The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1895-02-21

Nv no lbbllDR VI ILL |
~, w y" ness, though he |
FREDERICK DOUGLASS. appeared to be a |
little exhausted from the climb up the |
steep flight of steps leading from the street |
to the house, which is on high terrace |
He sat down and chatted with his wife |
about the women at the convention, tell |
ing of various things that had been said |
and done Suddenly he gasped, clapped |
his hand to his heart and fell back uncon-
scious. A doctor was hastily summoned, |
and arrived within very few moments,
but his efforts to revive Mr.. Douglass
were hopeless from the first. Within
twenty minutes after the attack the faint
motion of the heart ceased entirely, and
the great ex-slave statesman was dead
Mr. Douglass leaves two sons and a
daughter, the children of his first wife.
His second wife who was a white woman,
survives him.
The story of this second marriage was a
romantic one. Miss Helen Pitts, whom
he married, was a New England woman,
of middle age, a clerk in the office of the
recorder Of deeds of the District of Colum
bia when Mr.. Douglass was appointed to
that office She was also q member of
literary society to which he belonged
They were thrown much together, and
finally became engaged. Her relatives op
posed the match bitterly on account of his
color, but finally yielded to force of cir
cumstances. Some of them have for some
time been living near the Douglass home,
on Anacostia Heights.
Frederick Douglass was born near
Easton, Talbot county Md, in February,
1917. His mother was negro slave and
his father a white man. At the age of 10
he was sent to Baltimore, where he learned
to read and write His master allowed
him to hire his own time for $3 a week,
| and he was employed in a shipyard.
In September, 1888, he fled from Balti-
more and made his way to New York.
Hence he went to New Bedford, Mass,
where he married and lived for two or
three years, supporting himself by day
| labor on the wharves and in various work
| shops While there he changed his name
to Douglass. He had previously been called
| Lloyd, from the name of his old master
| He was aided in his efforts for self educa-
tion by William Lloyd Garrison. In the
summer of 1871 he attended an anti-slav-
cry convention at Nantucket and made a
| speech which was so well received that he
was offered the agency of the Massachu-
setts Anti-Slavery society. In this ca
l
the New England states for four years,
Large audiences were attracted by his
graphic descriptions of slavery and his
eloquent appeals. At this time he pub
lished his first book, entitled Narrative
of My Experience in Slavery"
In 1915 he went to Europe and lectured
on slavery to enthusiastic audiences in
nearly all of the large towns of Great
Britain. In 1916 his friends in England
raised purse OF $3.50 to purchase his free
dom in due form of law. He remained
| two years in Great Britain and in 1S47
began at Rochester n, Y. the publication
of Frederick Douglass Paper, whose title
was afterwards changed to The North
Star. In 1865 he published "My Bondage
and My Freedom.
In 1859 the John Brown riots took place
In Virginia. He was supposed to be i'm
plicated in these and Governor Wise, o.
Virginia, made requisition for his arres
upon the governor of Michigan, in which
state he then was. To avoid difficulty Mr.
Douglass went to England, where he re
mained for six or eight months, He theI
returned to Rochester and continued th
publication of his paper. When the civi
war began in 1861 he urged upon Presiden
Lincoln the employment of colored troop
and the issuance of a proclamation o
emancipation In 1868, when it was at las
decided to employ such troops, he gave hi
assistance in enlistingmen for such regi
ments, especially the Fifty-fourth anC
Fifty-fifth Massachusetts,.
l After the abolition of slavery he discon
tinued the publication of his paper anC
applied himself to the preparation and de
3 livery of lyceum lectures. In September
1870, he became editor of The New Ma
tional Era, in Washington. This was af
forwards continued by his sons Lewis ant
Frederick In 1871 he was appointed as
sistant secretary to the commission to SaI
| Domingo. On his return President Gran
appointed him one of the territorial coun
Gil of the District of Columbia. In 1872 h
g was elected presidential elector at-larg
G for the state of New York, and was az
F. pointed to carry the electoral vote of tn
2 state to Washington
In 1875 he was appointed United State
e marshal for the District of COlumbii
Y After this he became recorder of deeds fo
the District of Columbia, from whic
office he was removed by President Clev,
land in 1886. In the autumn of that yea
t he revisited England to inform the friend
a whom he had made while a fugitive slay
l. of the progress of the African race in I'll
+ United States. After his return TO til
# United States he was appointed ministC
a to Hayti by President Harrison, in 1899.
IS The Haytian ministry was the last pos
tion in the gift of the United States hel
by Mr.. Douglass. In 1892 Hayti made a
appropriation of money for the Colun
bian exposition at Chicago and appointC
5 Mr.. Douglass the senior of her two con
II missioners to the exposition. Since tt
: close of the exposition Mr. Douglass HI
N lived quietly in Washington, without O.
gaging in any special business. His wealt
D. Is variously estimated at from 100000