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Of him who promises much, much will be expected.

@john-laurens / john-laurens.tumblr.com

A blog about everyone's favorite 18th century queer abolitionist.
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Anonymous asked:

your art makes me want to yeet myself out the window. but like. in a good way.

#Unless by “art” you are referring to my 3000+ word essays on Francis Kinloch#I'm wondering if you're new to/unfamiliar with tumblr?#In which case you should know that you can reblog other people's art on this site#and the original poster's icon/URL will be displayed at the top of the post#So please go give the original artists some love!#Whatever art you are looking at - I did not make it#ask#anonymous
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I just found this on ebay and I think this picture of Henry Laurens is hilarious

Maybe it’s because it’s almost 1:00 in the morning but I can’t stop laughing because it’s like Henry is hardcore judging you while holding his pimp cane like what is this

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I genuinely thought I had purchased this at some point in the decade since making this post, but apparently I hadn't? So I've rectified that situation:

The text on the back reads as follows:

Henry Laurens began his career as a colonial merchant, exporting rice, indigo and deerskins and importing wine, slaves and indentured servants. Soon, he established himself as one of the wealthiest men of Charleston. However, after 1764, he gradually shifted his interests to acquiring and managing plantations. That year marked a turning point in Henry Laurens' life for other reasons as well, for it was in 1764 that he became increasingly involved in events that led to the American Revolution. By 1777, he had attained such stature in the eyes of colonists that he was elected to the Continental Congress and soon was named as president of that body. Later, he was selected to negotiate a loan and Treaty of Amity and Commerce with the Dutch. However, while in route to Holland in 1780, his ship was captured by the British and Laurens' papers - including a draft of a proposed treaty with the Dutch - served as a pretext for Britain's declaration of war on the Dutch. In the meantime, Henry Laurens was confined in the Tower of London. When he regained his freedom, he was appointed a peace commissioner and instructed to join Franklin, Adams and Jay in Paris. Reaching there only two days before the signing of the preliminary treaty, he nevertheless used his influence to secure fishing rights and safeguard American property. On the day of the signing of the final treaty, Laurens was away, acting as unofficial minister to England. The war over, the peace secure, Laurens finally arrived home in 1785 and spent the remaining seven years of his life enjoying the peace and solitude of his plantation in South Carolina.

I'm honestly not quite sure what the "debt settlement" text on the image of Henry Laurens is referring to. Perhaps this was supposed to be a reference to his goal of securing a loan from the Dutch or his work on the Treaty of Paris?

Regardless, I am highly entertained by this absurd picture of Henry Laurens, and it acts as a complementary piece to my John Laurens cachet.

#reblog#Henry Laurens
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“I received the letter wherein you mention my horse and trunk, (the latter of which was left at Providence). The misery which the former has suffered at different times, by mismanagement, has greatly distressed me. He was wounded in service, and I am much attached to him. If he can be of any service to you, I entreat your acceptance of him, more especially if you will make use of him in bringing you to a country (Carolina) where you will be received with open arms, and all that affection and respect which our citizens are anxious to testify to the author of Common Sense, and the Crisis. Adieu! I wish you to regard this part of America (Carolina) as your particular home—and everything that I can command in it to be in common between us.”

— John Laurens to Thomas Paine, in a letter dated April 18, 1782

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I have been thinking about John Laurens and his beloved wounded horse.

I was curious as to where I found this quotation originally, and I've traced it back to The Life of Thomas Paine With a History of His Literary, Political and Religious Career in America, France and England, Volume 2 by Moncure Daniel Conway and William Cobbett. The footnotes state that this letter was "supplied by the author." I have been unable to find a transcript of this letter elsewhere. Perhaps the authors had access to certain letters that have since been lost or not been made publicly available?

