The son of a slave woman and an unknown white man, Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey) was born in February of 1818, in Talbot County, Maryland, although neither the exact date nor year of his birth is known for sure.
I have no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it.
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself by Frederick Douglass
His early years were spent living with his grandmother. He only saw his mother a few times before her death when he was seven. It was rumored that his father was his master, owner of a plantation located between Hillsboro and Cordova.
The opinion was ... whispered that my master was my father; but of the correctness of this opinion I know nothing. My mother and I were separated when I was but an infant. It was common custom, in the part of Maryland from which I ran away, to part children from their mothers at a very early age. I do not recollect ever seeing my mother by the light of day. She would lie down with me, and get me to sleep, but long before I waked she was gone.
Frederick Douglass
At age seven, Douglass was separated from his grandmother and moved to the Wye House plantation. A year later, he was sent to Baltimore to live with a ship carpenter named Hugh Auld. It was in Baltimore that Douglass was taught the alphabet by Hugh Auld's wife, Sophia Auld, even though it was illegal to teach slaves how to read and write. Douglass described Sophia as a kind and caring woman. He later learned how to read from white children in the neighborhood and by observing the writings of the men he worked with.
Going to live at Baltimore laid the foundation, and opened the gateway, to all my subsequent prosperity.
Frederick Douglass