Annie's Birth

So many odd things turn up in your research after you think you are done. A few weeks ago the intrepid Amy Cools, blogger at Ordinary Philosophy, who a few years ago went on a fantastic trip following in Frederick Douglass's footsteps, called for some help. She's now pursuing a degree in Edinburg and required access to Gerrit Smith's papers. Those are here in Syracuse, so I was happy to help. With the miracle of modern technology, we can now simply take pictures of the documents and load them into the Cloud.

Well, this was a lovely adventure back into these documents, somewhat refreshed after some time away. Almost immediately, I encountered one of the tidbits that made research so exciting.:

This letter from Douglass to Gerrit Smith, dated Rochester, March 30, 1849, appeared in my book for the financial troubles that it details. After all, Douglass was early in his publication trials and Julia Griffiths had not yet arrived on the scene. But the P.S. was the stuff that caught my eye this time around.:

The dear little boy of ours of whom I spoke in the paper of today as being sick seems much better this morning. We have also a dear little girl under our roof -- only one week old. Mrs. Douglass is doing very well up nearly all day yesterday.

Yes, that is the announcement of the birth of Annie Douglass in Rochester, and the illness of Frederick Douglass, Jr.  

When we annotated this letter at the Douglass papers back in the days before online databases like "America's Historical Newspapers," we had to cobble together snapshots of The North Star from incomplete runs on microfilm. Many people don't know this, but there is no full collection of his papers available anywhere. (That would be a worthy digital project, but that is a thing for another time and for people with access to more influence than I.) 

Therefore, all we could get ahold of at the time was this snip from the March 9, 1849 issue:

For which the transcription was:

Owing to serious illness in our family, we were reluctantly compelled to disappoint the meeting advertised for us, to be held in East Mendon last Thursday. We assure our friends in that region that nothing less than such an excuse would have prevented our presence there at the time appointed. We hope that another opportunity of visiting that town will be afforded us soon. When it arrives we will give our friends there due notice. -- F.D.

But, now with databases, I can find that, Frederick, Sr., did mention his son's illness in the North Star on March 30th:

The transcription being:

Constant attendance upon our sick family the past week, must be our apology, if apology be needed, for the small amount of editorial matter in this week's number of the North Star. Our youngest son, between four and five years old, was attacked more than four weeks since with inflammation of the lungs, which was followed by typhus fever of a very malignant type. he is now but slowly recovering. -- F. D.

Can you imagine? Expecting a baby, and then a newborn in the house with so small a child so deathly ill. Life was so fragile.