Frederick Douglass's Children
Annie Douglass
Annie Douglass – Frederick and Anna Douglass’s fifth child –
was born March 22, 1849, in Rochester ,
New York
Anna and her family enjoyed playing "pitching
quoits" in Highland Park
From what little I have been able to read, Annie, described
as “a bright and impish child” (O’Keefe 1), seems to have been the sort of
little girl that captures easily strangers’ hearts. “From 1857 to 1859, Annie attended School 13,
which her father’s secretary called the German public school because of the
many German immigrants in southeast Rochester
John Brown, the fierce white abolitionist who in November 1859
would lead an armed attack on the federal arsenal at Harpers
Ferry and would be hung for it, loved the child. And, she loved him. During Brown’s three-week stay at the
Douglass home in 1858, she would often sit on his knee while he and her father
conversed.
Brown had come to Douglass to enlist his help in persuading
blacks to join his cause. (Brown had similarly solicited Harriet Tubman’s help
and been rejected) Douglass had favored
the cause but not Brown’s plan, which he considered suicidal. “The United States Armory was a huge complex
of buildings that manufactured small arms for the U.S. Army (1801–1861), with
an Arsenal (storehouse) that was thought to contain 100,000 muskets and rifles
at the time” (Muller 1). “The plan was ‘an
attack on the federal government’ that ‘would array the whole country against
us ... You will never get out alive,’ he [Douglass] warned” (John 1).
Brown's confiscated
papers mentioned the name of Douglass, and a request for his arrest was issued.
This led Douglass to take an immediate unplanned voyage to Europe ,
where he met up with Ottilie Assing, and, on the lecture circuit he acclaimed,
from afar, the martyrdom of John Brown (Timeline 4).
Annie became ill in December, soon after her father’s
departure. She would die March 13, 1860,
less than two weeks’ short of her eleventh birthday. “Before her death, she had lost the power to
speak or hear” (O’Keefe 2).
An obituary notice, printed perhaps by the local Rochester
Died at Rochester
Nothing just at this
time could have pained us more than this sad bereavement of this esteemed
friend, and earnest, and able co-laborer.
Words cannot express how deeply we condole with him and his stricken
family. Annie, the youngest of the
circle, a child of great promise was, we are told, the idol of the mother, the
pride of the father, and the love of the brothers and sisters. Thoughtful beyond her years, she seems to
have taken into her mind something of the agitation of the times attendant upon
the Harper’s Ferry emeute, and the supposed connection of her father therewith,
and the consequent harm that would come to him because of it. Her mind, we are told, haunted with this
idea, entered in a cloud of grief, and she drooped, and faded, and died. It is perhaps mete that this child of the
friends of the martyrs of Harper’s Ferry, should thus die at this time as the
crowning sacrifice to the Moloch of American slavery. When that little grave is covered, and the
sod grown, then let the little white stone be raised over it with this ephitaph
[sic] inscribed thereon: “Here lies the remains of one of the first young
spring flowers of liberty, nipped by the untimely frost of American wrong and
injustice” (Annie 1).
Denied a burial place at Mt. Hope Cemetery Mt. Hope
Frederick Douglass had been in Glasgow , Scotland
Anna, along with her
children, was desolate; Annie, a charming scamp, happier about the house than
her tense older sister, Rosetta, was gone.
Annie, her namesake, the last child of her troubled marriage, was
dead. And she was unable to articulate
her despair.
Rosetta read to her
mother a letter of condolence from Harriet and then sat down to reply. “My darling sister is now an angel,” she
wrote and added, “I have just asked mother what I should say for her. She sends her love to you and thanks you as
heartily as myself for your sympathizing letter, and she as she is unable to
write will allow my letter to be in answer for both. … She is not very well now being quite feeble
though about the house.” And then Anna
called out that Harriet should – “if you desire,” as Rosetta politely put
it—write to her brother and tell him to come home. [The biographer William S. McFeely
assumed that the “Harriet Bailey” that had lived with the Douglasses in Lynn , Massachusetts , was Frederick
Word of Annie’s death
reached her father just after he had received an affectionate, cheerful letter
from his son Charles, and as he was indulging himself in the satisfying
business of visiting congenial Scottish friends. Annie herself had written in December,
telling proudly of her good work at school.
