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Chapter V

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CHAPTER V.

As to my own treatment while I lived on Colonel Lloyd's plantation, it was very similar to that of the other slave children. I was not old enough to work in the field, and there being little else than field work to do, I had a great deal of leisure time. The most I had to do was to drive up the cows at evening, keep the fowls out of the garden, keep the front yard clean, and run of errands for my old master's daughter, Mrs. Lucretia Auld. The most of my leisure time I spent in helping Master Daniel Lloyd in finding his birds, after he had shot them. My connection with Master Daniel was of some advantage to me. He became quite attached to me, and was a sort of protector of me. He would not allow the older boys to impose upon me, and would divide his cakes with me.

I was seldom whipped by my old master, and suffered little from any thing else than hunger and cold. I suffered much from hunger, but much

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more from cold. In hottest summer and coldest winter, I was kept almost naked—no shoes, no stockings, no jacket, no trousers, nothing on but a coarse tow linen shirt,Historical annotation: Rough, unbleached cloth manufactured from tow, the shortest fibers taken from flax or hemp. reaching only to my knees. I had no bed. I must have perished with cold, but that, the coldest nights, I used to steal a bag which was used for carrying corn to the mill. I would crawl into this bag, and there sleep on the cold, damp, clay floor, with my head in and feet out. My feet have been so cracked with the frost, that the pen with which I am writing might be laid in the gashes.

We were not regularly allowanced. Our food was coarse corn meal boiled. This was called mush. It was put into a large wooden tray or trough, and set down upon the ground. The children were then called, like so many pigs, and like so many pigs they would come and devour the mush; some with oyster-shells, others with pieces of shingle, some with naked hands, and none with spoons. He that ate fastest got most; he that was strongest secured the best place; and few left the trough satisfied.

I was probably seven orTextual note here indicates which edition or impression a text variation occurs. Douglass revised B's reading ("between seven and eight years old") in D2, but his intended revision apparently was not fully implemented: his substitution of "or" for "and" demanded also the deletion of "between," which D2 retains. Either Douglass inadvertently failed to mark the deletion of "between" or the compositor overlooked the deletion (B: Copy text, first published in Boston in 1845; D2: Second impression of the Dublin edition, published in 1846). eight years old when I left Colonel Lloyd's
plantation. I left it with joy. I shall never forget the ecstasy with which I received the intelligence that my old master (Anthony) had determined to let me go to Baltimore, to live with Mr. Hugh Auld,Historical annotation: Born in Talbot County, Maryland, Hugh Auld (1799-1861) moved as a young man to Baltimore. There he worked as a ship's carpenter, master shipbuilder, shipyard foreman, and occasionally served as a magistrate. Prior to moving to Baltimore, Hugh married Sophia Keithley. Between 1826 and 1833 and again between 1836 and 1838, the young Frederick Douglass lived and worked in their household, lent to them by his owner, Hugh's brother Thomas. In 1845, Hugh, incensed by Douglass's depiction of his family in the Narrative, bought Douglass, then on a lecture tour of Britain, from his brother Thomas. According to the Pennsylvania Freeman, Auld was determined to reenslave Douglass and "place him in the cotton fields of the South" if the fugitive ever returned to the United States. In 1846, two British abolitionists, Anna and Ellen Richardson, offered to buy Douglass from Auld; in exchange for $711.66 (£150 sterling) raised among British reformers, Auld signed the manumission papers that made Douglass a free man. PaF, 26 February 1846; Lib., 6 March 1846; Walter Lourie to Ellis Gray Loring, 15 December 1846, reel 1, frame 644, Benjamin F. Auld to Douglass, 11, 27 September 1891, reel 6, frames 240-41, 257-58, Douglass to Benjamin F. Auld, 16 September 1891, reel 6, frames 246-47, J. C. Schaffer to Helen Pitts Douglass, 21 October 1896, reel 8, frames 92-93, General Correspondence File, FD Papers, DLC; Talbot County Records, V.60, 35-36, MdTCH, Easton, Md. (a copy is found on reel 1, frames 637-39, FD Papers, DLC); Hugh Auld Family Genealogical Chart, prepared by Carl G. Auld, Ellicott City, Md., 5 June 1976; Preston, Young Frederick Douglass, 81, 84-85, 92, 143, 173-75. brother to my old master's son-in-law, Captain Thomas Auld. I received this information about three days before my departure. They were three of the happiest days I ever enjoyed. I spent the most part of all these three days in the creek, washing off the plantation scurf,Histroical annotation: Scales of epidermis continually being detached from the skin. Textual note here indicates which edition or impression a text variation occurs. D2's "scruff" appears to arise from preference for a term that is used by speakers of British English to refer to a thin coating, crust, or film. "Scurf," however, is more precise in this context, where Douglass is commenting on washing to remove "dead skin" from his feet and knees (D2: Second impression of the Dublin edition, published in 1846). and preparing myself for my departure.

