Virginia History – Taylor Stoermer

Posted on October 10, 2014October 12, 2015 by Taylor Stoermer

Thieves, Strumpets, Tobacco, and the French: A Glimpse into the British Atlantic World, ca1760

On this date, October 10, in 1760, William Fauntleroy appears to have been a bit cranky. A planter and merchant in Tidewater Virginia, he took a few minutes to pen an epistolary snapshot of life in the 18th-century British world in a fascinating letter to his sister, Elizabeth, then in London. It covers the British criminal justice system, gender, property, transatlantic commerce, and the Seven Years’ War, then raging in Canada, all through the perspective of one person, with his own bundle of informed and uninformed presumptions about that world. Although William avoids the one ubiquitous subject that practically no one in colonial Virginia ever wanted to discuss–slavery–this letter otherwise gives us a very human moment and reveals the many ways in which we lose more than we gain when we see the Atlantic as a barrier, and a not a bridge, before the American Revolution.

It does make one want to find out how “cousin Henry” and Mary turned out, doesn’t it?

Sorry cousin Henry did not conduct his matters better in Virginia. It’s really the fault of that convict wench that served part of her time with me. If I were you I’d have her hanged for going back to Britain before her convicted time was out. Her name was Mary Acres and you may easy know where she was convicted from. I hope Henry is released by now and will reflect on himself and alter his course in life. Things sent that came by Capt Brough were sent immediately to cousin Sally and Judah Fauntleroy according to your desire. Sally is married to Doctr Mortimer, a fine man. Judy is married to one of Col Carter’s sons, a good family and fortune. I can’t tell what cousin Harry did with the money he got from Mr Hodge but believe when young men gitte so in love with common theaves & strumpettss they can’t have too much money. I got with the extrs [executors] of your cousin Moore Fauntleroy’s and at last have your just clame inclosed. Tobo [tobacco] now with so high, thought it most for your Interest considering there being no convoy & war times to send you a good Bill. I think to send you & Mr Ribright a Little Tobo this year. As for the war with us, the French lattly has given up Montreale without striking a Blow, so we have all North America from the French.

Posted on November 27, 2013 by Taylor Stoermer · 1 Comment

“He forfeited all claim to the hospitality of Tuckahoe”: The Limits of Hospitality in Revolutionary Virginia

In the fall of 1777, Thomas Anburey was an officer in the British army that John Burgoyne surrendered after the battles of Saratoga. As part of the “Convention Army,” Anburey found himself in Virginia, near Charlottesville, where he and his fellow officers were allowed to find their own accommodations among the various planters in the area. Anburey took advantage of his several years as a prisoner of war to record his experience with the people and places he encountered. His resulting Travels Through the Interior Part of America have proven an invaluable resource, an exceptional glimpse into life in wartime Virginia, a society that, at least among what they called the “better sorts,” had managed to retain its legendary reputation for hospitality and politeness, in spite of the insidious impact of the daily brutality of slavery and the democratizing effects of the War for Independence, both of which make appearances in Anburey’s record.

The nature of social relations in the 18th century was complex across the British world, of course, and perhaps growing quite tenuous on the American side of the Atlantic, as this brief passage suggests. To “unpack” it, as academics like to say, reveals many layers of supposition and perception, and some rather fruitful lines of discussion regarding their connection to gender and culture. Perhaps none, though, is more interesting and nuanced than the clear avoidance of any frank acknowledgment of the obvious, which has all sort of implications for how people related to each other and to the circumstances in which they found themselves, male or female, free or enslaved, prisoner or not. On that day at Tuckahoe in the winter of 1779, in the company of Thomas Mann Randolph (1741-1793) and his daughters, a social line was crossed and the limits of Virginia hospitality reached. The reaction of the young lady alone to the officer’s “warmth” and “violence” is worth a discussion–but perhaps in keeping with that time and place, it would be better not to mention it?

I cannot but in justice say, that in all the gentlemens’ houses I have visited, they never started, or would suffer any conversation on politics; sometimes, when alone with the ladies, they would indulge and rally us a little, at our being prisoners, but all with great good humour; the only unpleasant circumstance of the kind that I recollect was at Tuckahoe, where an officer suffered his vexation to overcome that gratitude he was bound to shew for the hospitality he met with. Colonel Randolph every year made a present of two hogsheads of tobacco to his daughter as a venture, to purchase dresses and ornaments, and the ships had always been so unfortunate as to be captured. As several officers were sitting with the ladies, the conversation ran upon politics, when Miss Randolph innocently asked, “How we came to be taken prisoners?” The officer with some warmth replied, “Just as your tobacco was, by a superior force.” I need not tell you the distress and confusion of the young lady, as well as of the officer himself, who immediately became conscious of what he had said, and for his ill-timed violence, he forfeited all claim to the hospitality of Tuckahoe.

[Anburey’s Travels, Richmond, Feb. 18th, 1779]

Posted on October 31, 2013November 1, 2013 by Taylor Stoermer · 1 Comment

(Attempted) Murder Most Foul on All Hallow’s Eve in Colonial Virginia

Detail from the 1751 map drawn by Peter Jefferson and Joshua Fry showing Chatsworth's location. — Detail from the 1751 map drawn by Peter Jefferson and Joshua Fry showing Chatsworth’s location.

