Episode number 116 Money, Part 2
The first part of this episode takes a deeper look into the portion of John Galt Sr.s estate that was left to John Allan. The purchase of Moldavia is introduced, as well as some of the disagreements that the young Poe had with John Allan.
The second part of this episode deals with the Molly of Moldavia - her life as a hostess to Federalists, opening a boarding house, and writing what is often referred to as “the first American cookbook.” Comparisons are drawn between Mary (Molly) Randolph and Martha Stewart!
Episode number 116 Money, Part 2
The first part of this episode takes a deeper look into the portion of John Galt Sr.s estate that was left to John Allan. The purchase of Moldavia is introduced, as well as some of the disagreements that the young Poe had with John Allan.
The second part of this episode deals with the Molly of Moldavia - her life as a hostess to Federalists, opening a boarding house, and writing what is often referred to as “the first American cookbook.” Comparisons are drawn between Mary (Molly) Randolph and Martha Stewart!
Edgar Poe - Italic font
George - plain font
00:01 Introduction
Welcome to Celebrate Poe. My name is George Bartley, and this is episode number 117 - Money, Part 2 The opening and outro music for this podcast is from Come Rest in This Bosom - said to be Edgar Poe’s favorite song.
Before I go any further - I want to give a shoutout to Johnathan - and extend my thanks to anyone who is listening to this episode.
Now one of the basics of scheduling a podcast is regularity - coming out every week at basically the same time. You may remember that I first set out to have a new episode of Celebrate Poe each Monday night at 12:00 midnight - very Poe like. But that wasn’t always possible - you can imagine that a podcast about Edgar Poe is very research intensive and can take a lot of work. So I have decided to change the regular release time to each Wednesday at 12:00 Midnight - I have some new responsibilities and projects underway that are requiring more time than I anticipated, and it is really a relief to aim to have the research done by Monday morning, and then release each episode at 12:00 Wednesday. I will try for 12:00 midnight each Wednesday - but sometimes might not make it until that morning.
Remember - that is 12:00 midnight - a very Poe-like time on Wednesday - just think Wednesday’s child is full of woe. And seriously, starting with the subject in today’s episode, Poe’s life seems to express even more and more woe.
MUSICAL BREAK
The name of the previous episode was Money, Part One. This episode, logically enough, is called Money, Part Two. But the episode could also be called America’s First Cookbook or The Colonial Martha Stewart. Stay with me for the entire episode to see why.
03:00 William Galt Sr.
In the previous episode, Celebrate Poe briefly delved into the final days of William Galt Sr. It is believed that William Galt fled from his native Scotland after being implicated in smuggling. He then settled in Richmond, Virginia, entered the mercantile business, and became very wealthy. Remember that even though he was a bachelor, he basically adopted William Galt Jr. and James Galt. William Galt Jr. and James Galt were two brothers who were not related to him - a bit confusing there. The two brothers recieved a portion of his estate, but the chief beneficiary of his fortune was John Allan.
Now The Poe Log - A Documentary Life of Edgar Allan Poem 1809-1849 by Dwight Thomas and David K. Jackson gives an interesting account of Mr. Galt’s financial activities near the end of his life. They write that Wiilam Galt Sr, who by this time was definitely one of the wealthiest men in Virginia, signed his will on March 25, 1825. The following day, he was having tea and pancakes, when as John Allan later wrote, "suddenly [William Galt] threw back his head & eyes and seemed oppressed." In other words, William Galt Sr. was dead.
It seems that during his life, William Galt Sr. was preoccupied with financial matters and had really his affairs in order. You see, his will was just probated 3 days after he died - today in Virginia - like most states - you are fortunate to have a will probated in less than a year and a half. Think of all those legal expenses!
By the way, if you are like most people today - like me - you are more than a bit hazy about the process of probate - what does it mean? Well, probating a person’s estate - I prefer the legal term - stuff - is the court-supervised process of authenticating a last will and testament if the deceased made one. It can include locating and determining the value of a person's assets and paying their final bills and taxes.
