• 1818 to 1835 1818 Born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, a slave, in Tuckahoe, Talbot County, Maryland. Mother is a slave, Harriet Bailey, and father is a white man, rumored to be his master, Aaron Anthony. He had three older siblings, Perry, Sarah, and Eliza.

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  1836 to 1846 1836 Makes an escape plan but is discovered, jailed, and then released. He returns to work for Hugh and Sophia Auld in Baltimore and is hired out to work as a caulker in a Baltimore shipyard. The knowledge he gains there helps him escape slavery two years later.

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  1847 to 1859 1847 Returns from overseas tour; moves to Rochester, New York.

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  1860 to 1876 1860 March Daughter Annie dies in Rochester.

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  1877 to 1895 1877 Douglass is appointed U.S. marshal of the District of Columbia by President Hayes.