#shrewsberry

[mussymuncher]

Ride the Wind (To a Place Beyond Time)

A very late birthday fic for the 28th. Happy birthday John Laurens, at least in this fic you'll have a good ending :')

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 New York City, December 1783

“These bloody winters…”

The old man next to him grumbles and buries his face into the collar of his coat. His hands are digging in his pockets like he’ll find warmth if he goes deep enough. Laurens can sympathize.  He's only been here two hours, and he too is sick of New York and its bloody winters. Shrewsberry is too, if the shivering is anything to go by. 

He sniffs and adjusts the small trunk in his hands. Shrewsberry reaches out, but John shakes his head imperceptibly, “I have it.”

The man squints like he doesn’t believe him, but he nods and leans against the stone wall once more. He sighs, breath coming white before dissipating, “Carriage might’ve had problems. The road is too icy.”

John hums, eyes trained towards the crowd like they’ve been for the past hour. He had the same thought cross his mind once or twice, but he’s trying not to let the worry set in. Of carriages, of cold or of what’s taking him so long. 

He impatiently taps his foot. Ridiculously, John tries not to feel offended that Alexander can’t innately sense his presence and come running. Haven’t I waited long enough? 

Shrewsberry makes a surprised sound, “Ah maybe not…”

John whips his head in the direction of his gaze. His eyes scan the crowd and he mutters, “Where, where, where?”

Shrewsberry points. 

And oh…

There he is.

Just a small red dot on the horizon. Standing there, looking like he's seen a ghost. All the same and so so different. Laurens’ breath is coming out in quick puffs in front of him. It’s all he can do to resist yelling his name. Hamilton doesn’t resist. Faces turn as he yells and laughs like a mad man in the distance. That small red dot is growing by the second.

For the smallest moment, he thinks it’s gravity pulling them together. It’s only the sound of his luggage hitting the ground, the thumping of his heel on icy stone and Shrewsberry’s one attempt at calling him back that makes him realize he’s running. His long limbs are struggling to keep balanced on the slippery ground beneath him. Running. It’s undignified, it’s dangerous and it’s making him laugh. He might slip.

He doesn’t care. 

John expects the hug. He practically slams into Hamilton, ribs blooming with pain from the impact. It’s pain he welcomes with desperate clutching arms. On his face, his hands, his shoulders, his back, everywhere all at once as he calls to memory every curve and sharp edge that he once knew better than breathing. John will memorize it again, as many times as he needs. But now he’s laughing. And so is Alexander. John cries and Alexander cries as well. Chuckling and sniffling in between repeated words that mimic prayer— John John John and Alex Alex Alex. It’s is dangerous here; this place is too public and they are too affectionate.

They don’t care.

Snow has begun to fall, resting gently on the crown of their heads. It’s Alexander that pulls away, red rimmed eyes staring up at him and gloved hands still clutching the collar of his coat. He smiles and John has never seen a more beautiful sight. He can’t help but smile back. What else could he do?

The words aren’t needed, but he says them anyway.

“You’re here.” Alexander says it like he’s witnessed the sky turn green. John laughs in disbelief. At the words, and the fact that they are, in fact, true.

“I’m home.” 

[my-deer-friend]

I beg leave to request that Colonel Laurens's servant may be informed should he apply to your Excellency that if he leaves Paris immediately, and travels with dispatch he will reach this place in time to embark with us for America

William Jackson to Benjamin Franklin, Amsterdam, 29 June 1781

This single line has been driving me mad for six months – who is this servant? I have 273 primary-source documents relating to Laurens' Versailles mission (and more in various printed editions) and this is the only mention anywhere of this man.

My guess is that this nearly invisible figure is Shrewsberry, Laurens' enslaved valet.

What can we determine, or surmise?

This servant must have come from America in Laurens' company, or else the offer to return would not make much sense. It's also someone Jackson, Laurens' secretary for the mission, is familiar with.

Laurens was served from the start of his military career by at least one enslaved valet – Shrewsberry (also called Berry). There are mentions at times of a second man whose name I don't think we know.

We know that Shrewsberry served continually alongside Laurens – he's mentioned at Valley Forge, again at the Siege of Charleston (where he was taken prisoner and paroled, probably for espionage activities), and Henry Laurens confirms this continuity of service to Hamilton.

We know for certain that Shrewsberry was back in South Carolina by 1785 from Henry's letter, but he was likely there sooner, being one of the deprived men that Kościuszko wrote to General Greene about after Laurens' death.

