Podcast
Your Most Obedient & Humble Servant
Hosted by R2 Studios · EN
Your most obedient & Humble Servant is a biweekly history podcast hosted by historian Kathryn Gehred that showcases the 18th and early 19th century women's letters that don't always make it into the history books.
11episodes
Episodes
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Episode 38 — A Rumor That You Abandoned Me
Mar 14, 202300:34:36Tap to summarizeJannote Roustant to Jean Roustant, 1 July 1745 AND Johanna Fredericha Teller to Ambrosius Teller, 28 May 1798. In which two separate women deal with the fallout of their absent husbands. I'm thrilled to post this episode that I recorded last July with Dr. Lucas Haasis (@LHaasis) and Lisa Magnin, researchers with the Prize Papers Project. This is an incredible project that is going to be a great resource for people studying just about any aspect of history. Resources: The project: https://www.prizepapers.de/ Magnin's work: https://www.prizepapers.de/stories/case-studies/case-study-french-prizes/the-amphitrion/the-diligente-1 Haasis's book: http://cup.columbia.edu/book/the-power-of-persuasion/9783837656527
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Episode 37 — Wounded The Feelings Of A Lady
Feb 7, 202300:38:34Tap to summarizeSarah Livingston Jay to Samuel Lyon, 14 Nov. 1794 In which the wife of a diplomat writes to a man about a horse, and things get REALLY messy, really fast. Many thanks to my wonderful guest, Robb Haberman, for talking about this letter with me! Further Reading: The letter: https://exhibitions.library.columbia.edu/exhibits/show/john_jay/item/12342 The Jay Papers Volumes on Rotunda: https://rotunda.upress.virginia.edu/founders/JNJY.html The scanned, digitized Jay Papers: https://dlc.library.columbia.edu/jay
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Episode 36 — I Should Be Glad To Leave The School
Jan 3, 202300:53:32Tap to summarizeMary Secutor to Eleazar Wheelock, 28 July 1768 In which a woman of the Narragansett tribe politely but firmly departs from Moor's Indian Charity School. Thank you so much to my guest, Dr. Ivy Schweitzer, professor of English and Creative Writing at Dartmouth College, for telling me about this fascinating letter and the wonderful Occom Circle project! Resources: The letter, Mary Secutor to Eleazer Wheelock: https://collections.dartmouth.edu/occom/html/diplomatic/768428-2-diplomatic.html Edward Deake to Eleazer Wheelock, 21 June 1768: https://collections.dartmouth.edu/occom/html/diplomatic/768371-2-diplomatic.html Wyss, Hilary E.. "Mary Occom and Sarah Simon: Gender and Native Literacy In Colonial New England." New England Quarterly, vol. 79, no. 3, 1 Sep. 2006, pp. 387 - 412.
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Episode 35 - George Wiseacre Parke Custis
Nov 10, 202200:28:32Tap to summarizeEleanor Parke Custis (Lewis) to Elizabeth Bordley (Gibson), 14 May 1798 In which rumors are dispelled, patriotic songs are sung, and girls draw on large mustaches with burnt cork. Many thanks to returning guest Samantha Snyder for coming on the show to talk about this letter! Note: at the time of recording neither Samantha nor my book had come out yet. Now both of them have! Please do check them out. Thank you for your patience while I worked on this episode! Brady, Patricia. George Washington’s Beautiful Nelly: The Letters of Eleanor Parke Curtis Lewis to Elizabeth Bordley Gibson, 1794-1851. Expanded ed. edition. Columbia, S.C: University of South Carolina Press, 2006. “Founders Online: From George Washington to George Washington Parke Custis, 15 A ….” University of Virginia Press. Accessed November 8, 2022. http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/06-02-02-0165. “Founders Online: To George Washington from George Washington Parke Custis, 2 Ap ….” University of Virginia Press. Accessed November 8, 2022. http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/06-02-02-0148. The Papers of Martha Washington. Accessed November 8, 2022. https://www.upress.virginia.edu/title/5473. Women in George Washington’s World. Accessed November 8, 2022. https://www.upress.virginia.edu/title/5720.
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Episode 34 - That Evil Genius
May 5, 202200:36:03Tap to summarizeEllen Wayles Randolph to Martha Jefferson Randolph, 29 March 1819 In which Ellen Wayles Randolph passes quite a few judgments on some ladies in Richmond, and asks an old friend for a favor. My guest this week is the incomparable Danna Kelley, tour guide and house tour supervisor extraordinaire at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. Further Reading: The Letter: https://tjrs.monticello.org/letter/1498 Alan Taylor, Thomas Jefferson's Education, W. W. Norton & Company, 2019. Thomas Jefferson's Granddaughter in Queen Victoria's England: The Travel Diary of Ellen Wayles Coolidge, 1838–1839 Ellen Wayles Coolidge. Edited by Ann Lucas Birle and Lisa A. Francavilla. Mary Randolph Randolph: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Randolph#:~:text=Mary%20Randolph%20(August%209%2C%201762,books%20of%20the%2019th%20century.
