Frederick Augustus Washington (Bailey) Douglass (1818 - 1895)

Born Feb 1818 in Talbot, Maryland, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Anna (Murray) Douglass — married 15 Sep 1838 in New York, United States

Husband of Helen (Pitts) Douglass — married 24 Jan 1884 in District of Columbia, United States

Descendants

Died 20 Feb 1895 at about age 77 in Washington, District of Columbia, United States

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Biography

Frederick (Bailey) Douglass is Notable.

Frederick (Bailey) Douglass was a part of the Abolitionist Movement.

Frederick Douglass, the renowned African-American social reformer, orator, writer, and statesman, was born into slavery as Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey before escaping to become a leader in the abolitionist movement. His best-known work is his first autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, published in 1845.^[1]

He was born into slavery circa 1818 in Talbot County, Maryland, and separated from his mother, Harriet Bailey, when he was an infant. She died when Frederick was seven. Frederick stated that he was told his father was a white man, perhaps his owner, Aaron Anthony. He said he knew nothing of his father's identity. Frederick lived with his maternal grandmother, Betsy Bailey, until he was six, when he was sent to the Wye House plantation. When his first owner died in 1826, Frederick was given to Lucretia and Thomas Auld, and sent to serve Thomas' brother Hugh in Baltimore.^[2] It would be a briefly positive move for Frederick, as it would connect him with Sophia Auld, Thomas' sister-in-law, who, despite the disapproval of her husband, taught Frederick how to read and write. Once Sophia discontinued his lessons, Frederick would barter with people on the streets to learn more and continue his education.^[1]

At fifteen, he was taken away from Baltimore to work for the "slave-breaker" Edward Covey. Frederick eventually fought back, and Covey never tried to beat him again.^[2] After failed escape attempts in the backwoods, Auld returned to take Frederick back to Baltimore, and promised to free him after seven years. Late in Auld's life, Frederick visited his bedside to make sure Auld knew he was forgiven and that it was slavery he abhorred, not the man himself.^[1]

Frederick boarded a train in Baltimore in 1838 and escaped north to freedom dressed in a sailor’s uniform stitched by his fiancée, a free Black woman, Anna Murray. His escape route on the Underground Railroad would take him to New York, to Newport, Rhode Island, and finally to New Bedford, Massachusetts. He received the help of Nathan and Polly Johnson, well-known African American abolitionists in Massachusetts.^[3]

Once in Massachusetts, Frederick changed his surname to Douglass in honor of a Walter Scott poem, and along with his bride Anna, began their life together in freedom. The family moved to Lynn, Massachusetts in 1841 and lived there until 1848.^[4][5] The couple had five children together, including three sons who served in the Civil War. ^[1][3]

Frederick quickly became a favorite abolitionist and anti-slavery speaker, traveling throughout the country and around the world to reveal the horrors of slavery, that “peculiar institution.” He used his personal experience to give a human face to the sufferings of slavery. His celebrity made him one of the most photographed men of the nineteenth century.^[3][1]

Later, when he moved to Rochester, New York, his print shop was a depot on the Underground Railroad. In 1848 he joined the campaign to integrate the schools in Rochester, and in September 1854, Douglass reported gleefully in his newspaper that he “lead four of our little ones” to their neighborhood school on the first day of term. “[O]ur liberal city,” he explained, “does not compel a colored child to walk by the door of the school house in his own District.”^[6]

Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison

William Lloyd Garrison’s newspaper, The Liberator, was the largest abolitionist publication of its time—and Frederick Douglass just so happened to be a loyal reader. When Douglass heard that Garrison was going to give a speech at an antislavery convention in New Bedford, Massachusetts, in 1841, he decided to attend. But while he was there, a friend coaxed the shy Douglass to give a speech on his life story as a runaway slave in front of the attendees, which he reluctantly agreed to. Garrison, deeply moved by the unexpected speech, realized that Douglass not only had an incredible story—but a talent for speaking, as well.

Douglass's unlikely speech turned into another one two days later at the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society’s convention in Nantucket, and Garrison took it upon himself to land Douglass a gig as a lecturer at the Society. He soon became Douglass’s mentor, introducing him to other influential abolitionists and later helping him to get his book published. Although the pair eventually became estranged due to differing interpretations of the Constitution, their early partnership helped Douglass ascend to national recognition, eventually leading to his fateful meeting with Abraham Lincoln in the White House. Not an honor often afforded to former slaves, Douglass spoke with the president about the unfair treatment of black soldiers fighting in the Civil War, leading to a sometimes strained but always respectful relationship between the two until Lincoln's death.

Frederick was outspoken for women's rights, and in 1848 at Seneca Falls when Elizabeth Cady Stanton launched the women's movement, his speech was instrumental in the passage of a resolution asking for women's suffrage. He was often at odds with the movement, though, as he viewed women as a minority, whereas Stanton believed them an ignored majority.^[3][7][1] Put another way, his differences with the Stanton faction were about strategy; while he never argued against the vote for women, she refused to support the 15th Amendment because it would not provide universal suffrage.^[2]

Anna died in 1882, and in 1884 Douglass married again, to Helen Pitts, a white suffragist and abolitionist nearly twenty years his junior.^[2][8]

Fred Douglass in The Argus

The editor of the Pittsburg News, the colored people's paper, says Fred Douglass married a red-headed white girl, 33 years old, and they have no further use for him as a leader. Old Fred's picture, which formerly adorned the editor's parlor, now hangs in the cow stable.

