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
-------------- Original message ----------------------
From: Ed Truslow <[log in to unmask]>
> Has anyone come across any documentation about Sally Hemings' personal hygiene?
> If not, then all this speculation is not worth the trouble to discuss. Citing
> perceived notions of a group's hygiene or lack thereof hardly counts as evience
> as it applies to a specific individual in any time period or place.
>
> Edward Truslow
> Williamsburg, VA
>
> >From: Melinda Skinner <[log in to unmask]>
> >Date: 2008/05/16 Fri AM 07:15:12 CDT
> >To: [log in to unmask]
> >Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] NY Times essay and Gen John Hartwell Cocke
>
> >That is a non-argument. Unless Jefferson (and Franklin) were OCD, I doubt they
> would be bothered by cleanliness when looking to hook up. How many cultured,
> powdered and wigged men consorted with pretty unkempt/unclean women of the night
> everywhere in the "civilized" world?
> >
> >--
> >Melinda C. P. Skinner
> >Richmond, VA
> >
> >
> > -------------- Original message ----------------------
> >From: [log in to unmask]
> >> Exactly, and to suppose that an educated, cultured and abnormally hygienic
> >> man of Jefferson's stature hung out in the slave quarters to satisfy some
> >> middle-aged sexual urge is ridiculous on its face, at least to another
> educated,
> >> cultured, middle-aged hygienic man.
> >>
> >> J.D. Southmayd
> >> _www.southmayd.net_ (http://www.southmayd.net) is my web site.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> In a message dated 5/15/2008 3:39:03 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
> >> [log in to unmask] writes:
> >>
> >> Jeffrey --
> >>
> >> I am well aware of the appalling hygiene and diseases of slaves in
> >> the 18th century, but that is hardly the limit. As I have written
> >> elsewhere I think one of the things that brought Franklin and
> >> Jefferson together was their personal cleanliness, which was notable
> >> in an age when even the wealthy stank. Going to a gathering even of
> >> the mighty must have been like sticking one's head in the laundry of
> >> a basketball team after the game. Franklin who, to me, is the most
> >> interesting of all the Founders was, at one point reputed to be the
> >> only man in Philadelphia who bathed daily, and certainly one of the
> >> very few who actually had a purpose built bathtub. Slaves, being at
> >> the bottom of the social hierarchy naturally got the least, and
> >> suffered the most. But disease and death were commonplace whatever
> >> one's rank. Just look at the number of 18th century planters who had
> >> multiple wives, because so many women died in childbirth. The common
> >> state of hygiene in the colonies was far worse, and the medical
> >> options less, than would have been found in a comparable setting in
> >> the Roman empire.
> >>
> >> -- Stephan
> >>
> >>
> >> On 15 May 2008, at 13:41, [log in to unmask] wrote:
> >>
> >> > Stephan;
> >> >
> >> > I am not sure that you found offensive about my post. Perhaps you
> >> > should
> >> > read the following on slave hygiene to get a better feel for my
> >> > point vis-a-vis
> >> > Mr. Jefferson and Ms. Hemmings:
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > The Health of Slaves on Southern Plantations (Louisiana State
> >> > University
> >> > studies) by William Dosite Postell; and
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > (http://www.amazon.com/This-Species-Property-Culture-Galaxy/dp/
> >> > 0195022459/ref=sr_1_31?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210873126&sr=8-31) This
> >> > Species of Property:
> >> > Slave Life and Culture in the Old South (Galaxy Books) by Leslie
> >> > Howard Owens;
> >> > and
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > Medicine and Slavery: The Diseases and Health Care of Blacks in
> >> > Antebellum
> >> > Virginia (Blacks in the New World) by Todd L. Savitt.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > J.D. Southmayd
> >> > a/k/a J South
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > **************Wondering what's for Dinner Tonight? Get new twists
> >> > on family
> >> > favorites at AOL Food.
> >> > (http://food.aol.com/dinner-tonight?NCID=aolfod00030000000001)
> >> >
> >> > ______________________________________
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> >>
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> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> **************Wondering what's for Dinner Tonight? Get new twists on family
> >> favorites at AOL Food.
> >> (http://food.aol.com/dinner-tonight?NCID=aolfod00030000000001)
> >>
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