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Episode 33: Any Dandridge That Ever Wore An Head
Apr 19, 202200:23:05Tap to summarizeThe Testimony of Anne Moody Part the last of Martha Washington's In-Laws! In which Anne Moody explains how she came to own so much silver plate with engravings of parrots. Also featuring: John Custis IV, and this time, he's REAL cranky. Further Reading: "an answer (incomplete) n.d., of Mrs. Anne Moody and Matthew Moody to a bill of complaint of Daniel Parke Custis in an unidentified court in Virginia." http://librarycatalog.virginiahistory.org/final/portal.aspx?lang=en-US My book: https://www.upress.virginia.edu/title/5473 John Custis to William Byrd II, 20 July 1724, ; John Custis to [Thomas Dunbar] 15 January 1724/25, in Custis, John, and Josephine Little Zuppan. The Letterbook of John Custis IV of Williamsburg, 1717-1742. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005, pg. 64, 68. John Custis IV Encyclopedia Virginia: https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/custis-john-1678-1749/ Daniel Parke Custis in Encyclopedia Virginia: https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/custis-daniel-parke-1711-1757/
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Episode 32 - Think My Dear Mistress
Apr 5, 202200:23:53Tap to summarizeSarah Stewart to Dolley Madison, 5 July 1844 In which an enslaved woman who has been arrested (because Dolley Madison's son was in debt, and she and her community were held as collateral) writes to her enslaver. This week I am joined by Hilarie M. Hicks, Senior Research Historian at James Madison's Montpelier. Further Reading: Sarah Stewart to Dolley Payne Todd Madison, 5 July 1844, in The Dolley Madison Digital Edition, ed. Holly C. Shulman. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, Rotunda, 2004. http://rotunda.upress.virginia.edu/dmde/DPM1385 (accessed 2021-01-15). Watch this wonderful video exhibit from James Madison's Montpelier: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsvQEdsSZ_8 Check out "A Mere Distinction of Colour": https://www.montpelier.org/resources/mere-distinction-of-colour Here's some of Hilarie's excellent work with the Naming Project: https://digitaldoorway.montpelier.org/2020/12/11/the-naming-project-catharine-caty-taylor/ This book rules: Taylor, Elizabeth Dowling. A Slave in the White House: Paul Jennings and the Madisons. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. And SUPPORT THE MONTPELIER DESCENDANTS COMMITTEE! https://www.change.org/p/support-the-montpelier-descendants-committee?recruiter=77829525&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&utm_term=psf_combo_share_initial&recruited_by_id=bbdcac5f-be54-4e53-b035-9ecbdb6b6b3c&share_bandit_exp=initial-32812090-en-US&utm_content=fht-32812090-en-us%3A0
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Episode 31 - Vile Names and Ill Language
Mar 22, 202200:24:15Tap to summarizeIn which John Custis IV and Frances Parke make an attempt to live "peace quietly" together. Part IV of the Martha Washington's in laws series. References: A Marriage Agreement. The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Jul., 1896, Vol. 4, No. 1 (Jul., 1896), pp. 64-66. John Custis: https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/custis-john-1678-1749/ Custis, John, and Josephine Little Zuppan. The Letterbook of John Custis IV of Williamsburg, 1717-1742 / Edited by Josephine Little Zuppan. Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005. Brady, Patricia. Martha Washington : an American Life / Patricia Brady. New York: Viking, 2005.
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Episode 30 - Elizabeth Sharaf-un-Nisa
Mar 8, 202200:48:02Tap to summarizeElizabeth Sharaf-un-Nisa to "Philo" In which a Mughal woman who co-habitated with and eventually married a white employee of the East India Company writes to her son about fat babies and beautiful black pigs. I am joined by Dr. Megan Robb, the Julie and Martin Franklin Assistant Professor of South Asian Religion at the University of Pennsylvania, who is creating a digital archive of Sharaf-un-Nisa's letters. This fantastic project is called Unstable Archives, and you can visit it here: https://unstable-archives.com/
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Episode 29 - The Sinning Part
Feb 22, 202200:18:12Tap to summarizeJohn Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough to Sarah Churchill, the Duchess of Marlborough, 13 Aug. 1704 In which Daniel Parke meets his Tragical End. References: I used the ODNB for research but because of capitalism that's behind a paywall. So here's Abel Boyer's Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abel_Boyer The Political state of Great Britain. London, Eng. : Printed for J. Baker and T. Warner, January 1710-11, 335-39. “Virginia Gleanings In England,” The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Oct. 1912, 372-381 Micajah Perry to William Byrd, 12 May 1711. The Correspondence of The Three William Byrds of Westover, Virginia 1684-1776. Ed. Marion Tinling (Charlottesville: The University of Virginia Press) 280. kXTc3Olw3HaLdAjpUKdE
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