The word "servant" was applied to free and enslaved people alike. This definitely isn't a reference to a clerk or secretary, as they would have been mentioned by name or by their specific occupation.

Still, this just opens up more questions. Why was this servant – possibly Shrewsberry – left behind in Paris in the first place? Was he assigned tasks to do (difficult if he couldn't write or speak any French)? Did Laurens have another servant who travelled with him? Why was this servant trusted to find his way back to his enslaver on his own? Did he make it to Amsterdam and go on the Crazy Gillon Cruise?

Arghhh!

[john-laurens]

John Laurens’ War - the movie version of the play Radical Son I reviewed back in 2015 - is now available on Amazon Prime Video.  For background, you can read my review of the play here.  The movie version is fairly similar to the play, but I cannot say that is entirely enjoyable.  It’s only an hour long, so it’s a relatively quick watch - and it’s free if you have Amazon Prime.  My major issues with the movie are outlined below:

The dates are all over the place.  For example, John is shown still in England with Martha Manning in January 1777 when in reality he had left in December 1776.  The narration also stated that Frances was born a few months after this scene and that Martha died 1.5 years later.  In actuality, Frances was born in January 1777, and Martha died in fall 1781 (4.5 years later).  These are not major details that affect the progression of the story, but it is basic information that they should get right.

Thomas Day was weirdly lax on his anti-slavery stance while debating Laurens in the movie.  In contrast, Laurens is shown as an abolitionist gift from God who can do no wrong.

It is heavily implied that Laurens had Shrewsberry or another slave during his studies in Europe and educated them.  I don’t recall any specific slave that was documented as serving Laurens in Europe, but it’s certainly possible.  However, I would bet good money that they didn’t receive an education.  In the play, the major slave character was named Phillip Rivers.  To me, this was a major fault.  Why make up a slave when we have record of hundreds of actual lives that were affected by slavery under the Laurens family?  In the movie, the name was changed to Phillip Shrewsberry, so that was a minor improvement.

They used a quote about Laurens wanting to be a doctor to show that he was anti-slavery.  They abbreviated/edited the following quote: “When I hear of another who has done eminent service to mankind, by discovering remedies for the numerous train of disorders to which our frail bodies are continually subject, and has given relief to numbers whose lives, without his assistance, would have been insupportable burdens, I cannot refrain from wishing to be an equal dispenser of good.”  There were like a dozen other quotes they could have used, and they chose this one?

Alexander Hamilton and Lafayette were not in the play but appeared in the movie for about 15 seconds for the HamiltonTM factor.

They showed Laurens dueling Lee in Brunswick right after the Battle of Monmouth when they actually dueled in the woods outside of Philadelphia around 6 months later.

Both the movie and play spent a weirdly significant chunk of time on Henry Laurens’s capture/imprisonment in the Tower of London.  I’m guessing this happened because Clarence Felder (the Henry Laurens actor) was a screenplay writer/executive producer and is married to the director/screenplay writer/producer Chris Weatherhead, and they wanted to give him more screen time.  The movie also unfortunately still includes the uncomfortable flirtation between old man Henry and young Elizabeth Futterell too.  She kissed him, and it made me very uncomfortable (only on the cheek, but still).  I still have no idea who this lady is.  I admittedly have not spent much time researching Henry’s time in the Tower of London, but I can find very little information on this woman.  It seems like her name may have actually been Elizabeth Vernon - I’m not sure if they made up the name Futterell or if that is supposed to be a married name.  The movie even admits that she disappears from the historical record, so I’m not sure why they seem to have made up this entire story surrounding her - they even claim that she became a governess to the Laurens children (uh, only Mary Eleanor would have been a child/teenager at this time...) and that she was bequeathed a significant sum of money in Henry’s will.  I have no idea where this is coming from.

The movie unfortunately still contains the made-up conversation between Laurens and Thomas Jefferson, but at least they now introduce it with “One wonders, then, what might have transpired in such a conversation between John Laurens and Thomas Jefferson.”  But still - why was this necessary?

For some reason, Laurens was not at the Battle of Yorktown in the movie.  He learned of Cornwallis’s surrender through a letter.

Thaddeus Kosciuszko gets one random mention when Laurens calls a group of people over?

Hamilton’s final letter is unfortunately still edited so that Hamilton tells Laurens he can only join him in Congress after he clears all the British from the Carolina coast.  Why.  This is in direct contradiction to the final Hamilton-Laurens letter.  What a disgrace.

