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A 1781 letter written by Stratford-reared Alice Lee Shippen is mistakenly delivered to Braintree rather than to Boston. Politically literate, if shaped by family partiality, Alice's letter offers its unintended recipient clarity about intrigues involving an absent husband on diplomatic assignment. At the heart of these intrigues is a much beloved figure in the American mythos, Dr. Benjamin Franklin. But Dr. Franklin wasn't beloved by all, not quite the hero then that he has become, especially not to those who worked with him during the Revolution and expressed frustration with his idiosyncratic ways of conducting American business. The letter constitutes the origin of a correspondence between two elite women of politically significant families and raises a window on the intramural frictions, friendships, and resentments that were a naturally occurring feature of the American founding.

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Of the two epically scaled paintings of George Washington’s Delaware crossing, by far the most recognizable is Washington Crossing the Delaware by German-born, Philadelphia-raised Emanuel Leutze. This theatrical 1851 painting (measuring roughly 21 x 12 ft.) hangs today at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Its charismatic Washington commands the prow of the boat as around him the diverse peoples drawn into his orbit and the cause he represents struggle together in that cause. The lesser known 1819 painting (measuring 17 x 12 ft.) by Thomas Sully depicts an illuminated Washington astride a white mount with the night sky brooding above him and snow and mud churning below. A lone twisted and blighted tree encapsulates the desolation of the revolutionary movement in December 1776. In both paintings, the centerpiece is Washington himself, already the object of a triumphal American mythology, but on that Christmas night in the year of independence, the contest was far from won, and the outlook was desperate.

Join us this month as we reflect on that bleak midwinter 248 years ago when the tide turned.

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Time once again for a seasonal special edition of Stratford Mail. Visitors to Stratford are often struck by the wards against witches and evil spirits incised into its exterior brick and interior floors. These marks are reminders of our ancestors’ belief that this visible world overlapped an invisible world that was a source of both palpable wonders and terrors. Witches and conjured spirits were believed to gain access to homes through hearths, windows, and other openings, and hide in the shadowy nooks, crannies, and corners of homes. Once inside they would vex the inhabitants and ruin their property. Wards like the hexafoil or ‘daisy-wheel’ incised on the nursery floor of Stratford were proactive countermeasures to supernatural mischief. Alternatively, folks might invoke the protection of Jesus’ virgin mother, inscribing AM (Ave Maria), VV (Virgin of Virgins), or simply M (Mary) in vulnerable locations–all of these are visible on the red exterior brick of Stratford. Think of it as our spiritual security system! Colonial-era Virginians believed in witches and conjurations, but extant records indicate that Virginians were reluctant to prosecute and convict for witchcraft. Join us this month as we consider witches and witchcraft in the Virginia colony–Listen to Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble now!

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Back to school with Stratford Mail! This month we think about educational opportunity in the Virginia colony. The rural Northern Neck was slow to develop the kind of city and district schools found in the more densely populated New England colonies. This posed no problem for elites, who could afford to engage private tutors for their children and complete their education abroad at one of the English grammar schools or domestically at one of the newly established colleges. Differences of access and curriculum were stark depending on race, class, and gender. Death and inheritance interrupted the education of several Stratford Lees and dashed the romantic fortunes of a future revolutionary and statesman! Listen now to School Days! And if you haven't yet listened to Every Heart Throbs, be sure not to miss the tale of Lafayette's return(s) and his encounter with Arthur Lee!  

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Before Beatlemania, there was Marquismania! 200 years ago this August, the Marquis de Lafayette returned to these shores after an absence of 40 years. In his 13-month 'farewell tour' of the 24 United States, the nation he helped to found, the Marquis was cheered and celebrated by grateful crowds in the hundreds and thousands. As the 50th anniversary of Independence loomed, nostalgia burned hot for heroes of the Revolution like the Marquis, whose generation was vanishing too quickly into memory by 1824. James Madison hadn't seen the Marquis since 1784, when he shared his first impression of the Marquis with Thomas Jefferson. And Madison was there when the Marquis ruffled the feathers of Stratford-born Arthur Lee, an event Lee recalled in the months before his death in 1792. Join us this month as we explore memories of the fabled and fabulous Marquis de Lafayette!   

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Sociologist Émile Durkheim taught us that the study of human mourning raises a window on human values and lifeways. Returning after a brief hiatus, Stratford Mail ponders elite deathways in the Northern Neck, with close attention to the opinions of Robert Carter III, as recorded by Philip Vickers Fithian, the tutor at Carter's Nomini Hall. And we clear up confusion about the final resting place of Stratford's own Thomas and Hannah Lee, who chose not to be buried on the grounds of the home they established together.   

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Hannah Lee Corbin was undeniably a force to be reckoned with. She attracts interest from scholars and history-lovers alike, whether for her unusual private life, her defection from the established Anglican faith of her family, or her general independence of spirit. Hannah is sometimes celebrated as an 18th century proponent of women’s right to vote, which is a claim requiring more nuance than it is usually given. Hannah posed in private correspondence poignant questions about political representation and the political participation of women. She sought to persuade her famous brother that "no taxation without representation" had more local application than perhaps he and his fellow revolutionaries had considered. Join us this Women’s History Month as we remember Hannah Lee Corbin of Stratford, Peckatone, and Woodberry.      

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In commemoration of Black History month, Stratford Mail considers a trio of portraits of Black women and men, two of whom were enslaved at Stratford Hall under Colonel Philip Ludwell Lee. The stories of Sawney, Henrietta Steptoe, and Louisa Thomas, however partial and fragmentary, offer valuable lessons of resistance and resilience in the face of the longest odds. As we approach the 250th anniversary of the United States, their stories help us to enrich and enliven our national narratives about liberty and other founding values, and to see those values as tasks never quite done and forever in need of defense. 

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1778, British-occupied Philadelphia. The American alliance with France and defeat at Saratoga have depressed the British outlook on the war. General William Howe pays the cost, resigning his command of British land forces. Only days from the order to withdraw from Philadelphia,  Howe's officers organize a fabled farewell blowout called the Meschianza, which is as much about releasing anxiety and reimagining how the war ought to have gone as about bidding Howe adieu. When patriots retake Philadelphia in July, official Independence celebrations are subdued, but the common folk organize a memorable parade that Richard Henry Lee writes home about. Listen now to learn how a parading prostitute with big hair raises a window on simmering political and cultural tensions in Philadelphia.   

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Join Dr. Steffey for a special edition of Stratford Mail. In this final episode of Season 1, Hallowtide is upon us, and as the veil between the worlds grows thin, our minds turn to the 'hereafter,' and perhaps to the departed who haunt our here and now. What's the connection between historic sites like Stratford and ghosts? Which member of the Lee family compiled two books of ghost lore? What does ghost lore have to do with women's suffrage? Listen now to find out, and to hear of a haunting from old Virginia.  

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