The point is that William Galt - and to large extent - John Allan were people who were VERY concerned about their finances - you might say that money meant everything to them. It is said that William Galt, Sr. left John Allan $750,000 dollars. In today’s money, that would be equal to almost 23 million dollars
GHOST ENTER
Hello, Mr. Bartley
Hello, Mr. Poe. Glad you are here. i was just talking about how John Allan inherited 750,000 - equal to almost 23 million dollars in today’s money.
Ah yes, you must remember that William Galt, Sr., along with his brother, Hugh, had moved from Scotland to Richmond, Virginia during 1775. They prospered in mercantile and banking pursuits in Richmond. Mr. Galt had acquired numerous plantations in Amherst, Campbell, Fluvanna, Goochland, and Monroe counties, in addition to much commercial real estate in Richmond and Lynchburg by the time of his death in 1825. I believe that his will is recorded in Deed Book 117B, pages 99-103, in the Chancery Court, City of Richmond.
Mr. Poe, I am impressed at your attention to details.
Mr. Galt, it must be understood, educated and brought several relatives from his native Scotland to Richmond - John Allan, a nephew, and Charles Ellis, a cousin to Allan. Allan and Ellis both came to work at the Galt firm in Richmond, located on Franklin street.
Mr. Bartley, the details of his will and business ventures support the reputation of John Galt as a highly successful businessman. John Allan greatly benefited from Mr. Galt’s business talents - although I cannot say that I was to benefit from said financial assets. I do hope that this podcast will later discuss how Mr. Allan basically disinherited me.
Yes, Mr. Poe, that is definitely one aspect of your life that I will talk about in future episodes.
One major change in the Allan family’s situation was a change in residence.
At an auction, Mr. Allan was able to buy a beautiful home in Richmond called Moldavia. The home was built in 1800 by Molly and David Meade Randolph. The house, garden, trees and eight outbuildings occupied nearly the entire block bounded by Main, Fifth, Cary and Sixth streets.
Sounds like more of an estate than a house.
Yes, it was purchased from the distinguished Mary and David Randolph, and the name of the home - or estate - if you will - was a combination of their last names - or Moldavia.
But it seems like it should have been a combination of MARY and David.
Oh, Mr. Bartley - has it ever entered your head that Molly is a nickname for Mary.
Yes, excuse me. Mr. Poe - and I guess MAdavia doesn’t have the same ring as Moldavia. And it definitely would have sounded clumsy if they named it MaryDavia.
By the way, don’t confuse Moldavia with the area near the Ukraine sometimes referred to as Moldavia and sometimes MolDOVia.
Nevertheless ….
Mr. Poe, it seems that the Allans were what you today might call NEW money. Mr. Allan had recently come into a significant fortune. Compare this to the signficant assets of the properous Randolph family with their comparitively long history, significant wealthy, and extensive property throughout the state of Virginia.
10:41 Letter from Poe to John Allan
Yes, Mr. Bartley - one aspect of Mr. Allan’s behavior towards me which I feel will become more and more obvious - is that he may have obtained a great deal of assets, but seemed to have no plans of sharing them with me - witness the fact that he never formally adopted me as a son. And I was left in a position where I was forced to eke out a miniscule living for the vast remainder of my earthly life. Why, even though I did recieve a certain amount of literary recognition for my poem “The Raven,” the lack of finances was always a significant barrier to even the most basic of existences.
Is it fair to say you felt you never really knew where you stood?