The pride of appearance which this would indicate was not my own. I spent the time in washing, not so much because I wished to, but because Mrs. Lucretia had told me I must get all the dead skin off my feet and knees before I could go to Baltimore; for the people in Baltimore were very cleanly, and would laugh at me if I looked dirty. Besides, she was going to give me a pair of trousers, which I should not put on unless I got all the dirt off me. The thought of owning a pair of trousers was great indeed! It was almost a sufficient motive, not only to make me take off what would be called by pig-drovers the mange, but the skin itself. I went at it in good earnest, working for the first time with the hope of reward.

The ties that ordinarily bind children to their homes were all suspended in my case. I found no severe trial in my departure. My home was charmless; it was not home to me; on parting from it, I could not feel that I was leaving any thing which I could have enjoyed by staying. My mother was dead, my grandmother lived far off, so that I seldom saw her. I had two sistersHistorical annotation: Sarah Bailey (1814-?) was Frederick Douglass's oldest sister and the second of seven children born to Harriet Bailey. Aaron Anthony owned Sarah but after his death in 1826, she became the chattel of his son, Andrew Skinner Anthony. In 1832, Andrew sold Bailey, her son Henry, and four other slaves to Perry Cohee of Lawrence County in south Mississippi. Douglass and Sarah remained separated until 1883, when she, then living in Louisville, Kentucky, and calling herself Mrs. Sarah Pettit, wrote to Douglass and reestablished their relationship. Sarah O. Pettit to Douglass, 26 September 1883, General Correspondence File, reel 3, frame 778-80, FD Papers, DLC; Aaron Anthony Slave Distribution, 22 October 1827, Talbot County Distributions, V.JP#D, 58-59, MdTCH; Sale of Slaves, Andrew S. Anthony to Perry Cohee, 14 July 1832, Talbot County Records, V. 50, 192-93, MdTCH. The third oldest of six children born to Harriet Bailey and the sister of Frederick Douglass, Eliza Bailey (1816-c. 1876) was a slave owned by Aaron Anthony. When Anthony died in 1826, Eliza became the property of Thomas Auld, Anthony's son-in-law. Eliza married Peter Mitchell, a free black who worked as a field hand in Talbot County, with whom she had nine children. In 1836, Mitchell bought Eliza and their then two children from Thomas Auld for one hundred dollars. After settling on an acre of land which they rented from Samuel and John Hambleton of Talbot County, they raised their own vegetables and meat and hired themselves out as a domestic and a field hand, respectively. Eliza and her brother Frederick were separated after the latter's escape from slavery in 1838. On 6 June 1844, Mitchell freed Eliza and the other children because state laws no longer required removal from Maryland upon manumission. Eliza and Frederick were reunited in 1865 when Douglass stopped in Baltimore while on a speaking tour. New York Independent, 2 March 1865; Lewis Douglass to Douglass, 9 June 1865, FD Papers, Moorland-Spingarn Library, DHU; Aaron Anthony Slave Distribution, 22 October 1827, Talbot County Distributions, V.JP#D, 58-59, Sale of Slaves, Thomas Auld to Peter Mitchell, 25 January 1836, Talbot County Records, V.52, 258, Manumission of Eliza Mitchell, 1 July 1844, Talbot County Records, V.58, 234-35, all in MdTCH; Preston, Young Frederick Douglass, 164-65, 184, 206-07, 229n7. and one brother,Historical annotation: Perry Bailey (1813-?), the oldest of seven children born to Harriet Bailey and Frederick Douglass's brother, was the slave of Aaron Anthony. When Anthony died in 1826, Perry was inherited by Anthony's son, Andrew J. Anthony. Andrew died in 1832, leaving Perry, now married to a slave named Maria, to John P. Anthony, who sold Maria to a slaveowner in Brazos County, Texas. Perry followed his wife to Texas, where a post-emancipation labor shortage allowed him to earn "fifteen dollars gold wages a month." In 1867, Perry, Maria, and their four children traveled to Rochester to reunite with Frederick. Elated by this reunion, Douglass built a cottage for them on his Rochester estate, where the family stayed for two years. In 1869, Perry and Maria returned to Maryland's Eastern Shore where Perry died some time after 1878. Perry Downs to Douglass, 21 February 1867, Douglass Papers, Moorland-Spingarn Library, DHU; Douglass to J. J. Spelman, 11 July 1867, reprinted in New York Independent, 25 July 1867; Douglass to Theodore Tilton, 2 September 1867, FD Papers, NHi; Anna Downs to Douglass, 5 October 1869, General Correspondence File, reel 2, frames 497-99, FD Papers, DLC; Aaron Anthony Slave Distribution, 22 October 1827, Talbot County Distributions, V.JP#D, 58-59, MdTCH; Preston, Young Frederick Douglass, 175-77, 206. that lived in the same house with me; but the early

