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Based on the analysis of ecclesiastical documents, this study explores how African women lived in the port town of Benguela from about 1760 to 1860. This period includes the height of the transatlantic slave trade, its decline and abolition, and the slow shift towards legitimate trade. Through specific cases revealed in baptism, marriage and burial records, the article presents short stories and explores African women's interaction with foreign men, their economic roles, and their participation in a Christian community. The study also discusses how African women made use of parish venues to establish rights and to record their wishes in order to protect loved ones, in a process that secured social and economic mobility for the next generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]