Yes, more than that. I came to feel that John Allan had no affection for me as one might expect from a father. On March 19, 1827, I wrote Mr. Allan
11:54 Letter from Poe to John Allan
After my treatment on yesterday and what passed between us this morning, I can hardly think you will be surprised at the contents of this letter. My determination is at length taken — to leave your house and indeavor to find some place in this wide world, where I will be treated — not as you have treated me —This is not a hurried determination, but one on which I have long considered — and having so considered my resolution is unalterable — You may perhaps think that I have flown off in a passion, & that I am already wishing to return; But not so —
And later in the later -I will give you the reasons which have actuated me, and then judge —Since I have been able to think on any subject, my thoughts have aspired, and they have been taught by you to aspire, to eminence in public life — this cannot be attained without a good Education, such a one I cannot obtain at a Primary school
A collegiate Education therefore was what I most ardently desired, and I had been led to expect that it would at some future time be granted — but in a moment of caprice — you have blasted my hope because forsooth I disagreed with you
Again, I have heard you say (when you little thought I was listening and therefore must have said it in earnest) that you had no affection for me —
You have moreover ordered me to quit your house, and are continually upbraiding me with eating the bread of Idleness, when you yourself were the only person to remedy the evil by placing me to some business —
You take delight in exposing me before those whom you think likely to advance my interest in this world —
Mr. Poe - I can’t help but believe that the initial feeling of being abandoned by Mr. Allan must have damaged any sense of security. And later when you fully comprehended the reality of that personal and financial abandonment - well, there is little wonder that Mr. Allan’s actions left their psychological damage.
Yes, Mr. Bartley, if you don’t mind, such thoughts can be difficult to bear - please permit me to take my leave. Farewell, Mr. Bartley.
Certainly, farewell Mr. Poe - starting in the next episode - Celebrate Poe will begin a look at your days at the University of Virginia - then in its second year of operation.
15:30 Randolph family
For the remainder of this episode, I would like to take a closer look at a family that was a great example of OLD money in Virginia’s history - and even has somewhat of a connection with the Alllan family - after the Allan family became wealthy. And the family is the Randolph family - considered one of the founding families of Virginia.
Besides being wealthy, the Randolph family as a whole was one of the most prestigious, politically influential, and distinguished families in Virginia.
I could do a podcast series just about the many members of the Randolph family - from John Marshall to Thomas Jefferson - but I thought it might be more useful to concentrate on just one of the family members - in this case, Mary Randolph.
16:10 Mary Randolph
Mary Randolph was born at Ampthill, the plantation of her maternal grandparents in Chesterfield County. Remember that Mary Randolph was a member of the Virginia elite, and her roots extended back to the colony’s formative years. As the eldest of thirteen children of Thomas Mann and Ann Cary Randolph of Tuckahoe in Goochland County, she grew up surrounded by wealth.
Along with her formal education, Mary Randolph was trained in proper household management practices. Such household management was a quality expected of upper-class women of the time. Women were expected to supervise large manor houses with supporting buildings and lots of servants. You might think at first that women were relegated to secondary positions within the family hierarchy, but in actuality they were the mainspring that kept the household running. Women of this period had numerous responsibilities for the household supported by a formable knowledge of food preservation and preparation and elegant entertaining. This knowledge was important throughout Mary Randolph's adult life.
Mary became the wife of David Meade Randolph (a first cousin once removed) in December 1780. David Randolph was known as an outstanding farmer and noted inventor. He served as a captain in the Revolutionary War and was later appointed as a federal court official for Virginia by President Washington. It is believed that Mr. Randolph's cousin, Thomas Jefferson, endorsed the appointment. The couple produced eight children and four survived to adulthood: Richard, William Beverly, David Meade and Burwell Starke.
Much of the land that made up the 750 acre Randolph plantation was swampy and therefore a health hazard. The family left their original plantation to live in Richmond. They built a brick home at Fifth and Main Streets in Richmond.
Remember that this home was named Moldavia. It became the center of federalist society, and was a model for fashionable social life. With Mary's knowledge of food and entertaining, invitations to dine in the Randolph home were coveted. Mary's skills as a hostess and cook were well known in the Richmond area. In fact, her reputation was so widespread that during the slave insurrection near Richmond in 1800, the leader "General" Gabriel announced that he would spare her life so that she could become his cook.
