Sally Scott Murray was a political wife for the better part of her adult life, given all the different elected offices that her husband Edward Lloyd the 5th held. There were a few years immediately after their marriage when id didn’t hold elected office, and he predeceased her by about twenty years, but in between, Edward’s resume is all over the Maryland State Archives.
And, of course, there’s a Lloyd Street in Baltimore. Just around the corner on Lombard Street is one of the best places ever to get a corned beef sandwich; a Jewish deli by the name of Attman’s. Stop in and tell them I said Hi. They won’t know what you’re talking about, but we can use the publicity.
Programming Note: Mike came down with a case of electronic laryngitis, so you’re getting me again for today’s episode. But Mike wrote it, so there’s that.
John Dabney Terrell Sr. was…not one of our best and brightest Americans, but the work he did will lead us to a bigger story some time down the road. Much of what he did laid down the foundation for the event that became known for the Trail of Tears.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, he was a slave owner who put some of his slave property (ugh, but that was the legal term) in his son’s name to avoid losing them in a pending lawsuit against him.
That he did all this and chose to be buried in a very Native American fashion is kind of amazing.
Although Lyman Beecher could be considered famous just for being the father of several prominent writers and ministers, he also had some achievements in his own right.
Beecher first became known for a sermon which was published shortly afterward on the evils of duelling. Because it was in the wake of Alexander Hamilton’s death, it proved quite popular.
Beecher next turned his eyes to intemperance, which is what intoxication was called at the time. It was a concern throughout America in the mid 1820s, so he delivered and published a half-dozen sermons which sold very well in America and in Europe. Those sales continued well into the 1870s.
By the time Beecher arrived at Lane Seminary in the early 1830s, slavery was coming to the fore as an important social topic. While he was an abolitionist at heart, his public stance was with colonization: the freeing of slaves and then moving them to start a colony in West Africa. (This is where Liberia got its start, incidentally.) Unfortunately, a multi-day public debate about colonization morphed into a discussion of abolitionism, and many students left the school altogether in protest.
Shortly after that, his views on changes in the church led to accusations of heresy, which he successfully defended. However, the seminary was left gutted and he moved back to New York to live with his son Henry in Brooklyn, where he remained until his death.
Robert Adrain is one of those names that most people wouldn’t recognize, but back in the day he was a mathematical scholar in a place where there really weren’t any. At least, none of special note.
Adrain made education his entire life, teaching youngsters while still pretty much a child himself, being 15 when he started. After moving to America, he resumed his teaching career and became the publisher of a mathematical journal, which ran for several years.
During the episode we noted that not much is known about David McConaughy’s early life. Even his adult life isn’t especially well-documented. We don’t even know who painted the portrait in today’s cover art.
But there’s no question that, even if the man himself is a bit of a cypher, his legacy at Washington College is not.
Meanwhile, another couple of Washingtons are in communication with each other. Lund Washington, a cousin of George, is taking care of Mount Vernon in George’s absence. Unfortunately, he’s having a rather tough week.
It could be argued that Captain Heald’s biggest claim to fame is that he was on hand for the disastrous outcome at Fort Dearborn, but at least he doesn’t eat the blame for it; it just happened to be the guy who was there.
On the bright side (such as it is), the events at Dearborn were soon overshadowed by President Madison declaring war on the British, thus beginning the War of 1812. Heald and his wife, who were both injured at Fort Dearborn, were released back to the Americans. Heald was promoted shortly thereafter and given a disability discharge in 1814. And isn’t that always the way.
John Henry Hobart was born on this day in 1775, and he came that close to dying on the same day in 1830, on September 12.
We read once that, statistically, men tend to die before “big” dates, e.g. birthdays and major holidays, while women tend to die afterwards. In Claude’s family anyway, it does have a ring of general truth to it.
Go figure.
Although Hobart was an Episcopalian minister (and later Bishop), he was the pastor to Elizabeth Ann Seton, our first American saint. (Seton converted to Catholicism in 1805.)
While Hobart was quite active in the New York City area, he also felt the need for higher education in the western reaches of the state, and established Geneva College (later Hobart College) in the Finger Lakes region. By the time he died, he’d established a church in most major towns in New York and begun missionary work among the Oneida Indians.
It’s not 100% clear what caused his death, but it was likely a chronic intestinal infection that affected his health in later years.
Frederick Graff feels like one of those guys who gets so little credit for what he did, you wind up feeling pretty badly for him.
But the fact is, if not for him, over three dozen cities in the US wouldn’t have adequate water systems. So good on Frederick! Hoist your favorite beverage in his honor! (Though, in this case, it really should be water.)
Lots of prominent early Americans weren’t Americans to begin with. For instance, the first President of the United States who was actually born in the United States would be Martin Van Buren, our eight president.
But while most of these folks were born on the North American continent, the subject of today’s episode was not. He was born in Bermuda. So while George Tucker was still a British citizen by birth, he didn’t come to America until he was twenty years old, making him an honest-to-goodness immigrant.
But let’s not hold that against him. As you’ll learn today, Tucker had a long and varied career as a politician, an educator and an author.