One of John’s dying lines is “Martha.  Where are you?  Holding my daughter?”  That’s certainly a...choice, I guess.

Overall, I’m glad that Laurens is starting to get some more recognition, but this movie frankly suffers from too many inaccuracies and a strange focus on Henry Laurens to be enjoyable. 

[lisamoony]

Commission for @ciceroprofacto

Thank you! c:

[archerinventive]

New Sword!!

I was so excited when  my roommates surprised me with a new Shrewsbury Sword for Christmas this year!!

As some of you may know my first sword ever was a Shrewsberry, and she's been a faithful companion ever since. I wasn't her first handler but that's never mattered, she always taken a licking and kept on ticking, and been there when I needed it most.  

That being said I'm excited to let her rest a bit more in her retirement and test out this new shiny hunk of metal. ❤

[quillsink]

hang on how racist was john laurens? i know he treated some of the black soldiers worse than the others but did he do anything else?

^^^This post explains it in depth, and I highly suggest giving it a read! I’ll explain it a bit more simply but I suggest you read it

I also wanna say I am in no way and expert on Laurens—I only started studying him in January of 2021, and again, I’m just a teenager having fun with history, I don’t really take this that seriously lmao.

Anyways now to answer the actual question lmao-

Laurens was surprisingly progressive for his time! He grew up in Henry Laurens’s (his father’s) plantation—Henry owned hundreds of slaves, and participated in the slave trade, so Laurens benefited directly from slavery all his life.

We see his first anti-slavery views develop in Europe, in his letters to Kinloch, where he says “how can we whose Jealousy has been alarm’d more at the Name of Oppression sometimes than at the Reality, reconcile to our spirited Assertions of the Rights of Mankind, the galling abject Slavery of our Negroes_  I could talk much with you my Dear Friend upon this Subject, and I know your generous Soul would despise and sacrifice Interest to establish the Happiness of so large a Part of the inhabitants of our Soil”

He wished for a black regiment, and thought it unfair that people had slaves for personal gains while America was losing a war. He continued petitioning the government for a black regiment until his death.

Laurens wished for the eventual abolition of slavery—note that him wishing for the abolition of slavery does not mean he was not racist.

So, so far we’ve seen him as pretty progressive and in a positive light. However!

Slaves still worked for Laurens! He didn’t own them, per se, but his father loaned them to him and they still technically worked for him. I don’t know much about them, but one was called Shrewsberry, and we have primary sources showing John treated him pretty fucking badly.

So there’s The Hat Incident you’ve probably heard of.

“Shrewsberry says his Hat was violently taken from him by some Soldiers as he was carrying his horses to Water_ if James will be so good as to send him his old laced Hat by the bearer I hope he will take better Care of it_”

Shrewsberry had his hat violently taken from him, and yet Laurens says he “hopes he will take better care of it?” Youre blaming the dude who was LITERALLY FUCKING ROBBED WHAT THE FUCK DUDE

So we all know Laurens is famous for asking for clothes CONSTANTLY. However, when it came to his slaves the dude given give a damn, as shown in this letter from John to Henry,

”if there be any any difficulty in getting [Shrewsberry] Winter Cloths, I believe he can do without_”

Believe he can do without? BELIEVE HE CAN DO FUCKING WITHOUT LAURENS I WILL RESSURECT YOU AND KILL YOU ALL OVER AGAIN WHAT THE FUCK OH MY GOD

And after Laurens’s death, his slaves were reported to be naked and in sore need of clothing by Thaddeus Kosciuszko.

While Laurens wished for the eventual abolition of slavery, he still did not believe blacks deserved equal rights. He says, and I quote, that blacks deserve “a proper Gradation between abject Slavery and perfect Liberty”

He also to blacks as a “species” with “weak minds”

So yeah. While he was more progressive than many of his time, he was still pretty shitty, and not the best.

[littlewritingrabbit]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

In Which we meet the villains, we meet the siblings, and we meet a pair of plot-relevant socks. Enjoy!

[foundingfatherjohnlaurens]

15th of December, 1777

A footnote to a letter John wrote to Henry on this date makes me cringe....

“Berry received a hunting shirt and a check shirt. If there be any difficulty in getting him winter clothes I believe he can do without.

The last plundering and foraging party of the enemy under Ld Cornwallis on this side Schuylkill have gone beyond themselves in barbarous treatment of the inhabitants.”