While 18th-century Virginians, with their healthy Latitudinarian distrust for anything that even hinted at the supernatural or superstition (fine for French and German fanatics, in their view, but not for the reasonable English), that did not mean that passion and violence did not enter their lives. And so it was that on this date, All Hallow’s Eve in 1775, that Archibald Cary wrote to Thomas Jefferson, then in Philadelphia, about “very disagreable” news from the neighborhood along the upper James River, near Richmond. The main characters were Peyton Randolph, the youngest son of William and Anne Carter Harrison Randolph of Wilton, and Lewis Burwell, who had just married Peyton’s sister, Lucy. We don’t know precisely the nature of the argument, or what lie told by Peyton spurred Lewis into action (“to give the lie” was to charge another with a falsehood, something highly impolite under any circumstances). We do know that they were rather different people. Peyton was a native Virginian who sided with the patriots, while Lewis, although born in Virginia, had grown up in England, educated at Eton, Oxford (Balliol), and the Inner Temple of London, and remained a known loyalist for the rest of his life. Cary’s main concern in telling Jefferson was that “the Speaker and his Lady,” the elder Peyton Randolph and his wife Elizabeth (the young Peyton’s aunt), who cared deeply for their extended family, not be alarmed by the news. It is interesting that even a Halloween stabbing, it not proving mortal (because the ladies stepped between them), could be swept under the Randolph family rug in Revolutionary Virginia. Who needs Downtown Abbey with stories like this?

Peyton Randolph of Wilton, c. 1773 (Virginia Historical Society)

“As to News the Papers will Give you all Things except a very disagreable one in this Neighbourhood, a dispute arose at Dinner at Chatsworth between Payton Randolph and his brother Lewis Burwell, who gave the other the Lye, on which Payton struck him, Burwell snatched a knife and struck him in the side, but fortunately a Rib prevented it’s proving Mortal, he was prevented by the Lady’s from making a second stroke. You’l judge what Poor Mrs. Randolph must suffer on this Unhappy Affair, but she is become Familiar with Misfortune. Payton is well and no notice is taken of the affair as I can see by Either[.] they Dined at my House the day after I got Home. If the Speaker and his Lady have not been acquainted with this matter say nothing of it to them.”

For the full text of the letter, visit http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-01-02-0129.

Posted on October 25, 2013October 25, 2013 by Taylor Stoermer · 2 Comments

“A Season for Reflection”: A Loyalist’s Last Letter to Thomas Jefferson and to America

Near Charing Cross, not far from Nelson’s Monument at Trafalgar Square, is Spring Gardens. In the 18th century, as today, it was at the heart of Whitehall and surrounded by British government offices. And on October 25, 1779, in the long-gone Cannon Coffee House, it was a place where one man said goodbye to his history and his home. Just a few years before, John Randolph had been one of the most prominent lawyers in British Virginia. The colony’s Attorney General, he also lived in the capital’s most impressive private home, also now long-gone. His two daughters were described by more than one visitor to Williamsburg as “the most beautiful girls in America.” He was also an accomplished violinist, who often spent evenings playing duets with his close friend and relation, Thomas Jefferson.

But then the American Revolution changed all of that, almost in the twinkling of an eye. Choosing to remain remain loyal to the British constitution that his father, Sir John Randolph, had taught him to treasure and defend as the only true gaurantor of freedom in the world, he watched as his world collapsed around him. His daughters were threatened on the streets of their town and he was attacked as a “tory,” an epithet as ridiculous as it was inaccurate. In the summer of 1775, as his brother, Peyton, went to Philadelphia as a member of the Continental Congress, and his son, Edmund, rode to join George Washington’s staff, John took his family to London, where he thought he could perform the same diplomatic magic that both his father and brother had worked when relations between Virginia and Britain had seemed at their breaking point. He failed, of course, but he never stopped trying, even as fewer doors in that area of Whitehall, near Charing Cross, were opened to him.

Having time on his hands, and the past on his mind, John sat down at the Cannon Coffee House and decided to write a letter to his dear friend, Thomas Jefferson, who had become governor of the new independent state of Virginia. In it his pours out explanations, philosophical observations, literary allusions, opinions, hopes, and fears. He writes his own revolutionary history. And he warns of the fickleness of pretended allies. In the field of political thought, it’s a remarkable statement of the sort of Augustan moderation that had once dominated British political culture, and which might have held the empire together as a place where differences of opinion could be accommodated rather than considered as differences in principle. But it also reveals a torrent of emotions bordering on unreality, nowhere expressed more clearly than in his plea “to rescind your Declaration of Independance” and “be happily reunited to your ancient and natural Friend,” written to the man who wrote the declaration and saw it adopted more than 3 years before.

I have provided it here in its entirety, although somewhat lengthy, as a reflection of the American Revolution as a civil war, and as a reminder for the legions of historians who have never considered the “lives, fortunes, and sacred honour” risked and lost by those who differed from patriots in opinion, rather than principle. John died in London on January 31, 1784, his last wishes to be buried in Williamsburg, where he rests today in the crypt of the Wren Chapel of the College of William & Mary, next to his brother and father. This letter to Jefferson was never sent. It was not found until 1840, when it was discovered among the papers of Sir Edward Walpole, the son of John’s father’s dear friend, Sir Robert Walpole. The letter has since been reprinted in the Papers of Thomas Jefferson. This is my transcription of the original.

London, Cannon Coffee House Spring Gardens

Dear Sr
October 25. 1779

The Letters, with which you some considerable Time ago, honourd me, got to Hand; tho’, from their appearance, their Contents were known to many, before they reach’d the Person, for whom they were intended. The gloomy Cloud, which hung over our public affairs, and the general Suspicion, which prevail’d at that Time, recommended Caution, and prevented my answering them. But, as Matters now are fully understood, and the Ultimatum seems to be fix’d between the contending Parties; if You are not unwilling to read, I am under no Apprehension, in delivering my Sentiments to you.

