Pour dried beans into a sauce pan and cover with roughly 2 inches of water. Let soak overnight in water.
In the morning, preheat the oven to 300 F.
Rinse the beans and add them to a Dutch oven or oven-proof dish with a lid. Add the ham, brown sugar, garlic, onion, bay leaf, salt, and pepper and stir.
Cover with a lid and bake for 5 hours.Check the beans every hour or so and add water if necessary.
Notes
If you forgot to soak the beans overnight, you can soak them for a couple of hours. You will have to bake them longer than 5 hours to get them soft. Check for doneness as you bake.