It is unknown when Dinah became enslaved in the household of Reverend John and Elizabeth Hancock. The first mention of her in family records states that a dress was purchased for her to wear at Reverend John Hancock’s funeral in 1752.

Reverend Jonas Clarke and his wife Lucy, the Hancocks’ granddaughter, lived in the parsonage with Elizabeth Hancock after Reverend Hancock’s death. Reverend Clarke baptized Dinah on September 9, 1759. Elizabeth, who died in 1760, freed Dinah in her will.