The Beloved Tuckahoe Home of Frederick Douglass

The Beloved Tuckahoe Home of Frederick Douglass. . , Frederick Douglass reclled detailed memories of his early life on the banks of the Tuckahoe. Born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey in 1818, he lived near this spot with his grandparents, Betsey and Isaac Bailey, and numerous cousins in a humble cabin. He described his childhood with his beloved grandmother as "spirited, joyous, uproarious and happy." Douglass wrote that the children played and ran free, fished and swam in the river, and explored Levi Lee's grist mill., Young Frederick soon learned that the cabin, his grandmother, his cousins, and even he himself were enslaved to the frightful "Old Master." His carefree days in Tuckahoe were dwindling. Once Frederick was big enough, he would be promptly taken away to live and work on Edward Lloyd's plantation.,

"Grandmother and grandfather were the greatest people in the world to me and being with them so snugly in their own little cabin…for a time there was nothing to disturb me…" , , Frederick Douglass, My Bondage and My Freedom, 1855

, The Tuckahoe area, where Frederick Douglass lived with his grandpparents, was home for the first six years of his live. His grandmother Betsey Bailey was known for her mastery in harvesting shad and herring from the river and cultivating a bountiful sweet potato crop. She stitched prized fishing nets and sold them in Hillsboro and Denton., [Captions:] , With windowless sides and clay floor, the cabin where Douglass lived had few furnishings or pretensions, yet he recalled it fondly.

"The old cabin… was MY HOME - the only home I ever had; and I loved it, and all connected with it." , , Frederick Douglass, My Bondage and My Freedom, 1855

, This area of Talbot County has been continually farmed since the tine Frederick (Bailey) Douglass lived near here. The upland, level fields surrounding the Tuckahoe were planted in corn and wheat during his years in the area. Frederick's grandmother grew sweet potatoes near her cabin at the outskirts of the field., Frederick Douglass returned to Tuckahoe in 1878 to find the land upon which his grandmother's cabin stood. He collected soil to carry back with him to Cedar Hill, his Washington, D.C. home. The physical reminder served as a sacred touchstone to his humble beginnings and formative years. He often referred to Maryland as his "own dear native soil.", This 1834 map shows the village of Hillsborough along the Tuckahoe Creek, where Frederick visited. Notice there are few roads or towns. The area was sparsely populated and largely agricultural. People moved passengers or goods up and down the shallow river in small boats such as skiffs or dugouts., Dig Deeper: , Explore four online driving tours of Frederick Douglass sites in Talbot County or read Douglass's autobiographies to learn his own words. All at www.frederickdouglassbirthplace.org.