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separation of us from our mother had well nigh blotted the fact of our relationship from our memories. I looked for home elsewhere, and was confident of finding none which I should relish less than the one which I was leaving. If, however, I found in my new home hardship, hunger, whipping, and nakedness, I had the consolation that I should not have escaped any one of them by staying. Having already had more than a taste of them in the house of my old master, and having endured them there, I very naturally inferred my ability to endure them elsewhere, and especially at Baltimore; for I had something of the feeling about Baltimore that is expressed in the proverb, that "being hanged in England is preferable to dying a natural death in Ireland." I had the strongest desire to see Baltimore. Cousin Tom,Historical annotation: Tom Bailey (1814-?), the fourth of Milly Bailey's seven children and Douglass's cousin, was a slave belonging to Aaron Anthony. When Anthony died in 1826, Bailey became the property of Thomas Auld. Auld granted Bailey his freedom in 1845. The last record of Bailey's existence is a letter to Douglass from his son Lewis, who visited Talbot County in 1865. During his visit, Lewis wrote, he met with Bailey, who was still living in St. Michaels. Lewis Douglass to Douglass, 9 June 1865, FD Papers, Moorland-Spingarn Library, DHU; Aaron Anthony Slave Distribution, 22 October 1827, Talbot County Distributions, V.JP#D, 58-59, MdTCH; Preston, Young Frederick Douglass, 91, 174, 206, 221n29, 230n25. though not fluent in speech, had inspired me with that desire by his eloquent description of the place. I could never point out any thing at the Great House, no matter how beautiful or powerful, but that he had seen something at Baltimore far exceeding, both in beauty and strength, the object which I pointed out to him. Even the Great House itself, with all its pictures, was far inferior to many buildings in Baltimore. So strong was my desire, that I thought a gratification of it would fully compensate for whatever loss of comfortTextual note here indicates which edition or impression a text variation occurs. The slight awkwardness of the plural coupled with the authority of D2, where the change to the singular noun first appears, supports the adoption of D2's reading (D2: Second impression of the Dublin edition, published in 1846). I should sustain by the exchange. I left without a regret, and with the highest hopes of future happiness.

We sailed out of Miles RiverHistorical annotation: Originally known as the St. Michaels River, the twelve-mile-long Miles River lies entirely within Talbot County. The right-angled river flows southwest for its first eight miles and then flows northwest to meet the Chesapeake Bay at the town of St. Michaels. Footner, Rivers of the Eastern Shore, 236, 239-40, 255. for Baltimore on a Saturday morning.Historical annotation: Douglass departed St. Michaels for Baltimore on a Saturday in March 1826, probably the 18th. Preston, Young Frederick Douglass, 82. I remember only the day of the week, for at that time I had no knowledge of the days of the month, nor the months of the year. On setting sail, I walked aft, and gave to Colonel Lloyd's plantation what I hoped would be the last look. I then placed myself in the bows of the sloop, and there spent the remainder of the day in looking ahead, interesting myself in what was in the distance rather than in things near by or behind.

