25

HISTORICAL ANNOTATION 653

sometime after 1878. Perry Downs to Douglass, 21 February 1867, FD Collection,
DHU-MS; Douglass to J. J. Spellman, 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 I827, Talbot County Distributions, V.JP#D, 58-59, MdTCH; Preston, Young
Frederick Douglass, 175-77, 206.
27.16 sisters, Sarah] 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 Anthony sold Bailey, her son Henry, and four other slaves to Perry
Cohee of Lawrence County, 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, frames 778- 80,
FD Papers, DLC; Aaron Anthony Slave Distribution, 22 October 1827, Talbot County
Distributions, V.JP#D, 58-59. Sale of Slaves, Andrew S. Anthony to Perry Cohee, 14
July 1832, Talbot County Records, V.50, 192-93, both in MdTCH.
27.17 Eliza] Third of the 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 that 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 their 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. Lewis Douglass to Douglass,
9 June 1865, FD Papers, DHU-MS; 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;
New York Independent, 2 March 1865; Preston, Young Frederick Douglass, 164-65.
184, 206-07, 229.
28.16 Aunt Katy] Kate Emblem (1789-?) was the daughter of Sarah Emblem
who was owned by Aaron Anthony. She had seven children and presided for years
over Anthony's kitchen. At the distribution in 1827 following Anthony's death, she
and her children were awarded to Richard Anthony. After his death a year later, she
was transferred to Andrew Anthony. Upon his death in 1833, she was assigned to