In 1895, Frederick attended a meeting of the National Council of Women in Washington, D.C., where he was brought to a platform and given a standing ovation by the audience. Upon his return home, Frederick Douglass died, on February 20, 1895, of a massive heart attack in his adopted hometown of Washington, D.C. His funeral was held at the historic Metropolitan A.M.E. (African Methodist Episcopal) Church in downtown Washington, D.C. He is buried beside both wives in Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester, New York.^[9]

Slave Holders

Aaron Anthony Anthony-18

Lucretia Planner Anthony Auld Anthony-4015

Thomas Auld Auld-1204

Hugh Auld Auld-942

Legacy

A Memorial Association was formed to preserve historical documents and his home in Cedar Hill, making it accessible to visitors, the latter being a joint effort with the United States Department of Interior, National Park Service.^[10]

Mary Church Terrell, a member of the Washington Board of Education, shared that long before History Week was conceived, in 1897, she introduced a resolution that was unanimously passed by the board to make February 14 Douglass Day in the public schools. It was observed for many years. She walked with him about noon on the day he passed. ^[11]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5} The Prophetic Pragmatism of Frederick Douglass (The New Yorker, 10/15/18)
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} Wikipedia contributors, "Frederick Douglass," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Douglass (accessed December 11, 2020).
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3} "Frederick Douglass", New Bedford Historical Society, accessed 11 Feb 2020
4. ↑ Ribaudo, Matt. “Frederick Douglass: The Lynn Years.” BostonMan Magazine (blog), August 14, 2020. https://bostonmanmagazine.com/frederick-douglass-the-lynn-years/.
5. ↑ “Lynn Legacy: Frederick Douglass’ Local Connection – Lynn Museum.” Accessed August 5, 2023. https://lynnmuseum.org/2021/03/01/lynn-legacy-frederick-douglass-local-connection/
6. ↑ Revolutions and Reconstructions (Early American Studies) (p. 126). University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
7. ↑ National Geographic, Vol. 166, No.1 July 1984
8. ↑ "District of Columbia Marriages, 1811-1950," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QK9B-PQY2 : 11 February 2018), Frederick Douglass and Helen Pitts, 24 Jan 1884; citing p. 7145, Records Office, Washington D.C.; FHL microfilm 2,025,890.
9. ↑ "Later Years and Death," in Frederick Douglass Heritage, Archived from the original on December 21, 2020. Retrieved September 21, 2017. Cited by Wikipedia.
10. ↑ Frederick Douglass Memorial and Historical Association
11. ↑ The Afro American, Nation's Biggest Alt-Negro Weekly: Febuary 10, 1934, Page 5.

See also:

• Birth: Archives of Maryland (Biographical Series), Frederick Douglass (b. 1818 - d. 1895), MSA SC 5496-138000. Fled from slavery, Baltimore City, Maryland, 1838. Anthony Ledger A page 1.SPECIAL COLLECTIONS (Mary A. Dodge Collection), Anthony Ledger A, MSA SC 564. This entry for Frederick Douglass is the earliest known record of the month and year of his birth: Frederick Augustus, son of Harriott, born February 1818.

• "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCBQ-FMG : 12 April 2016), Frederick Douglass, Rochester, ward 7, Monroe, New York, United States; citing family 70, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

• "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCW5-WND : 13 December 2017), Fredrick Douglass, 1860.

• "United States Census, 1870," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M8J8-WRW : 12 April 2016), Frederick Douglass, New York, United States; citing p. 15, family 106, NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 552,469.

• "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M6C3-YYQ : 11 August 2017), F W Douglass, Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, United States; citing enumeration district ED 7, sheet 143C, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 0121; FHL microfilm 1,254,121.

• "SIlver plated Frederick Douglass commemorative spoon." BORN 1817 MARYLAND" on a banner below. along the stem of the spoon there is a chainlink design and inside each link is a date, from bowl to tip: "ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY 1838 / NANTUCKET MASS 1841 / 54-5 MASS REGIMENT 1863 / ELEOTOH AT LARGE 1872 / U.S. MARSHALL 1877 / U.S. MINISTER TO HAYTI 1889 / DIED WASHINGTON 1895, Special Collections of the New Bedford Public Library, https://newbedfordlibrary.pastperfectonline.com/webobject/F119E48C-4301-47DE-AC0B-425523779118

• Famous church Metropolitan AME, "History" page discussing Frederick Douglass's last speech which was delivered there.

• [Go to https://www.gutenberg.org and search on Frederick Douglass to find The Works of Frederick Douglass on Project Gutenberg]

• Full archive of edited by Douglass from the Library of Congress

• Douglass Autobiography on HathiTrust.org

• His July 4 speech read by his descendants

• Wikidata: Item Q215562

• Douglass, Frederick. Oration delivered in Corinthian Hall, Rochester, July 5th,1852. (Rochester, NY: Lee, Mann & Co.,1852). Note: digitized from a first-edition pamphlet.

• https://getpocket.com/explore/item/10-chance-meetings-that-changed-the-world?utm_source=pocket-newtab

• 1850 Census: "United States Census, 1850"
  citing Affiliate Name: The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Affiliate Publication Number: M432; Line: 31; Digital film/folder number: 004197504_002_M9C6-LW9; FHL microfilm: 17107; Image number: 8; Packet letter: A; Indexing batch: N01105-5
  FamilySearch Record: MCBQ-FMG (accessed 21 February 2024)
  FamilySearch Image: S3HY-XXZ3-6J1
  Frederick Douglass (33) in Rochester, Monroe, New York, United States. Born in Maryland.

• 1880 Census: "1880 United States Federal Census"
  Year: 1880; Census Place: Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia; Roll: 121; Page: 143C; Enumeration District: 007
  Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 6742 #35401871 (accessed 21 February 2024)
  Annie Sprage (15), single granddaughter, School, in household of F. W. Douglass (60) in Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia, USA. Born in New York.