#reblog#John Laurens and his soft spot for animals#Thomas Paine#John Laurens
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What will become of me I Know not, & the uncertainty I am in does not fail making me melancholy;_ I begin once more to think of returning to America, & now lament from my heart that N ever fell into the water, or that some other hand did not pull him out.  I should then have contented myself With being ambitious of becoming a man of learning, & have sunk quietly into the humble Planter upon the banks of Winneaw river._

Francis Kinloch to Johannes von Müller, circa July 1777

Kinloch is referring to that fact that he saved one of Lord North's sons from drowning. This is the most direct reference I've found from Kinloch regarding the incident. While an account of the incident from Kinloch's granddaughter describes both Kinloch and North's son as being in the water when the near-death event occurred, Kinloch himself tells the story differently. Lord North's son fell into some body of water, and Kinloch pulled him out. This act of heroism gained Kinloch some favor with Lord North, and Kinloch had hoped that Lord North would be able to secure him a position in the English civil service. No position was ever made available to Kinloch, and he ultimately returned home to America. On one hand, I do understand Kinloch's frustration. He was in England for about a year, continually waiting for the day his connections would set him up with a career, but that day never came. (At the time of writing the above letter, he had been in England for 2-3 months.) He might have felt that pursuing another position outside of Lord North's help would have given offense. On the other hand, the fact that Kinloch's thoughts on the matter were "What if I had just let Lord North's son drown - maybe then my life would have been better 😔" (hyperbole) is very telling. Instead of taking an active role in his career path, he dwells on the past and wishes things had happened to him differently.

#Boy who's never worked a day in his life gets upset when the father of a kid he saved from drowning doesn't immediately get him a job#Francis Kinloch#Johannes von Müller#Lord North#quote
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wounded Laurens - part 1

I feel like I don't see much about Laurens and his injury, so here I am, dramatizing it because I care about him so much. I'm not sure how they treated his injury, but they might've closed his wound by cautery (the medical practice of burning a part of the body; historically believed to prevent infection, though current research shows that cautery increases the risk for infection; Source). Also, do you think Laurens would have a scar on his shoulder?

#Laurens was Really Going Through It with his shoulder#In regards to the cautery discussion -#It should be noted that the article referenced in the linked Wikipedia page is from 1998#And specifically compares the use of a scalpel to cautery in making surgical incisions in the abdomen#In which case - yes a scalpel is going to be less traumatic to tissue compared to cautery#So there could be greater risk of infection when cautery is used to make an incision (and the surgery was not very clean/sterile)#But if the decision is between letting a wound bleed out and definitely dying vs. cauterizing the wound and /maybe/ dying due to infection#You're gonna cauterize that wound#John Laurens#Alexander Hamilton#Lams#fanart
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You may buy a few french authors for me at Geneve, as it is a good opportunity, only let me know what they are, that I may not buy them again

- Francis Kinloch to Johannes von Müller, circa January 1777

The relatable struggle of being in a long-distance relationship and needing to cross-reference what books you own in order to avoid buying duplicates

#I cannot count the number of times I bought a book from a book sale only for my wife to tell me that we already owned at least one copy#Francis Kinloch#Johannes von Müller#quote
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This scribble/beginning of a sketch was likely done by John Laurens.  This sketch is found on the back of a letter from Louis de Manoel de Vegobre to John Laurens, dated February 18, 1775.

The arm may be holding a caduceus/forked stick, which could represent Hermes or Mercury.

Laurens also sketched a wing elsewhere on the paper, which also supports the idea of the figure being Hermes or Mercury:

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I have been staring at this for an inordinate amount of time, and I have a different interpretation. I think it might be an angel cutting a ribbon with a pair of long-bladed scissors.

Neither the clothing nor the implement in the figure’s hand corresponds very well to Hermes/Mercury. He is usually shown nude, draped in a cloth or a cape, but almost never with sleeves. His caduceus staff typically has winding snakes around it, forming characteristic loops that can be seen in the three representative depictions below. If there are wings, they are typically on his hat or on the staff (and occasionally on his sandals).

Source / Source / Source

Angels, in contrast, are quite frequently depicted in sleeved robes, often with the sleeves pushed up or fastened into a cuff, forming a loosely triangular shape that better matches Laurens’ drawing.

Source / Source / Source

(Angel depictions vary vastly, so I picked a few from the time period that demonstrate what I mean.)