Mr. J. Power, who is just arrived from Virginia, informs me, that you have been lately elected Successor to Mr. Henry, who presided over your Colony for three Years, the utmost successive Time allow’d for holding that office. I must take the Liberty to say, that your Constituents cou’d not have chosen a man of greater abilities to conduct their affairs, than you possess; and permit me to add my Hope, that Futurity may speak as favourably, of your Moderation.

If a Difference in opinion, was a good Ground for an Intermission of Friendship, Mankind might justly be said, to live in a State of Warfare; since the Imperfection of human knowledge, has render’d Mens Minds as various as the Author of their Being, has shap’d their Persons. The Man who condemns another, for thinking differently from himself, sets up his Judgment as the Standard of Conception; wounds the great Liberty we enjoy, of thinking for ourselves; and tyrannizes over the Mind, which Nature intended shoud be free and unconfin’d. That Tyrant, I cannot suppose You, to be. The Liberality of Sentiment, which ever distinguish’d you amongst your Acquaintance, when you were upon a Level with them, has not, I hope, forsaken you, since you have been rais’d to a Sphere, which has made you, superior to them. Shou’d I therefore be so unfortunate, as to make any observations, which may not meet with your approbation, for the Honour of your Understanding treat them with Benignity. I will allow you in such Case, to consider them, as the overflowings of a Mind, too zealous in the Cause in which it is engaged; but I must demand of you to admit, that they are the legitimate offspring, of an uncorrupted Heart. But, before you pass Sentence, I shall call on your Candour, to give them a fair Hearing.

When our unhappy Dispute commenc’d, (tho it arose from Circumstances, which left an opening for an honorable accomodation, yet) I saw that it was big with Mischief, and portended Ruin and Desolation, Somewhere. I thought that it behov’d me to reflect with the utmost Deliberation, on the Line of Conduct, which I ought to pursue, on so critical an Occasion. I clear’d every avenue to Information, and laid myself open to Conviction, let it come from what Quarter it wou’d. I read with avidity every thing which was publish’d on the Subject, and I put my own Thoughts in Writing, that I might see how they wou’d stand on Paper. I found myself embarrass’d by a thousand Considerations, acting in direct opposition to each other. In this Situation I had no Resource left but to submit myself Solely to the Dictates of my Reason. To that impartial Tribunal I appeal’d. There I reciev’d Satisfaction; and from her Decision, I am determin’d never to depart.

Si fractus illabatur Orbis

impavidum ferient Ruinæ.

Adversity is a School, in which few Men wish to be educated; yet, it is a Source, from whence the most useful Improvements, may be derived. When the Mind shrinks not from its approach, it offers a Season for Reflection, calls forth the Powers of the Understanding, fixes its Principles, and inspires a Fortitude, which shews the true Dignity of Man. In that School I have been tutor’d; from its Tuition I have drawn those advantages, and I am unalterably resolved, that all other Motives shall give Way, to the fullest and most unequivocal Enjoyment of them.

The Insults I reciev’d from a People, (whose Interest I always considerd as my own) unrestrain’d by the Influence of Gentlemen of Rank gave me much Uneasiness: But, the unmanly and illiberal Treatment, which the more delicate Part of my Family met with, I confess, fill’d me with the highest Resentment. As there is Nothing which I forget so soon as an Injury; and as animosity never rankles in my Bosom, I have cast the whole into oblivion. There let it lie buried; for Implacability belongs only to the unworthy.

Independance, it is agreed on all Hands, is the fix’d Purpose of your Determination. Annihilation is preferable to a Reunion with Great Britain. To support this desirable End, you have enter’d into an alliance with France and Spain, to reduce the Power of this Country, and make Way for the Glory of America. What Effect this Connection will have on you, or this Kingdom, Time alone can discover; But be it rememberd, that France is perfidious, Spain insignificant, and Great Britain formidable. The united Fleets of the House of Bourbon, lately cover’d the Seas, and paraded off Plymouth. A Descent was threaten’d, and universally expected. The british Fleet was then in a distant Part of the Channel, and there was nothing remain’d to defend this Kingdom, but the internal Strength and Valour of its Inhabitants. The Space of three Days remov’d the Alarm, by producing a fruitless Departure of this mighty Squadron. Soon after this, the two Fleets came in Sight of each other, (a Great Superiority in Number lying on the Side of the Enemy) and a bloody barrage was expected to follow. The british Fleet in the Evening, form’d themselves into a Line of Battle and brought to, imagining that the combin’d Fleet, wou’d in the Morning begin the attack; but when that Period arriv’d, there was not an Enemy to be seen, from any one of our Ships. On which, our Fleet steer’d into Port, and there has continued unmolested, ever since. Individual Ships have been taken, but all our valuable Fleets from every Quarter of the Globe, for the present Year, are arriv’d in Safety; yet, our Ports are filled with French and Spanish Ships, and our Gaols with their Subjects.

Admiral Keppels Engagement off Brest about 15 Months ago, tho’ a shameful one, as he had it in his Power to strike a Decisive Blow and omitted it, was converted into a meer Party Business here. His Conduct is now, very generally reprobated; The City of London has with-held the Golden Box, which the Rage of Party had prepared as a Present for him. Yet ill as he is supposed to have behav’d, the french fleet sustain’d such Damage on that Occasion, that it did not come out of Port, for near a twelve Month after. History does not furnish us with Instances of greater acts of Heroism, than have been exhibited in the Course of the last Summer, in some of our naval Engagements. National Party is very much on the Decline, and the Safety of the State, seems to supersede all other Considerations.

