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Tag: 1776 deaths

  • Elizabeth Scott–June 13, 1776

    Cover art for June 13, 1776: the tablet inset in the gravestone table for Elizabeth Scott Williams Smith.

    The life of Elizabeth Scott is an open book and is still quite mysterious.

    It’s not 100% clear when she was born, other than it was “probably” in 1708. Her personal life isn’t very well known, and her work as a hymnist is still a matter of speculation, since so many of her pieces didn’t have her name on them, for some reason. It’s only been through careful analysis of known pieces that we’ve been able to put her name to the unknown pieces. Many of her known works are in the hands of Yale College, and are in manuscript rather than print, so they date back to the 1740s. Most of them are signed simply “S” or “Scott” rather than “Elizabeth Scott,” but those pieces have had a good chain of custody that they can be considered authentic.

    Interestingly, the plate that appears in today’s cover art is mounted into a grave table, which is a stone table (i.e. a table top and four legs with some opening between it and the ground) standing over her grave. The grave of her second husband is nearby, but it’s marked with a simple stone.

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  • Farewell, Mother Jefferson–March 31, 1776

    Cover art for March 31, 1776: to be fair, this image has been identified as being one of several women, but Jane Randolph Jefferson comes up more often than others, so we're sticking with it.

    In discussing the life of Jane Randolph Jefferson, I mentioned during the episode that Thomas Jefferson rarely discussed her.

    This is not, however, to suggest that he lacked affection for her, or that he was somehow ashamed of her. There are family remembrances and contemporary biographies that show that Jane was a revered family member. It’s also worth noting that Thomas Jefferson, unlike Benjamin Franklin, was not in the habit of retaining correspondence, even with people important to him.

    Jane is credited by many historians as the person responsible for his love of music and for his writing abilities. And after all, he didn’t leave his family home until it burned down. Furthermore Thomas named his second daughter after his mother (his first was named after his wife).

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