In the afternoon of that day, we reached Annapolis, the capital of the
State. We stopped but a few moments, so that I had no time to go on shore. It was the first large town that I had ever seen, and though it would look small compared with some of our New England factory villages, I thought it a wonderful place for its size—more imposing even than the Great House Farm!

We arrived at Baltimore early on Sunday morning, landing at Smith's Wharf, not far from Bowley's Wharf.Historical annotation: Smith's Wharf and Bowley's Wharf were two sturdily-built wharves below Pratt Street in Baltimore's inner harbor, the Basin, west of Fells Point. The city directory at times spelled the latter as "Bowly's Wharf." Matchett's Baltimore Directory for 1827 (Baltimore, 1827), 18-19 (street register); Sherry H. Olson, Baltimore: The Building of an American City (Baltimore, 1980), 60. We had on board the sloop a large flock of sheep; and after aiding in driving them to the slaughter-house of Mr. CurtisHistorical annotation: The Baltimore city directory of 1824 lists two "victuallers": Thomas Curtain on Eden Street and James Curtain on Bond Street. Three years later the city directory lists Thomas Curtis as a "victualler." Matchett's Baltimore Directory for 1824, 74; Matchett's Baltimore Directory for 1827, 70. on LoudonTextual note here indicates which edition or impression a text variation occurs. B's "Louden" could have resulted from Douglass's misspelling of the word in manuscript or from a compositor's misreading. The mistake was corrected in D2 and not repeated in Bondage and Freedom (137) (B: Copy text, first published in Boston in 1845; D2: Second impression of the Dublin edition, published in 1846). Slater's Hill, I was conducted by Rich, one of the hands belonging on board of the sloop, to my new home in Alliciana Street,Historical annotation: Neither the 1824 nor 1827 Baltimore directories, the only extant directories in this period, list Hugh Auld's residence. The Baltimore City Commission on Historical and Architectural Preservation established that Hugh Auld's house was on the southeast corner of Aliceanna and Durham (formerly Happy Alley) streets in Fells Point. Contemporary sources spelled the street "Alisanna" (1824) or "Alice Anna" (1827). Matchett's Baltimore Directory, for 1824 (Baltimore, 1824), 343; Matchett 's Baltimore Directory for 1827, 1 (street register); Fielding Lucas, Jr., Plan of the City of Baltimore (Baltimore, 1836); Preston, Young Frederick Douglass, 223nl. near Mr. Gardner's ship-yard,Historical annotation: William Gardner, a ship carpenter or shipbuilder, resided on Fleet Street, Fells Point, between 1827 and 1836. The shipyard of George and William Gardner was at the "lower end of Fountain Street," on the eastern edge of the Fells Point wharf area. Matchett's Baltimore Director[y] . . . 1831 (Baltimore, 1831), 141, 5 (street register). on Fell'sTextual note here indicates which edition or impression a text variation occurs. The absence of the apostrophe in B apparently is a compositor's mistake that was corrected in D1. The apostrophe is included in the second appearance of the word in B (93.20) and in both occurrences in Bondage and Freedom (137, 308) (B: Copy text, first published in Boston in 1845; D1: First impression of the second edition, published in Dublin in 1845). Point.Historical annotation: Fells Point, first settled by William Fell in 1726, was a separate enclave east of Baltimore center not annexed to Baltimore until 1773. This hooked piece of land jutting into the outer harbor had been a shipbuild-ing site since the mid-eighteenth century. After the War of 1812 it was the construction site for the famous Baltimore clipper ships. By the time of Douglass's arrival, Fells Point was a heavily-populated neighborhood whose residents worked in shipbuilding and other maritime pursuits. Shipyards and wharves for unloading cargo lined its waterfront. To reduce the frequency of yellow fever epidemics, a marshy area between Fells Point and the central city was dredged in the 1820s to form the City Dock, also called the City Block, which added to the Fells Point wharf area. A drawbridge at the entrance to the City Dock connected Block Street in Fells Point to the Basin area wharves. J. Thomas Scharf, History of Baltimore City and County from the Earliest Period to the Present Day (Philadelphia, 1881), 54, 59-60, 292-94; Olson, Baltimore, 52-53, 85.