The Junction of the Spaniards, was more a Matter of Joy in England, than a Terror. The fingering of their Gold, is no small object with a commercial People. When his Catholic Majesty’s Rescript was deliver’d at St. James’s, and became known, instead of lowering, the Stocks immediately took a Rise. And the Dutch, who have already an immense Property in our Funds are still buying in, notwithstanding the various Difficulties, with which this Kingdom is surrounded. This Sir is a Short, but true Narrative of the State of british affairs, in Europe.

It must be confess’d, that the French have gain’d advantages in the West Indies; but it may be observ’d, that they have recover’d no more than what they lost in the last war. In Contests between great Nations, Events must be uncertain, and no Party can expect an uninterrupted Series of Success. Disappointments some times beget Exertions, which may give a new Face to Affairs. When the Troops, which are to be sent for the Protection of our Island, arrive, and the ships are on float, which the succeeding Spring will produce, these will unfold to us, Truths, about which, we at present, may form very different Ideas. The French may boast of their Prowess in Destaings Engagement with Barrington, but few think here, that the Glory of the british Navy was in any Degree diminish’d in that Encounter.

How far the French have been useful to you in Amer[ica], you must be better qualified to determine, than myself: Yet, I cannot avoid expressing my Wish, that you had never enterd into any Engagements with them. They are a People cover’d with Guile, and their Religion countenances the Practice of it, on all of a different Persuasion. They are educated in an Aversion to the English, and hold our Constitution in the utmost Detestation. They have the Art to insinuate, and the Wickedness to betray when they gain an admittance. Laws, they have none but such as are prescrib’d by the Will of their Prince. This is their only Legislature. They know your Coast, are acquainted with your Manners, and no Doubt have made Establishments amongst You. A Footing in the Northern Provinces, is what they most devoutly wish to obtain. As a Means to effect their Purpose, they have sufferd you to run in Debt to them, and as a Security for the Payment of it, they say that your Lands are answerable. If you are not able to satisfy their Demands, how will you have it in Your Power to frustrate this Claim? But if you are able to discharge the Debt, how will you recompense them, for the Services, which they will urge that they have renderd to you. Your Trade is of no Consequence, it is not an object with them. Nothing but a Partition of your Country will silence them. When that happens, you may bid adieu to all social Happiness; the little finger of France will be more burthensome to you, than the whole weight of George the 3d. his Lords and Commons. Can it be imagin’d that a Prince, who is a Tyrant in his own Dominions, can be a Friend to the Rights and Priviledges of another People? Can it be Policy in him to waste his Blood and Treasure, in reducing one Rival, in order to raise another, more formidable perhaps, than his ancient Competitors? Your good Sense I am persuaded, will not suffer You to cherish such an opinion, and you cannot be so wanting in Discernment, as not to see the base Designs of this treacherous Nation. If France engaged in this Quarrel, for no other Purpose, than to fight your Battles, and vindicate your injured Rights, her Generosity will lead her to confer all the Benefit of her Conquests on you. When you become invested with the Possession of their acquisitions, you may then believe them to be your Friends; but until that happens, you ought to consider their Designs as dangerous, and not suffer yourselves to be deciev’d by such an artful and despotic People. But let us suppose in theory, what, facts I am convinced will not verify, that the Powers now contending with G. Britain are too great for it to withstand. What do you imagine will be the Sentiments of the other States of Europe on this Subject? These Potentates stand in such a Relation to each other, that as a Security to the whole, a Ballance of Power must be preserv’d amongst them. G. Britain has always held that Ballance. How dangerous a Neighbour would France become, if her principal opponent, and the great Arbiter of Europe shou’d be overwhelm’d? The Empress of Russia sees with a jealous Eye, the Strides which the french are taking towards universal Monarchy. The King of Prussia is too old a Soldier, to suffer a Rival to strengthen himself, on the Ruins of an old and natural ally. The Dutch are governd too much by their Interest, to see it in Danger, and never to make an Effort to preserve it. The Danes are the fast Friends of England. All these Nations wou’d have taken a decided Part long before this, had the Situation of G. Britain made it necessary: But the Truth is, our Councils are as vigorous, our Resources as great and the national Firmness as inflexible, as they have ever been, even in the most flourishing Periods recorded in the History of this Country. If you regard the assertions of a set of Men, who are distinguish’d by the appellation of the Opposition, you must I own form a different opinion, from that which I have endeavour’d to inculcate. They will tell you that the Glory of England is pass’d away, its Treasures exhausted, and that the Kingdom stands on the Brink of inevitable Destruction, owing to the Weakness and Wickedness of Administration. Believe not, my Friend, such Prophets. The Luxury of this Nation, and of Course its Expences, are unbounded. These Excesses must unavoidably make Mankind necessitous. The Department of a Minister is lucrative and alluring. The King, in order to silence the Clamour of Party, having frequently chang’d his Servants, has by this Means excited an Idea, that Noise will always procure a Removal of the Ministry. It is for this Reason, that they who have a Chance for the Succession, ring such alarms thro the Nation, in order to throw an odium on them, and get them out of their Places; yet these very People who are the Authors of so much Turbulence, don’t think as they speak. Some join in the Cry; others suspend their opinions, till they recieve more convincing Proofs; and a third, thinking that Government ought to be supported strengthen as far as they can, the Hands of their Rulers. But still, the great Machine moves on, the Ministry Keep their Places, and look as if their Possession would be of long Duration. But a Change wou’d be of little Service to the Nation; for if it silenc’d one Party, it wou’d open the Mouth of another; and the Kingdom be just in the same Situation that it is in at this Time, and has been for many Years past.

