You may recall that Henry VIII never consummated his marriage to Anne of
Cleves (the daughter of the German Emperor) because, as he reportedly told
Cromwell, she "smelled of the stable."
Intentional lack of personal hygiene was a common form of contraception in
England during medieval and later times. See, The Family, Sex and Marriage In
England 1500-1800, by Lawrence Stone (Harper 1979). It seems to have been
an effective tool vis-a-vis those of British heritage.
If slaves were worked to death, 16 hours a day, with barely time to rest at
night, and their quarters were as unsanitary and filthy as contemporary
reports claim, there is no doubt that your average black indentured servant was no
joy to be around. Nevertheless, Ms. Hemmings seemed to pop out babies from
among her "homies" in the slave population left and right, not apparently
knowing exactly who the fathers were in most cases.
A fit paramour for the middle-aged TJ.....I doubt it and there is no factual
evidence to definitively prove otherwise. Yet, apparently the Virginia
public school system sees fit to allow its youth to be taught about TJ's
parentage, probably in greater detail than what he really meant to the Commonwealth
and the US.
I am no huge fan of Jefferson. His figurative "wall of separation" letter,
penned 13 years after Congress wrote the Establishment Clause (something
Jefferson had absolutely nothing to do with drafting) was the basis for the
Supreme Court leading us down the road of banning school prayer and a myriad of
other Constitutionally bankrupt interpretations of the First Amendment. So, as
far as I am concerned, there might not have been a "wall of separation"
between Ms. Hemmings and he. However, without definitive factual proof, that
allegation should not be made as if "everyone who has any brains" knows it to
be true.
Frankly, even I am tiring of this line of debate.
JD Southmayd a/k/a J South
In a message dated 5/16/2008 10:45:01 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
Even at the highest ranks of European
society, personal cleanliness as we define it
was somewhat lacking. For instance, the royal
palace at Versailles had no ...ah...
restrooms as such. There must have been
chamberpots in the bedrooms, but the hordes
of nobles, servants, etc. at the palace
couldn't and didn't spend all their time in
and near their sleeping places.
I'm a member of that age cohort who hit the
teen years in the early '70s. I remember how
odd our parents thought we were for washing
our hair _every_ day! "Older ladies," for
instance, usually had their hair washed and
set once a week at the local "beauty parlor."
Elizabeth Whitaker
Melinda Skinner wrote:
>>From my readings and research about colonial Virginia and 16th and
17th-century England,
> most people were pretty filthy and smelly. I would think that any
household slaves/servants
> would be about as clean as their employers/masters.
>
> --
> Melinda C. P. Skinner
> Richmond, VA
______________________________________
To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at
http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
**************Wondering what's for Dinner Tonight? Get new twists on family
favorites at AOL Food.
(http://food.aol.com/dinner-tonight?NCID=aolfod00030000000001)
______________________________________
To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at
http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
|