As the United States marshal of Virginia - an important position - under two administrations (that of George Washington and John Adams), David gained attention as an outspoken Federalist, and Moldavia became a center for Federalist society. The Randolphs entertained lavishly. With Mary's knowledge of fine food and entertaining, invitations to dine at the Randolphs' table were coveted.
In 1802, President Thomas Jefferson removed Randolph from office an outspoken Federalist, from office as a United States Marshall. Although the two men were cousins, they were on opposite sides politically and kinship proved less important than party ties. Losing the court position in combination with other business reversals, contributed to the decline of Randolph's fortune. His removal from office coincided with a ruinous fall in tobacco prices and a resulting recession in 1800-1802. David and Mary found that they had to make severe cutbacks in their household, which had not been an economical one. The Randolphs offered various lots and tenements in Richmond for sale. This reversal of the Randolph’s fortunes forced then to sell Moldavia to John Allan at auction. The Allans had recently became heirs to the Galt fortune, and were able to buy Moldavia.
21:19 “Leaving her pedestal”
Mary Randolph took an unorthodox step for an upper-class woman so that her family could continue to enjoy their accustomed standard of living. In March 1808, she advertised in the Richmond Virginia Gazette that she was opening a boarding house for ladies and gentlemen. Martha Jefferson Randolph, Mary's sister-in-law, was not optimistic about the outcome of this new venture. Martha wrote her father "'Sister Randolph'--whose house servants had been saved, at least temporarily, through a prior mortgage--had "opened a boarding house in Richmond, but... has not a single boarder yet.'". Martha believed 'the ruin of the family is still extending itself daily.'" Despite these doubts, Mary achieved success in her enterprise. Dubbed "the Queen", she attracted, " as many subjects as her domain could accommodate.”
22:22 The Virginia Housewife
Mary’s interest in entertaining and cooking led to her writing The Virginia Housewife - generally agreed to be the first American cookbook. It is interesting to note that all the cookery at that time was done in kitchens that had changed little over the centuries. In Virginia, the kitchen was typically a separate building for reasons of safety, summer heat and the smells from the kitchen. The heart of the kitchen was a large fireplace where meat was roasted and cauldrons of water and broth simmered most of the day.
Now In the same year that Mary opened her boarding house, David became an agent for Henry Heth in the operation of the Black Heth Coal Mines near Midlothian. David traveled to England and Wales to study their mining operations and to improve those in the Black Heth Mines. Always interested in turning a profit, David received patents in 1815 for his improvements in shipbuilding and candle making. Mrs. Randolph is said to have invented an icebox, however someone else saw it and patented it in his own name.
By 1819, the couple, in advancing years, gave up their business enterprises and moved to Washington, D. C. to live with their son, William Beverley Randolph. At this residence, Mary decided to compile her culinary knowledge in a book she called The Virginia Housewife - generally agreed to be the first American cookbook. In her preface to The Virginia Housewife, Mrs. Randolph pointed out the lack of clear-cut instructions in the cookbooks of that time. "The difficulties I encountered when I first entered on the duties of a house-keeping life, from the want of books sufficiently clear and concise to impart knowledge to a beginner, compelled me to study the subject, and by actual experiment to reduce everything in the culinary line, to proper weights and measures." She also offered three rules for running a household: "Let everything be done at the proper time, keep everything in its proper place, and put everything to its proper use."
The Virginia Housewife says a great deal - not only about cooking - but the accepted role of women in the 19th century. The Virginia Housewife begins with this introduction:
“Management is an art that may be acquired by every woman of good sense and tolerable memory. If, unfortunately, she has been bred in a
family where domestic business is the work of chance, she will have
many difficulties to encounter; but a determined resolution to obtain
this valuable knowledge, will enable her to surmount all obstacles. She
must begin the day with an early breakfast, requiring each person to be
in readiness to take their seats when the muffins, buckwheat cakes, &c.
are placed on the table. This looks social and comfortable. When the
family breakfast by detachments, the table remains a tedious time; the
servants are kept from their morning's meal, and a complete derangement
takes place in the whole business of the day. No work can be done till
breakfast is finished. The Virginia ladies, who are proverbially good
managers, employ themselves, while their servants are eating, in
washing the cups, glasses, &c.; arranging the cruets, the mustard,
salt-sellers, pickle vases, and all the apparatus for the dinner table.