If you form an opinion of our public affairs, by the Picture which is drawn of them in our daily Exhibitions, I acknowledge, that you must concieve my account of them to be, chimerical. But whoever wishes to avoid Error, must steer clear of an english Newspaper. There are of daily Papers publish’d in the Year, 27. Millions: The Types, the Ink, the Paper and a Stamp &c. distinctly pay a Duty to Government. Judge then, what a Revenue these Publications must produce. It is for this Reason that Ministry throw no Impediment in their Way; for punishing the Libels they contain, wou’d reduce their Number, and lessen of Course, the Emoluments arising from them. I have often thought, that the Toleration of such indecent Compositions, was a Reflection on Government, but it is a Maxim in England, that as soon as an Evil produces Good, it ceases to be an Evil.

The short Representation of the british affairs, which I have given you above, is intended to prepare you, for one important Question, momentous not only to America, and Great Britain, but also to Europe in General: Wou’d it not be prudent, to rescind your Declaration of Independance, be happily reunited to your ancient and natural Friend, and enjoy a Peace, which I most religiously think would pass all Understanding? I can venture to assure you, that your Independance, will never be acknowledg’d by the Legislative Authority of this Kingdom: The Nation would not agree to such a Concession; and your suppos’d Friends, who are so lavish in your Praise on other Occasions, wou’d on this, be against you. Every Immunity, which you can reasonably ask for, will be granted to you; the rapacious Hand of Taxation will never reach you. Your Laws and Regulations will be establish’d on the solid Basis of the british Constitution; and your Happiness will be attended to, with all the Solicitude, which belongs to an affectionate Parent. Reflect, I beseach you, on what I have said. Let not the flattering Possession of Power, which may be wrested from you in a Moment, stand in Competition with the Good of your Country, which you have now an opportunity of making, as lasting as Time itself. But if you still persist in your Resolution, never to listen to the voice of Reconciliation, Remember, that I, who know your Situation, and wish you every Degree of Happiness, tell you, that what you take to be the End, will be only the Beginning of your political Misfortunes.

I must now put a Period to a long Letter, the writing of which, is a very unusual Labour to me. How you may recieve it I know not. Be that as it will, I shall enjoy one Consolation, which is, a quiet Conscience. I see such Determination in Government, to proceed to the last Extremity with you; such a Disposition in the Powers of Europe to go to War; and such Mischiefs hovering over America, that I shou’d think myself an undutiful Son, and criminally guilty, if I did not impart to you, the Distress I feel on your Account. Let our opinions vary as they will, I shall nevertheless retain a very sincere Regard for you. How far your Politics may be blended with your Friendships, I cannot tell; but as I have ever preserv’d my esteem from improper Mixtures, I shall subscribe myself now as I always have done, Dr Sr, Your very affectionate Friend & humble Servt,

John Randolph

Posted on October 23, 2013 by Taylor Stoermer

The Student’s Guide Through Lincoln’s Inn (1805)

I frequently get questions about the nature of legal education in the 18th century and the differences between Britain and the American colonies in that regard. Moreover, given my work on transatlantic cultural influences in the late colonial period, and their relation to political thought and behavior, I’ve been keenly interested in any sources that shed light on the actual experience of those who attended the Inns of Court in London, which educated so many colonial political leaders, from Daniel Dulany to John Dickinson to Peyton Randolph to Arthur Lee (all of whom attended Middle Temple). Consequently, whenever I’m in London, I regularly pester the uniformly kind librarians, archivists, and clerks at the various Inns for whatever they might have come across since the last time I bothered them. Not that long ago, while sitting in the library of my London academic home–the splendid Institute for Historical Research–I was sent a real find: The Student’s Guide Through Lincoln’s Inn by Thomas Lane, published in 1805. It was chock full of all sorts of factual gems and insights that, at the very least, give us a glimpse into what it was like to study law in Georgian England. Keeping in mind that most–although certainly not all–American law students were simultaneously enrolled at one of the universities (mainly Cambridge), and that the City itself provided perhaps the best education, these notes of mine, taken from The Student’s Guide, I think enrich our understanding of just what these students were getting up in the late 1700s.

All the principal Inns of Court are uniform in their regulations of calling to the bar.

Admission payment must be made.

Gentleman to be admitted need not be present but a bond must be entered into by himself and a member of the Inn, or two housekeepers, who are required to certify that they know him to be a fit and proper person to become a member.

In addition to the bond a deposit must be made before a student commences his terms for the English bar, to be returned on his call to the bar or his leaving the society unless the person can produce a certificate showing he spent 2 years at Oxford, Cambridge or Dublin, or of the Faculty of Advocates of Scotland, or if admitted for purposes of being called to the Irish bar.

Method of keeping terms is to attend the hall during the 4 law terms — Hilary, Easter, Trinity, and Michaelmas.

Lincoln’s Inn dinner was at 4pm. In the 17th century it was at 3pm.

Hilary term — 23 Jan to 12 Feb; Michaelmas term — 6 Nov to 28 Nov; Easter term — Begins 17 days after Easter Sunday and continues 27 days; Trinity term — Begins 18 days after conclusion of Easter term and continues 20 days.

The student is required to remain in the hall until grace is said after dinner, or else he loses the benefit of that day’s attendance, his name struck off by the Steward who regularly attends to enter all names of those present.