Douglass’ anguish was intense, not the less so, no doubt, for being
mixed with remorse and anger that he had not been on hand when the illness
struck—he, the self-made man who could accomplish everything, could surely have
prevented this tragedy. But he had not
been there. “We heard from dear father
last week,” Rosetta told Harriet, “and his grief was great. I trust the next letter [neither that one nor
the first one survives] will evince more composure of mind.” Rosetta, for her part, claimed to take some
comfort in the thought that Annie “has gone to Him whose love is the same for
the black as the white” (McFeely 207).
Two New Orleans ’ based “2005
Students of the Center,” Dakota Edmonds and Marlon Cross, wrote this imaginary
letter composed by Frederick Douglass addressed to Annie while he was crossing
the Atlantic headed homeward
Dearest Annie, My
Youngest Child:
I can remember the
first time you grasped my index finger. Fresh from the womb, your small voice
cried loud as I held you in my arms. Annie, you were as beautiful as roses
& daisies in a spring garden. Your voice spoke to me quietly in a language
that I didn't understand. Inside my heart I knew you wouldn't have to slave for
freedom as much as I did. My youngest love, my youngest life, you remind me of
the ocean.
As I write you this
letter, the waves rock this ship like your cradle rocked you when I was too
busy with your four older siblings. I sit on deck and watch the waves. I think
of your ways, soft and calm, at times, rough and fast, but always a wonderful
sight to see. Just last month when you were drawing a picture of your baby
doll, I disturbed you, asking you to pick up your shoes. The tone of your voice
was sweet even when you didn't want to be bothered. Why, I would have done
anything for you. I learned that from my own mother. She went through a 24-mile
walk after work just to come see her son, your father. She worked in the fields
on another plantation, while the other children and I stayed 12 miles away. She
cared for me just as much as I care for you. I think of her long journey as I
cross the Atlantic Ocean once again, placing
my life in danger, weeping that your earthly life has ended.
How my heart wishes to
walk into my residence to see the face of my Annie, those eyes like your
mother's that sparkle in the moonlight, those pretty white teeth that shine in
the dark, and that graceful smile that to which no other can ever compare. I
know that inside my heart everything happens for a reason. I am so sorry that I
could not have been in your presence to adore you with my love, to kiss your
cheek, as your soul passed to the next life.
You must understand
why I was away the day you died, only eight years old. You won't know the name
John Brown or the meaning of the words abolition and justice. But these are
some of the reasons I was away. John Brown's skin was white but his soul was
pure. His heart was set on one goal—abolishing slavery. He too is now dead. Our
country wants me to join him. I knew of his plot to attack Harper's Ferry, take
over the weapons there, and wage war against slaveholders. I told no one about
this plot. For that this country, which declares itself a defender of the
pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness, accuses me of treason. I do not regret
my silence about Brown's plot. I only regret its failure, his death, and most
of all my absence as you took your last breath.
So now I journey
again. The water, the source of life, gives me little comfort. I return to your
four siblings and dear mother. I return to a country stuck in greed and evil. I
also return with the hope of freedom for all. I pledge my life to remain in
this country, to die fighting for freedom for all people rather than to escape
to another country. Your untimely departure tells me where I must remain. It
reinforces my determination, my conviction that I will never be free until all
my people are free. Thank you for this gift you give me on your leaving.
Forgive my absence at your departure.
All Love Always,
Your Father, Frederick
A. Douglass (Edmonds
Works Cited:
Fought, Leigh. Women in the World of Frederick Douglass. Oxford
University
“John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry .”
Wikipedea. Web.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Brown's_raid_on_Harpers_Ferry>.
McFeely, William S. Frederick Douglass. New
York
Muller, John. “Death knocked on the door of the Frederick
Douglass family too often, Douglass outlives his wife, two children, and
numerous grand-children.” Frederick … Anacostia. Web.
<https://thelionofanacostia.wordpress.com/2012/06/14/death-knocked-on-the-door-of-the-frederick-douglass-family-too-often-douglass-outlives-his-wife-two-children-and-numerous-grand-children/>.
O’Keefe, Rosie. Frederick & Anna Douglass in Rochester , New
York Charleston ,
South Carolina
“Timeline of Frederick Douglass and Family.” African
American History of Western New York . Web.
<http://www.math.buffalo.edu/~sww/0history/hwny-douglass-family.html>.
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