This occupies but a short time, and the lady has the satisfaction of
knowing that they are in much better order than they would be “if left
to the servants. It also relieves her from the trouble of seeing the
dinner table prepared, which should be done every day with the same
scrupulous regard to exact neatness and method, as if a grand company
was expected. When the servant is required to do this daily, he soon
gets into the habit of doing it well; and his mistress having made
arrangements for him in the morning, there is no fear of bustle and
confusion in running after things that may be called for during the
hour of dinner. When the kitchen breakfast is over, and the cook has
put all things in their “proper places, the mistress should go in to
give her orders. Let all the articles intended for the dinner, pass in
review before her: have the butter, sugar, flour, meal, lard, given out
in proper quantities; the catsup, spice, wine, whatever may be wanted
for each dish, measured to the cook. The mistress must tax her own
memory with all this: we have no right to expect slaves or hired
servants to be more attentive to our interest than we ourselves are:
they will never recollect these little articles until they are going to
use them; the mistress must then be called out, and thus have the
horrible drudgery of keeping house all day, when one hour devoted to it
in the morning, would release her from trouble until the next day.
There is economy as well as comfort in a regular mode of doing
business. When the mistress gives out every thing, there is no waste;
but if temptation be thrown in the way of subordinates, not many will
have power to resist it; besides, it is an immoral act to place them in
a situation which we pray to be exempt from ourselves.
The prosperity and happiness “of a family depend greatly on the order
and regularity established in it. The husband, who can ask a friend to
partake of his dinner in full confidence of finding his wife unruffled
by the petty vexations attendant on the neglect of household
duties—who can usher his guest into the dining-room assured of seeing
that methodical nicety which is the essence of true elegance,—will
feel pride and exultation in the possession of a companion, who gives
to his home charms that gratify every wish of his soul, and render the
haunts of dissipation hateful to him. The sons bred in such a family
will be moral men, of steady habits; and the daughters, if the mother
shall have performed the duties of a parent in the superintendence of
their education, as faithfully as she has done those of a wife, will
each be a treasure to her husband; and being formed on the model of an
exemplary mother, will use the same means for securing the happiness of
her own “means for securing the happiness of her own family, which she has seen successfully practised under the paternal roof.
Just browsing over some of the entries in Mary Randolph’s cookbook makes me hungry - recipies for soups, veal, lamb, pork, fish, poultry, sauces, vegetables, puddings, and cakes - the dishes concentrated on Southern cooking, and in many cases, used ingredients from other cuisines that were frequently considered exotic in the United States at the time.
It could be said that Mary Randolph was like a colonial Martha Stewart or Julia Child - hostess, cook, and sucessful business person.
In summary, Mary Randolph displayed a great deal of courage and determination. A member of one Virginia’s most prestigious families, she was willing to step off her pedestal and see that her family survived. Through her insightful cookbook, Mary Randolph entered the world of business and showed that she was a genuine pioneer and role model.
32:08 Future Episodes
Join us for our next few episodes as Celebrate Poe begins an examination of the time that Edgar Poe attended the University of Viginia - then during its second year of operation.
38:38 Sources
Sources for this episode include
From Scottish Orphan to Virginia Planter: William Galt Jr, 1801-1851, by G. Melvin Herndon from The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe by Edgar Allan Poe, Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography by Arthur Hobson Quinn, Edgar Allan Poe: The Man by Mary E. Phillips, Life of Edgar A. Poe by Eugene L. Didier, The Poe Log: A Documentary Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Dwight Thomas and David K. Jackson, Poe and Place by Phillip Edward Phillips, and New Glimpses of Poe by James A. Harrison
Thank you for listening to Celebrate Poe.