Podcasts by Your Most Obedient
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Episode 33: Any Dandridge That Ever Wore An Head from 2022-04-19T16:00:14
The 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 Cust...
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Episode 32 - Think My Dear Mistress from 2022-04-05T16:00:38
Sarah 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 t...
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Episode 31 - Vile Names and Ill Language from 2022-03-22T16:00:03
In 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...
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Episode 30 - Elizabeth Sharaf-un-Nisa from 2022-03-08T17:00:17
Elizabeth 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 bl...
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Episode 29 - The Sinning Part from 2022-02-22T17:00:13
John Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough to Sarah Churchill, the Duchess of Marlborough, 13 Aug. 1704In which Daniel Parke meets his Tragical End. References:I used the ODNB for research but becaus...
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Episode 28 - The Quiet Tenor Of Our Lives from 2022-02-01T17:56
Selina Powell to Rebecca Powell, 7 Jan. 1850 In which a modern day accountant finds more in common with a Virginia family from the Civil War than she might have expected.Alison Herring joins me th...
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Episode 27 - Two Amorous Turtles from 2022-01-18T17:00:08
William Byrd II to Lucy Parke aka “Fidelia”, ca. 1705-6. In which there are a lot of old timey fart jokes.This is the second part of the Martha Washington’s In-Laws series, featuring a letter from...
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Episode 26: Determined To Be Cheerful from 2022-01-04T17:00:02
Martha Washington to Mercy Otis Warren, 26 December 1789 In which Martha Washington hits a very low point in her life, but tries to hide that fact from Mercy Otis Warren, a poet. historian, and sa...
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Episode 25 — If A Lady CAN Be Patriotic... from 2021-07-08T16:00:22
Martin Van Buren to Judith Rives, 1 April 1835 In which Martin Van Buren chides his friend Judith Rives about being a Mrs. Nobody, patriotism, abolitionism, and New York tactics.I am joined this w...
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Episode 24 — The Charge Of So Crazy A Body from 2021-06-22T16:00:29
Jane Ludwell Parke to Daniel Parke, July 12, 1705 In which Jane Ludwell Parke has HAD ENOUGH.This is the first part of what will be a multi-part series on Martha Washington's in-laws and the havoc...
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Episode 23 - Where Decent Nature Spreads A Shade from 2021-06-10T16:00:23
Rosalie Stier Calvert to Marie Louise Stier, Riversdale, March 2 1804. In which"Madame Bonaparte"(Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte) scandalizes Washington by showing up to a party pretty much undress...
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Episode 22 - She Has Claims Upon Me from 2021-05-25T16:00:11
Martha Jefferson Randolph to Septimia A. Randolph, 29 Jan. 1829 In which Priscilla Hemmings, an enslaved nurse-maid to Thomas Jefferson's white grandchildren, refuses to do what the white family w...
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Episode 21 — Stuff A Child With Learning from 2021-04-27T16:00:11
Elizabeth Lichtenstein Johnston to William Martin Johnston, January 15, 1784 In which an exiled wife of a British loyalist teases her husband for maybe not knowing how old his son is, tries to fig...
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Episode 20 — I Can No More from 2021-04-13T16:00:16
Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton to Elizabeth Schuyler Church, 8 Nov. 1789 Shortly after her husband became the first Secretary of the Treasury, Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton had to once again part from ...
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Episode 19 -"Pray did you ever hear of the famouss Mademoiselle d’eon?" from 2021-03-30T16:00:10
Abigail"Nabby"Adams to John Quincy Adams, 27 Nov. 1785 In which Nabby Adams describes the Chevalier D'Eon as"a singular figure, as well as an extrordinary Character."Much has been written about th...
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Episode 18 - Think Me Not Vain - Part 2 from 2021-03-16T16:00:23
PART 2 of Elizabeth Parke Custis Law to David Baillie Warden, 20 April, 1808. In which Kathryn and guest host Lizzy Thomas discuss 18th century gender roles, their respective emo phases, and wheth...
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Episode 18 - Think Me Not Vain - part 1 from 2021-03-02T17:00:22
Elizabeth Parke Custis Law to David Baillie Warden, 20 April, 1808. In which Elizabeth Parke Custis Law tells David Baillie Warden PRECISELY why she is no one to be toyed with.This is part 1 of a ...
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Episode 17 - Oh Genie Who Directs The Hands Of Mortals! from 2021-02-16T17:00:12
Elizabeth Willing Powel to John Hare Powel, 6-17 April 1809 In which Elizabeth Powel and her nephew bicker through letters over just how unreadable his handwriting is. She argues that"to your moth...
