralph and Emily Grey, who were free black citizens.According to her deposition, she and her late husband had previously purchased her freedom, but Ralph Christmas had purchased her from her previous owner, a Mr. Gholson, and did not honor her emancipation.