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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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1819-23 | Raised by grandmother Betsey Bailey at Holme Hill Farm, where he was born; sees his mother only a few times.
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1820 | Sister Kitty is born. |
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1822 | Sister Arianna is born. |
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1824 | Moves to plantation on Wye River, where he lives with his siblings Perry, Sarah, and Eliza. |
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1825 | Sees his mother for the last time. |
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1826 | His mother dies. |
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| Sent to Baltimore to live with Hugh Auld and his wife Sophia. His master, Aaron Anthony, dies late in the year; Frederick becomes the property of Thomas Auld, Anthony's son-in-law. Thomas Auld sends him back to Hugh Auld. |
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1827 | Asks Sophia Auld to teach him to read. She does so until Hugh Auld stops them, believing that education makes
slaves rebellious. |
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1829-30 | Works in shipyard as general assistant; practices reading and writing in secret. |
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1831 | Reads newspaper article on John Quincy Adams's antislavery petitions in Congress; learns of the abolitionist movement.
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| Buys copy of a compilation of speeches, Caleb Bingham's The Columbian Orator, with which he hones his reading and speaking skills.
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1832 | Sister Sarah is sold to a planter in Mississippi.
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1833 | Sent to St. Michaels, Maryland, where he works for Thomas Auld. Tries to teach other slaves to read until Auld discovers it and stops him.
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1834 | Auld rents him out to farmer Edward Covey, known as a "slave breaker." He is beaten several times and finally fights back. Covey never tries to beat him again.
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1835 | Hired out to work for William Freeland, a Talbot County, Maryland, farmer. Secretly organizes Sunday school and teaches other slaves to read.
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