Hugh Auld – First Lieutenant, United States Army

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Revolutionary War Veteran. Talbot County Militia, Revolutionary War.

Born in 1745 and died December 17, 1813. He was first buried in a family plot in Claiborne, Maryland, and was moved to Section 2 of Arlington National Cemetery on April 11, 1935.

He is buried adjacent to his son, Hugh Auld, Jr.

From the life of  Frederick Douglass:

1826: His mother dies.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.

1827: Asks Sophia Auld to teach him to read. She does so until Hugh Auld stops them, believing that education makes slaves rebellious.  NOTE: Sophia Auld was Hugh Auld's wife.

1836: Makes an escape plan but is discovered, jailed, and then released. He returns to work for Hugh and Sophia Auld in Baltimore and is hired out to work as a caulker in a Baltimore shipyard. The knowledge he gains there helps him escape slavery two years later.

1838: Borrowing papers from a free black sailor, he escapes from slavery to New York and changes his last name to Johnson.

As a young boy, Douglass was sent to Baltimore as a house servant. He was allowed to learn to read and write. His mistress died, and he was returned to Maryland to work for Hugh Auld. Frederick and a group of other slaves attempted to escape in 1836, but their plot was exposed. Fortunately, Hugh Auld saved Douglass from being sent South. Instead, Hugh sent him back to Baltimore to Thomas Auld, where Douglass was eventually allowed to hire himself out (he paid his master a certain amount of money every week).In 1838, he escaped, with the help of some money (borrowed from Anna, with whom he was engaged). He also had a “sailor's protection,” which certified that he was a free seaman.

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