One day in 1826 Lucretia told Frederick that he was being sent to live with her brother-in-law, Hugh Auld, who managed a ship building firm in Baltimore, Maryland. She told him that if he scrubbed himself clean, she would give him a pair of pants to wear to Baltimore. Frederick was elated at this chance to escape the life of a field hand. He cleaned himself up and received his first pair of pants. Within three days he was on his way to Baltimore.    Upon Frederick's arrival at the Auld Home, his only duties were to run errands and care for the Auld's infant son, Tommy. Frederick enjoyed the work and grew to love the child. Sophia Auld was a religious woman and frequently read aloud from the Bible. Frederick asked his mistress to teach him to read and she readily consented. He soon learned the alphabet and a few simple words. Sophia Auld was very excited about Fredericks progress and told her husband what she had done. Hugh Auld became furious at this because it was unlawful to teach a slave to read. Hugh Auld believed that if a slave knew how to read and write that it would make him unfit for a slave. A slave that could read and write would no longer obey his master without question or thought, or even worse could forge papers that said he was free and thus escape to a northern state where slavery was outlawed. Hugh Auld then instructed Sophia to stop the lessons at once!

        Frederick learned from Hugh Auld's outburst that if learning how to read and write was his pathway to freedom, then gaining this knowledge was to become his goal. Frederick gained command of the alphabet on his own and made friends with poor white children he met on errands and used them as teachers. He paid for his reading lessons with pieces of bread. At home Frederick read parts of books and newspapers when he could, but he had to constantly be on guard against his mistress. Sophia Auld screamed whenever she caught Frederick reading. Sophia Auld's attitude toward Frederick had changed, she no longer regarded him as any other child, but as a piece of property. However, Frederick gradually learned to read and write. With a little money he had earned doing errands, he bought a copy of The Columbian Orator, a collection of speeches and essays dealing with liberty, democracy, and courage. Worked in a shipyard as general assistant, practices reading and writing in secret.


   

        Frederick was greatly affected by the speeches on freedom in The Columbian Orator, and so began reading local newspapers and began to learn about abolitionists. Not quite 13 years old but enlightened with new ideas that both tormented and inspired him. Frederick began to detest slavery. His dreams of emancipation were encouraged by the example of other blacks in Baltimore, most of whom were free. But new laws passed by southern state legislators made it increasingly difficult for owners to free their slaves.During this time, Aaron Anthony died, and his property went to his two sons and his daughter, Lucretia Auld. Frederick remained a part of the Anthony estate and was sent back to the Lloyd plantation to be a part of the division of property. Frederick was chosen by Thomas and Lucretia Auld and was sent back to Hugh and Sophia Auld in Baltimore. Seeing his family being divided up increased his hatred of slavery, however, he was hurt the most that his grandmother, considered too old for any work, was evicted from her cabin and sent into the woods to die. Within a year of Frederick's return to Baltimore, Lucretia Auld died. The two Auld brothers then got into a dispute, and Thomas wrote to Hugh and demanded the return of his late wife's property, which included Frederick.

        Frederick was sorry to leave Baltimore because he had recently become a teacher to a group of other young blacks. In addition, a black preacher named Charles Lawson had taken Frederick under his wing and adopted him as his spiritual son. In March of 1833, the 15 year old Frederick was sent to live at Thomas Auld's new farm near the town of Saint Michaels, a few miles from the Lloyd plantation. Frederick was again put to work as a field hand and was extremely unhappy about his situation. Thomas Auld starved his slaves, and they had to steal food from neighboring farms to survive. Frederick received many beatings and saw worse ones given to others. He then organized a Sunday religious service for the slaves which met in near by Saint Michaels. The services were soon stopped by a mob led by Thomas Auld. Thomas Auld had found Frederick especially difficult to control so he decided to have someone tame his unruly slave.                          

        In January 1834, Frederick was sent to work for Edward Covey, a poor farmer who had gained a reputation around Saint Michaels for being and expert "slave breaker". Frederick was not too displeased with this arrangement because Covey fed his slaves better than Auld did. The slaves on Covey's farm worked from dawn until after nightfall, plowing, hoeing, and picking corn. Although the men were given plenty of food, they had very little time allotted to eat before they were sent back to work. Covey hid in bushes and spied on the slaves as they worked, if he caught one of them resting he would beat him with thick branches.  After being on the farm for one week, Frederick was given a serious beating for letting an oxen team run wild.

       In 1838 Frederick borrowed papers from a free black sailor, he escapes to New York and changes his last name to Johnson. He married Anna Murray September 15, then moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts. Mary and Nathan  Johnson tell him that he should change his last name to Douglas. He decided to change it but he spelled it Douglass. Frederick and Anna have a daughter Rosetta, June 24, 1839. Later on he has a son by the name of Lewis Henry, October 9, 1840. 1842 they have another child of the name of Frederick born March 3. Two years go by and they have another son by the name of  Charles Remond, October 21, 1844. Their daughter Annie was born March 22, 1849.

       March 1860, Fredericks daughter Annie dies in Rochester. Abraham was elected president and South Carolina secedes from the United States. Slavery abolished in Washington D.C.

Isaac Bailey married Betsey Bailey
	Harriet Bailey, their daughter
		her son (by an unknown man): Frederick Douglass, married Anna Murray Douglass (first wife)
			The Douglasses' five children:
			1. Rosetta Douglass (1839-1906) married Nathan Sprague
				Frederick Douglass's seven grandchildren: the Spragues
				Annie Rosine Sprague Norris
				Harriet Bailey Sprague
				Alice Louise Sprague
				Estelle Irene Sprague Weaver
				Fredericka Douglass Sprague Perry
				Herbert Douglass Sprague
				Rosebelle Mary Sprague Jones
			2. Lewis Henry Douglass (1840-1908) married Helen Amelia Loguen
				No Children
			3. Frederick Douglass Jr. (1842-1892) married Virginia Hewlett
				Frederick Douglass's seven grandchildren: the Douglasses
				Frederick Aaron Douglass
				Jean Hewlett Douglass
				Lewis Henry Douglass
				Maud Ardelle Douglass
				Charles Paul Douglass
				Gertrude Paul Douglass
				Robert Small Douglass
			4. Charles Remond Douglass (1844-1920) A. married Mary Elizabeth Murphy
				Frederick Douglass's six grandchildren: the Douglasses
				Charles Frederick Douglass
				Joseph Henry Douglass
				Annie Elizabeth Douglass
				Julia Ada Douglass
				Mary Louise Douglass
				Edward Douglass
			B. married Laura Antoinette Haley
				Frederick Douglass's one grandchild, Douglass
				Haley George Douglass
			5. Annie Douglass (1849-1860)
		Frederick Douglass married Helen Pitts (second wife)
			they had no children.