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Episode 16 - Disciplinarians from 2021-02-02T16:00:18
Cornelia Jefferson Randolph to Virginia Jefferson Randolph Trist, 11 Aug. 1833 In which Thomas Jefferson's granddaughter Cornelia Jefferson Randolph describes the beating of an enslaved woman in t...
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Episode 15 - Too Much Wine from 2021-01-05T17:00:14
Jane Austen to Cassandra Austen, 20 November 1800. In which Jane Austen describes a ball in more particular detail than she admits her sister Cassandra"may care for."In this episode Kathryn is joi...
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Episode 14 - A Babbie Whose Wits Had Gone"A-Woolgathering"In A Windy Day from 2020-12-22T17:00:38
Jane Welsh Carlyle to Jeannie Welsh, 2 January 1844 In which Jane Welsh Carlyle orders tobacco for her husband, describes a"guddle"of a dinner party, mentions her"first foot,"and complains about a...
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Episode 13 - Honey from Athens... but Alas! No Butter from 2020-12-08T17:00:25
Henrietta Marchant Liston to Dick Ramage, 6 March 1813 In which Henrietta Marchant Liston, married to diplomat Robert Liston, writes to her nephew about her experience so far in Constantinople."We...
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Episode 12 - The Daemon Of Playfullness from 2020-11-24T17:02:02
Tobias Lear to Catherine Littlefield Greene (Miller), 20 April 1790. In which George Washington's secretary gets flirty on a boat trip, on the way to propose to his childhood sweetheart. Yes, it's...
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Episode 11 - Gingerbread Such As Edy Makes from 2020-11-10T17:00:18
Ellen Wayles Randolph Coolidge to Martha Jefferson Randolph, 20 November 1825. In which newlywed Ellen couldn't possibly complain about her circumstances... (Spoiler alert: she can.) Many thanks...
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Episode 10 - You May Set To Win The Prize from 2020-10-27T16:00:16
Hannah to Thomas Jefferson, 15 November 1818 In which Hannah, a woman enslaved by Thomas Jefferson at his vacation home of Poplar Forest, writes to him about his health and his property.In today's...
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Episode 9 - Begin The World Again A Newe from 2020-10-13T16:00:14
Flora MacDonald to John Mackenzie of Delvine, 12 August 1772 In which Scottish Jacobite Flora MacDonald, formerly imprisoned in the Tower of London for helping Charles Edward escape from Scotland,...
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Episode 8 - An Indifferent Game Of Chess from 2020-09-29T16:00:24
Ellen Wayles Randolph (Coolidge) to Martha Jefferson Randolph, Washington, 14 Dec. 1821In which Thomas Jefferson's granddaughter Ellen (the one with brittle teeth) absolutely eviscerates an unfortu...
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Episode 7 - Strange! Most Passing Strange! from 2020-09-15T16:00:38
Eleanor Parke Custis (Lewis) to Elizabeth Bordley (Gibson), Washington City, Feb. 7th, 1796. What does George Washington's granddaughter have to do with the invention of race in the early U.S. rep...
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Episode 6 - Teeth from 2020-09-01T16:00:37
Ellen Wayles Randolph (Coolidge) to Martha Jefferson Randolph, Richmond, April 25th 1819. In which a squad of Thomas Jefferson's granddaughters have a fashion emergency, gold teeth glitter attract...
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Episode 5 - An Age Of Discovery from 2020-08-18T18:00:24
Mary Smith Cranch to Abigail Adams, September 24, 1786 In which John Quincy Adams studies so much he makes himself dizzy, Mary Smith Cranch has some unkind things to say about Shay's Rebellion, an...
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Episode 4 - Talk Some Little About You from 2020-08-04T16:02:06
Hannah Valentine to Eliza Valentine, November 1, 1837. In this week's letter, enslaved housekeeper Hannah Valentine writes to her daughter with family news and advice. I dig into a bit of the his...
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Episode 3 - Skipping About from 2020-07-21T16:00:19
Cornelia Jefferson Randolph to Jane H. Nicholas Randolph, 18 January 1818. One of Thomas Jefferson's granddaughters writes to her sister-in-law about parties, shallow friendships, and an embarrass...
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Episode 2 - A Presidential Blunder from 2020-07-07T16:00:51
In this week's letter George Washington forgets that he left all of his wife's correspondence in a desk that he sold to his close friend, Elizabeth Willing Powel. She immediately drags him for it, ...
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Episode 1 - Worms from 2020-06-23T16:00:02
Martha Washington to Frances Bassett Washington, 15 June 1794. The original manuscript letter can be found at the Rosenbach Museum and Library. Martha Washington writes to her niece about worms, t...
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Hum. Servt Trailer from 2020-06-16T15:56:17
Your Most Obedient&Humble Servant is a biweekly history podcast that showcases the 18th and early 19th century women's letters that don't always make it into the history books. Check out our traile...
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