Anna Murray Douglass Bedroom

Anna Murray Douglass, Mr. Douglass' first wife, was responsible for helping Frederick to escape from slavery. She was the mother of his five children. While he traveled the country as an abolitionist speaking out against slavery, she held the household together.

Anna and Frederick were married 44 years. Mrs. Douglass spent the last four years of her life at Cedar Hill. By this time she was having health problems, including rheumatism that made movement difficult and painful. At some point, Anna was unable to move easily or negotiate the stairs. The invalid chair in her room was used to wheel Anna around the upstairs and to the large windows in the hallway so that she could get fresh air. Pictures of Anna’s sons Charles and Lewis who were Civil War veterans are hung on the wall in her room. After Anna died of a stroke, family stories indicate that her things were put away and Frederick closed the room.