To keep a whole term, one can attend every day in a whole week and any one day in grand week; the method of shortest compass [and expense] is to attend 4 days preceding grand week and the Sunday in grand week if the four days are part of the term; attending a whole week and every day in a grand week (14 days) will complete the term at same expense as shortest term.

Terms are charged by the whole, three quarters, half and quarter.

Dinner is provided every day through term and students may attend every day by paying a repast fee above the number of days keeping.

Plain black gown are worn by diners, and can be rented at the door; students sit at either of side tables, cross tables occupied by benchers and barristers.

Students cannot be more than two terms in arrears for his eating commons. If so, the Steward cannot record his keeping a term.

Exercises take place after dinner, and benchers then retire to their private room.

Students need not begin to keep commons in the hall until two years after their admission to the society, nor do they need to make the 100 pounds sterling deposit until they begin to keep terms.

Any student may, on application to the Steward, have a certificate of his belonging to the society, which entitles him to a seat in the student’s box in the courts at Westminster Hall and the Old Bailey.

Students are not required to possess chambers or to reside in the Inn unless he chooses.

Before a student can be called to the English bar it is necessary that his name shall have been five years on the books of the society, unless a certificate be produced of his having taken the degree of MA or BL at Oxford, Cambridge, or Dublin, in which case 3 years would be sufficient, during which period he must keep 12 terms commons in the hall and perform 9 exercises, no more than 3 of which can be performed in one term.

Exercises are immediately after dinner but application must first be made to the Steward for a certificate signed by a practising barrister of the society who attests he is acquainted with the student’s character and that the student is an unexceptionable person and which, if approved by the rest of the barristers, allows the student to commence exercises the next day.

When a student is qualified for the bar his name must be affixed on the screen in the hall a fortnight [same for all four Inns of Court] and a petition signed by him presented to the benchers at a council, one of the benchers must move the consideration of the petition, another special council is then fixed for the purpose of calls; if the candidate is approved and the petition granted, it is ordered that the petitioner be published or called to the bar at the next exercise in the hall, which is generally the following day. On that day the student must attend personally; and after dinner proceed to take the oaths of allegiance and supremacy, which are administered by the steward before the benchers. After taking the oaths, he is (published or) called to the bar by the benchers, and retires to the council chamber to sign the register of his call, in the presence of the benchers; who immediately leave him to the enjoyment of the company of his friends, usually invited on the occasion. When the register is signed the Steward delivers too each gentleman called a copy of the order for his call to the bar, which he is required to produce at Westminster Hall previous to his taking the oaths there, which should be done within six months after he is called to the bar.

Posted on October 12, 2013 by Taylor Stoermer · 3 Comments

“A Very Smal Trifle!”: A North Briton’s View of the American Revolution

Photograph of Daldowie — Daldowie, the home of the Bogle family outside of Glasgow. It was heavily renovated in the 19th century, before this photo was taken.

The Bogles of Glasgow were one of those families who illustrate rather nicely the intricate and often unexpected interconnectedness of the revolutionary world, or at least certain parts of it, and the rich personal stories that breathe life into it. The Bogles started in the tobacco trade when it took off in the years following the Peace of Utrecht. Following what became a common pattern for that part of the trade, the Bogle family established stores near Tappahannock, Virginia, and were assiduous in developing relationships with planters on the south side of the Rappahannock River. Their association with eastern Virginia lasted from the 1720s to the 1770s and their correspondence is filled with the ways in which the political economy in oronoco tobacco tied northern Europe (especially Rotterdam), Scotland, and the Chesapeake together in a fascinating web, one that differed markedly from the established sweet-scented trade that dominated Tidewater Virginia and London, in everything from business practices to political persuasions.

One particular letter, written on 4 November 1775, connects the greater British Empire, from the Chesapeake to Scotland and India, as George Bogle, outside of Glasgow, informed his son in Calcutta (then working with Warren Hastings) of the death of their relation in Virginia in 1775. It also provides a fascinating window into a lowland Scots (or, rather, North Briton) view of the Boston Tea Party and the American insurgency.

[Y]our Cousin German, Mr William Bogle dyed very Lately in Virginia of a fever to the Inexpressible Grief of His Mother, his Sister Nancy, and of His numerous Connections and Relations.We have been for some time, and are at present Engadged in War with our Colonys in America, who broke out in a most unnatural, unprovoked Rebellion against us their Mother Country Occasioned as they aledge on Account of a Small duty of 3d pr lb of Tea which the Parliament Burdened them with, a very smal triffle! The first Quantity sent to them they had the Daring Efronterie to throw into the Sea in Spite of the Act of Parliament.We have Come to Blows and Bloodshed some months ago upon the 10th last September they shut up their Ports against Exportation from the Colonys, and it is Imagined with good reason that the Parliament will shut up the Ports from Britain and Ireland from Exporting any thing to them whatsoever, only our men of Warr Will make good the Landing of Warlike Stores and provisions for the use of our Fleets and Armys in the Colonys, by which it is believed They will then be in a very miserable situation and of which I doubt not.

[Bogle family Papers, Mitchell Library (Glasgow), 19/22]

Posted on September 26, 2013 by Taylor Stoermer · 9 Comments

“Having never been a Favourite of the Great”: A Revolutionary Printer’s Commitment to His Principles

This post is about the sincerity with which people up and down the social scale applied political thought to personal action in the revolutionary world. Here I’m referring to William Rind, one of Williamsburg’s printers, who lived at the Ludwell-Paradise House on Duke of Gloucester Street, and probably there printed his edition of the Virginia Gazette.

