44

672 HISTORICAL ANNOTATION

343; Matchett's Baltimore Directory for 1827, 1 (street register); Fielding Lucas, Jr.,
comp., Plan of the City of Baltimore ( Baltimore, 1836); Preston, Young Frederick
Douglass, 223.

59.22 Gardner's ship-yard] William Gardner, a ship carpenter or shipbuilder,
resided on Fleet Street, Fells Point, between 1827 and 1836. The shipyard of George
and William Gardner was at the "lower end of Fountain Street," on the eastern edge
of the Fells Point wharf area. Matchett's Baltimore Director for 1831 (Baltimore,
1831), 141, 5 (street register).

59.22 Fell's point] Fells Point, first settled by William Fell in 1726, was a sepa-
rate enclave east of Baltimore center not annexed to Baltimore until 1773. This
hooked piece of land jutting into the outer harbor had been a shipbuilding site since
the mid-eighteenth century. After the War of 1812 it was the construction site for the
famous Baltimore clipper ships. By the time of Douglass's arrival, Fells Point was a
heavily populated neighborhood whose residents worked in shipbuilding and other
maritime pursuits. Shipyards and wharves for unloading cargo lined its waterfront.
Scharf, History of Baltimore, 54, 59-60, 292-94; Olson, Baltimore, 52-53, 85.

59.22 Mrs. Hugh Auld] Sophia Keithley Auld (1797-1880) was born in Talbot
County, Maryland, to Richard and Hester Keithley. Her parents were poor, devout
Methodists who held to the antislavery teachings of their church. Before marrying
Hugh Auld, she worked as a weaver. Soon after their marriage, the couple moved to
Baltimore, where Hugh worked as a ship carpenter, master shipbuilder, and shipyard
fireman. Between 1826 and 1833, and again in 1836-38. the young slave Frederick
Douglass lived and worked in their household. Both Douglass and Sophia Auld
retained enormous affection for each other long after Douglass had established him-
self in the North. Douglass tried to visit Auld in Baltimore during the Civil War. Years
after her death, Auld 's son Benjamin told Douglass that "mother would always speak
in the kindest terms of you, whenever your name was mentioned." Benjamin F. Auld
to Douglass, 11 September 1891, General Correspondence File, reel 6, frame 240, FD
Papers, DLC; Baltimore Sun, 5 July 1880; Preston, Young Frederick Douglass, 87,
165-66, 168.

59.24 Thomas] Thomas Auld (1824-48), the son of Hugh and Sophia Auld and
the nephew of Thomas Auld, Aaron Anthony's son-in-law. was the charge of the
young slave Douglass. He died in an unsuccessful attempt by the brig Tweed to rescue
a sinking British vessel. Benjamin F. Auld to Douglass, 11 September 1891, General
Correspondence File, reel 6, frame 240, FD Papers, DLC; Preston, Young Frederick
Douglass, 148, 228.

60.28 Sophia] Sophia Keithley Auld.

62.28 to do so was unlawful] In fact, unlike in many other slave states, there was
no legal proscription against slave literacy in Maryland. In Baltimore small black-
operated schools accepted slaves as well as free blacks. There is even evidence that
slaves taught in some of these schools. The city offered other opportunities for slaves
to learn to read through the wide availability of reading materials and contact with