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Mr. and Mrs. Auld were both at home, and met me at the door with their little son Thomas,Historical annotation: Thomas Auld (1824-48), the son of Hugh and Sophia Auld and the nephew of Thomas Auld, Aaron Anthony's son-in-law, was the charge of the young slave Douglass. He died in an unsuccessful attempt by the brig Tweed to rescue a sinking British vessel. Benjamin F. Auld to Douglass, 11 September 1891, General Correspondence File, reel 6, frame 240, FD Papers, DLC; Preston, Young Frederick Douglass, 148, 228n10. to take care of whom I had been given. And here I saw what I had never seen before; it was a white face beaming with the most kindly emotions; it was the face of my new mistress, Sophia Auld.Historical annotation: Sophia Keithley Auld (1797-1880) was born in Talbot County, Maryland, to Richard and Hester Keithley. Her parents were poor, devout Methodists who held to the antislavery teachings of their church. Before marrying Hugh Auld, she worked as a weaver. Soon after their marriage, the couple moved to Baltimore, where Hugh worked as a ship's carpenter, master shipbuilder, and shipyard fireman. Between 1826 and 1833, and again in 1836-38, the young slave Frederick Douglass lived and worked in their household. Both Douglass and Sophia Auld retained enormous affection for one another long after Douglass had established himself in the North. Douglass tried to visit Auld in Baltimore during the Civil War. Years after her death, Auld's son Benjamin told Douglass that "mother would always speak in the kindest terms of you, whenever your name was mentioned." Baltimore Sun, 5 July 1880; Benjamin F. Auld to Douglass, 11 September 1891, General Correspondence File, reel 6, frame 240, FD Papers, DLC; Preston, Young Frederick Douglass, 87, 165-66, 168. I wish I could describe the rapture that flashed through my soul as I beheld it. It was a new and strange sight to me, brightening up my pathway with the light of happiness. Little Thomas was told, there was his Freddy,—and I was told to take care of little Thomas; and thus I entered upon the duties of my new home with the most cheering prospect ahead.

I look upon my departure from Colonel Lloyd's plantation as one of the most interesting events of my life. It is possible, and even quite probable, that but for the mere circumstance of being removed from that plantation to Baltimore, I should have to-day, instead of being here seated by my own table, in the enjoyment of freedom and the happiness of home, writing this Narrative, been confined in the galling chains of slavery. Going to live at Baltimore laid the foundation, and opened the gateway, to all my subsequent prosperity. I have ever regarded it as the first plain manifestation of that kind ProvidenceTextual note here indicates which edition or impression a text variation occurs. This capitalization is based not on an alteration in a later edition or impression but on the principle of consistency. In three other passages in B in which "providence" is used in an identical sense, it is capitalized in the last two. The "providence" in the next chapter, however, is capitalized in all subsequent editions and in the correlative passage in Bondage and Freedom (139). The weight of the evidence, therefore, is toward Douglass's intent to capitalize, and all four are capitalized in the established text (B: Copy text, first published in Boston in 1845). which has ever since attended me, and marked my life with so many favors. I regarded the selection of myself as being somewhat remarkable. There were a number of slave children that might have been sent from the plantation to Baltimore. There were those younger, those older, and those of the same age. I was chosen from among them all, and was the first, last, and only choice.

I may be deemed superstitious, and even egotistical, in regarding this event as a special interposition of divine Providence in my favor. But I should be false to the earliest sentiments of my soul, if I suppressed the opinion. I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and incur my own abhorrence. From my earliest recollection, I date the entertainment of a deep conviction that slavery would not always be able to hold me withinTextual note here indicates which edition or impression a text variation occurs. All editions and impressions after B substitute "in," but the correlative passage in Bondage and Freedom (140) reverts to the B reading (B: Copy text, first published in Boston in 1845). its foul embrace; and in the darkest hours of my career in slavery, this living word of faith and spirit of hope departed not from me, but remained like ministering angels to cheer me through the gloom. This good spirit was from God, and to him offer thanksgiving and praise.

Creator

Douglass, Frederick, 1818-1895

Description

COMPANION TO DANIEL LLOYD. POOR QUALITY FOOD AND CLOTHING PROVIDED TO SLAVES. SELECTED TO LIVE WITH HUGH AULD IN BALTIMORE AS COMPANION TO HIS SON.

Publisher

Yale University Press

Type

Book chapters

Publication Status

Published