Neither one of the well-known (and well-heeled) “Founders” who led provincials into secession from the British Empire, nor one of the almost-as-celebrated (and probably almost-as-apocryphal) men and women of the lower sorts who pushed the elites into rebellion, Rind was one of those folks whom often get lost in the historiographical scrum over who mattered most in the American Revolution. His American Revolution seems not to have been one imposed from the top down, nor one instigated from the bottom up, but perhaps was one that developed from the middle out (I’ll direct any more considered inquiry of the role of printers in the Revolution and Early Republic to my friends Joe Adelman, Jeff Pasley. and Todd Andrlik). In any case, Rind was a particular favorite of the patriots in Williamsburg and seems to have taken the lofty motto he chose for his newspaper–“Open to all Parties but Influenced by None”–quite seriously, as the letter below suggests.

This unpublished letter (until recently stuck in a drawer at Eyre Hall on the Eastern Shore) was written in February 1769 in response to a complaint from a Northampton County patriot, Severn Eyre, that Rind had not been quick enough about printing an essay criticizing the new governor, Lord Botetourt. While unique in a number of respects, it is of especial interest for the window it opens–however briefly–into a particular moment in the lives of people who lived in this place during the constitutional crisis. Rind and his assistant, William Lumley, permit us to follow them on a cold winter’s day from Blovet Pasteur’s shop (next to the Raleigh Tavern), down the street to Rind’s office, into Lumley’s trunk, and then inside Rind’s own head as he considers the practical issues of printing a newspaper and its connection to his political faith. It allows us a glimpse into the ways political thought informed the daily lives of people such as Rind, and does so in a way that helps us attend to the complex intersection of constitutional abstraction, political culture, and individual behavior in Revolutionary Williamsburg, which makes studying that time and place so terribly interesting.

Sir,
I received yours of the 22d ultimo by which I am sorry to see you have taken offence at my not publishing the Piece signed Curtius sooner. It would have been very inconvenient to me to have printed it then, as it would have put me to the Expence of giving a Supplement, at a Time I was so scarce of Paper, as to be afraid I should be obliged to stop my Gazette for want of it. You say, “you know the Piece was delivered into my own Hands ….” What Wm Lumley, who lives with me, Subjoins to this will, I doubt not, convince you that you was misinformed in that Point, as also that no “Court Sycophant” (having never been a Favourite of the Great) nor any Person out of my House, had ever Seen it till it was printed. I have ever made it a Rule to consult no Man what Pieces I shall publish, and shall ever adhere to it. But, I think, the Authors should give their Names to the Printer for his private Satisfaction, which should by no means be divulged, when the Pieces are of such a Tendency as to create him Enemies, and as he is ignorant in anonymous Pieces whether they come from Friends or Foes, the Consequences may be often hurtful to him. I do not expect any Gentleman will insure me his Vote; but I hope you will do me the Justice to believe that I act up to my Motto, and I think I have often proved it, Sometimes to my great Loss; both by the Expense of printing 2000 Supplements a Week, and by losing many subscribers, who prefer old News, to new Pieces, of what Nature soever. I will therefore still hope for the Continuance of your Friendship, which I desire no longer that I shall be thought to maintain a free Press. I am, with Gratitude and Respect, Sir,
Your much obliged humble
Servant,
Wm. Rind

Sir Williamsburg, Feby 11th 1769
The piece signed Curtius was left at Mr. B. Pasteurs Shop, where I happened to step in, when he gave it me. I know not whether it was the same Day that it was left with him, or the next.
I opened it in the Shop, & seeing it was a Piece for the Press, I put it into my Pocket without reading it. When I came home I shewed it to Mr. Rind, & we both read it; & then I took it into my own Room, & locked it up in my Trunk, with some other Pieces; & there it has remained til given to the Compositor to set for the Press. These particulars I could very safely make Oath to, were it necessary.
I am very respectfully
Sir, Your unknown hbl Sevt
Wm. Lumley

[Eyre Family Papers, VHS]

Posted on September 1, 2013September 1, 2013 by Taylor Stoermer

A Colonial Virginia Tale of Sex and Betrayal: Bartholomew Dandridge Sets a Trap

Amongst the miscellaneous manuscripts of Robert Bolling (c1730-1775) is this practically picaresque “anecdote” regarding two friends who were Bolling’s contemporaries: Bartholomew Dandridge (the brother of Martha Washington) and Richard Johnson. It was never published and is, in fact, crossed out rather heavily by a later hand, but not so desperately as to render it unreadable. Written in the 1760s, it probably says more about the author’s perspective on gender, culture, and morality among male elites in the late colonial period than it does the subjects’ points of view given that Bolling–a prolific writer of exceptionally bad poetry (with all apologies to the late, great Leo Lemay) that was heavily tinged with misogyny and an almost Gothic sensibility–was one of the more curious figures of his time and place (which, for colonial Virginia, is saying quite something), and not known as a “particular Friend” to any of the parties involved.