It also looks that, amid his messy squiggles, Laurens included a basic sketch of a wing. I’ve traces it here in pink, and it’s one continuous line. The placement is very odd, but it’s more correct for an angel’s wing than for Hermes/Mercury.

Finally, the implement doesn’t look like a caduceus staff to me, but it does look an awful lot like one of these 18th century scissors. If it was a staff, you’d expect it to extend past the bottom of the hand like in the images above, but this implement ends within the grip, which is how you’d hold scissors.

Source / Source

Who can say!

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That's an interesting idea, and I do see how the sketch can be interpreted that way. Do you know of any symbol or work of art that Laurens may have been referencing? An angel cutting a ribbon feels like a very specific idea, but I'm not familiar with any depiction of this. Though of course, it could have no meaning other than it was what Laurens felt like sketching that day.

#Anatomy practice perhaps?#reblog
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Laurens, his wife Martha, and their daughter Frances

someone asked me if I'd ever drawn Frances which I haven't, so I ended up drawing the whole dysfunctional family! Frances doesn't have any portraits(?), so I wanted to try visualizing her with features from both parents :) This is my interpretation, so creative liberties were taken, but feel free to let me know of any inaccuracies

References: the portrait of Martha's sister, Sarah Manning, from this post by @clear-as-starlight - thank you! And thank you to @john-laurens for your help and @nerenight for your insight on Martha's hair color!

#They're all so pretty!#John Laurens#Martha Manning Laurens#Frances Eleanor Laurens#fanart
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While I enjoy speculating that John Laurens interacted with Francis Kinloch's mother Anne, we do have definitive proof that Francis Kinloch interacted with John Laurens's father Henry.

Francis Kinloch began his departure from Europe in April 1778 and would arrive in America several months later. On September 11, 1778, William Livingston wrote to Henry Laurens, "Messrs. Kinloch and Jeffrey came with a flag from New York to Brunswick." On October 1, 1778, Henry Laurens replied, "The entrance of Messrs. Kinlock and Jeffrey was certainly very irregular, altho' I am persuaded their intentions respecting these States were to add two faithful Citizens to our numbers. I can vouch for the former [Kinloch], and must rely on the assurances of the other Gentleman [Jeffrey]_"

While Henry's response to William Livingston was written in October, Henry had met with Francis in Philadelphia in September. Henry wrote to John Lewis Gervais on September 15, 1778, "Mr. F. Kinloch lately from New York brought me a message from Mr. R. Williams whom he left 5 days ago in that City_" Henry then wrote the following to his son John on September 17, 1778: "Your friend F. Kinloch will probably salute you in Camp this day se'nnight another friend of yours R. Berresford is in New York. I hope to obtain permission for his coming here in a few days, this indeed should have been done four days ago, but Mr. Kinloch had omitted till last evening to deliver me a message from Mr. Berresford." I am not familiar with Beresford, but the footnotes of the letter provide some biographical information. Interestingly, Beresford's life seems to have mirrored Kinloch's in many ways:

Richard Beresford (1755-1803) had been taken to England to study following his father's death in 1772. JL knew him both in Charleston and England where they read law at the Middle Temple. Beresford was returning to Charleston by way of New York to practice law. He, like some of the others returning at this time, may have been motivated by a South Carolina act passed March 28, 1778, which included a provision to double tax all absentees who had reached the age of twenty-one. He served in the military under Isaac Huger in Georgia in 1778, and was an aide to William Moultrie at the fall of Charleston. He served in the General Assembly (1782), was elected lieutenant governor (1783), and sat in the Continental Congress (1783-1784). (The Papers of Henry Laurens, vol. 14, p. 321)

Henry went on to write, "Sir E[gerton] L[eigh] Mr. Kinloch informs me is wretched and he will relate to you the melancholly Catastrophe of the unfortunate M[ary] B[remar]." The footnotes provide additional context:

Mary (Molly, Molsey) Bremar, the daughter of HL's sister Martha (d. 1769) and Francis Bremar, had been the ward of her brother-in-law Egerton Leigh. In 1774 Mary, probably as a consequence of a relationship with Leigh, delivered an infant who died shortly thereafter. HL, who had clashed with Leigh during the late 1760s over the latter's Vice Admiralty Court rulings, vilified Leigh and attempted to redeem his niece. She remained "a strange girl, discontented and flighty" and may have hastened her own death in December 1777 with laudanum. (The Papers of Henry Laurens, vol. 14, p. 322)

Further details of Egerton Leigh's disputes with Henry Laurens and his terrible treatment of Mary Bremar can be found here.