Barthol: Dandridge Esqr having lost his wife first Wife married second of the name of Burbridge: After a few years of Marriage he began to suspect an attachment between his Lady and his own particular Friend Dick Johnson one of the gambling horsejockey gentlemen so common in this Country; devoid of Honor Faith & all Generosity of Sentiment. Tis easy to believe their Intimacy cou’d not subsist with such Suspicion in the Breast of Mr Dandridge: The latter left Newcastle where they both resided & went to [blank] in [blank] [where it was] confirmed tis said, by a Letter intercepted in what before was surmised: He forged a Letter from his Wife to Johnson inviting him to a Stable at some Distance from the Mansion House about Twilight on a certain Day. Johnson went with all the Ardor of a keen Lecher, tying his Horse huriedly to the Stable to taste those Embraces which he knew by Experience to be so ravishing. Poor Fellow he found himself closely embraced but not by Mrs Dandridge. An Overseer & his Negroes secured and carried him to the injured Husband. Mr Johnson being stripped & tied received the mosaical Law. His Fortitude was not Proof against [damaged] thinking besides, that Mrs Dandridge realy writ the Letter of Invitation to betray him: he made a general Confession corroborating the scene by a Token of a very delicate Nature. Near Mrs. Dandridge’s offending Member was a Scar. Johnson mentioned & described it. He declared she had told him by what accident twas occasioned. Dandridge a clever worthy young Gentleman was more to be pitied than Johnson: Convinced beyond a Doubt of his Wrongs his Heart became a Prey to Melancholy & his Family most miserable. Husbands shou’d beware principally of their best Friends, & take Care that those Friends be Men of Honor, two Precautions which are very friendly to that tender fragil Existence or Fancy called Chastity.

[Source: Misc. Mss, Brock Collection, Huntington Library]

Posted on August 12, 2013August 12, 2013 by Taylor Stoermer

“Return to your Family & indeed to yourself”: The American Revolution of One Virginia Family

On this date in 1775, John Randolph, a Virginia loyalist, wrote his final extant letter to his patriot son, Edmund. This letter is remarkable in several ways, not least for the pathos that pervades it. Edmund had turned 22 only two days before but was already well on his way to Massachusetts to join George Washington’s staff as aide-de-camp, recommended by Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, and Richard Henry Lee. Edmund’s new life, tied so closely to that of the new nation, eventually lead to the first President’s cabinet as America’s first Attorney General and second Secretary of State. But in 1775, that was all just beginning as the old world of his family was collapsing–they were readying themselves to depart Virginia for London and uncertainty. The only member of his family whom Edmund would ever see again was his youngest sister, Ariana, who returned to Virginia with their father’s body in the spring of 1784. His sister, Susanna (one traveler in 1775 recorded her and her sister as “the two greatest beautys in America”), died in London in 1791. His mother, also called Ariana, was buried with Susanna, her husband, and her children, at St. Mary Abbott’s in Kensington in 1801 (buried with Ariana was also the mystery of a lost correspondence of more than 20 missing letters between her and Thomas Jefferson written in the last decade of her life). Their story after they left Williamsburg reflects the high expectations and dashed hopes of many loyalists.

The language of the letter exudes a sense of desperation. It is full of spelling mistakes, crossed-out words, and insertions. Whatever the reasons for the sloppiness of the text, this was clearly not an easy letter for the 48-year-old John Randolph to write, in the midst of the greatest personal and public struggle of his life.

My dear Edmund,

I wrote you a long letter recommended to the care of Mr Willing at Philadelphia, wherein I pointed out my Reasons why I thought your military undertaking will not suit your situation or be so advantageous to you as residing in Wmburg. Your Uncle we hear is dangerously ill at Richmond. His Legs swell very much, & his asthma increases. It is thought his Duration here will be but short. You should never be out of the way when so much depends on your Presence. I shall certainly go to Engld with my Family before October. I want you very much to take my Place at the Capitol. His Majesty will provide for me at Home & you may certainly get into my Office. I propose selling all my Estate both real & personal at the next meeting in October. You have often told me that you wd relinquish your Legacy given by Mr Jennings. As an equivalent I shall give you the full Contents of my Study, & propose giving my Bonds for the Remainder. I have appointed yourself & Uncle my Trustees for selling my Estate & shall join Mr Blair with you. Consider what an honorable & advantageous outset you will make in the Law. Is not the Glory of the Cabinet equal to that of the Field? Is not this better than broken Limbs, fatigue, Shatterd Health, & an eternal want of money? For God’s sake return to your Family & indeed to yourself Abandon not your Sisters who are wretched about you, Come back & Heaven will protect all your Undertakings.

August 12. 1775 I am your affect. & afflicted Father J. Randolph

[Misc. Mss of Clements Library, Univ. of Michigan, CW Rock microfilm M-1031]

Posted on July 11, 2013October 16, 2014 by Taylor Stoermer

“So very contradictory to Humanity”: A Loyalist’s View of Slavery

In July 1761, Robert Beverley arrived back in Virginia after 11 years at school in England, first at Beverley Grammar School, then to Wakefield, and finally to Trinity College, Cambridge. A friend at the time described him as exhibiting “the best Sense, Abilities & many Excellent Qualities.” Having left the Tidewater when he was 10 years old, he returned to an alien place. His father had died when he was away, leaving him the owner of Blandfield Plantation and its community of enslaved men and women, one of the largest in the colony. Whatever the 10-year-old Robert might have felt about slavery when he left Virginia in 1750, the 21-year-old had very decided views on the subject. #OTD in 1761, within days of his return, he expressed to a London merchant his “aversion to Slavery” as “‘something so very contradictory to Humanity.” He went on to explain that “if ever I bid adieu to Virginia it will be from that cause alone.”

Robert Beverley did “bid adieu” to Virginia, in a way, as he remained staunchly loyal to the British world that his countrymen were bent on destroying. He stated unequivocally that “I see so many Beauties and so great a display of political Wisdom in our Constitution that I cannot look upon any attempt to subvert it with Patience.” And so he retreated to Blandfield to wait out the American Revolution and never again engage in public affairs.