John would write to his father about Francis Kinloch on September 24, 1778: "I am sorry that Kinloch did not return to America sooner_ his former sentiments on the present contest, give reason to suspect, if he is a convert, that success on our side, has alone Operated the change_ something may be drawn in palliation of his conduct from the education he received, and the powerful influence which his Guardian had over him_ Beresfords circumstances were peculiar, he has been uniformly a friend to his Country_"

The difference between John's descriptions of Kinloch and Beresford is certainly telling. I do find it somewhat hilarious that Henry's assessment of Kinloch was essentially "Yeah, Kinloch's a good kid. Absolutely no concerns about his loyalty to his country. I'll vouch for him on his return." Meanwhile, John is having war flashbacks to his political debates with Kinloch in 1776 and is highly suspicious of the whole situation.

Our knowledge of any other interactions between Henry Laurens and Francis Kinloch is limited. Francis did write a letter to Henry on May 17, 1780. This appears to be the only surviving letter between the two.

#Thank you Henry for spelling Kinloch as Kinlock so we know you pronounced it that way and not the Kin-law way#Francis Kinloch#Henry Laurens#John Laurens#Richard Beresford#Egerton Leigh#Mary Bremar#William Livingston#John Lewis Gervais#quote
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Diagnosing Francis Kinloch with Scabies

(But not for the reason you think)

Please note that this post is incredibly speculative and about something I find to be an entertaining possibility.

@my-deer-history recently made a great post about Kinloch's dog Wit, and one translation caught my attention:

"La Pauvre bete de Genthod est terriblement galeuse, ce qui m'a obligé de la mettre en pension ches [sic] une vieille femme ou il mange bien, & soufle tout son saoul [The poor beast of Genthod is terribly mangy, which has obliged me to put him in a boarding house with an old woman where he eats well, and breathes to his heart's content]" - Francis Kinloch to Johannes von Müller, December 18, 1777

Mange in dogs can be caused by a variety of parasites, but I would suspect that Wit had sarcoptic mange, which is caused by the mite Sarcoptes scabiei var. canis. Infestation with this parasite produces the classic mangy dog appearance. Scabies in humans is caused by the mite Sarcoptes scabiei var. hominis. The different variations of S. scabiei have some host specificity (i.e., they can infest their target host species but generally not other species). However, S. scabiei variations may still be able to cause some symptoms in non-target host species. Humans are a dead end host for the canine mite S. scabiei var. canis (the mite will not be able to complete its life cycle or go on to infest others). However, humans may still develop symptoms commonly associated with S. scabiei infestation, such as itching and the development of a rash.

Around the same time that Wit developed mange, Kinloch wrote to Müller about an issue with his arm:

"What Kept me at home Yesterday (for this letter as You may perceive was begun last night) was a swelling under my right arm that made it impossible for me to put on my coat" - Francis Kinloch to Johannes von Müller, November 13, 1777

While Kinloch does not mention the classic itching and rash associated with scabies, he does mention a swelling under his arm. Inflammation/irritation from mites burrowing in the skin could cause swelling, and the armpit is a common site of S. scabiei infestation.

Conclusion: Kinloch got S. scabiei (scabies mites) from his dog.

(Of course, there are many other human diseases that could cause swelling of the arm, but where's the fun in that?)

#I WILL find a way to shoehorn in discussions of zoonotic diseases on my blog thanks for asking#But this post is for entertainment purposes and not for medical advice etc. etc.#Francis Kinloch#Johannes von Müller#Johannes von Muller#Wit#quote
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