I was ecstatic when I found out about The Vice President's Black Wife: The Untold Life of Julia Chinn by Amrita Chakrabarti Myers. Julia Chinn first caught my attention while I read about Martin Van Buren:

I really put Richard Mentor Johnson up on a pedestal when I read Martin Van Buren by Ted Widmer. But then I forgot about him. And Julia Chinn.

Richard Mentor Johnson popped up again when I got to James Buchanan. Old Dick Johnson!? Oh, how that made me giggle because I am unapologetically immature. But then I learned he was a war hero*. And had a Black wife, earning the ugly title “Great Amalgamator” and I felt terrible for laughing. (It didn’t stop me from adding him to my list of funny names.)

Inspired by Bosom Friends: The Intimate World of James Buchanan and William Rufus King by Thomas J. Balcerski

*I’ve since read Gallop Toward the Sun: Tecumseh and William Henry Harrison's Struggle for the Destiny of a Nation by Peter Stark and am less convinced that Richard Mentor Johnson was a hero.

Unsurprisingly, The Vice President’s Black Wife sent me exploring a few tangents. Maybe more than normal. Here’s a selection:

1

Transylvania University is a real thing and it still exists.

Richard Mentor Johnson studied law there, just missing Henry Clay who taught law.

Transylvania’s school mascot is a bat.

If you’re thinking there’s an obvious joke there with the law and bloodsucking bats, you should know that bats don’t suck blood. Vampire bats use their tongue to lap up blood, after they make a tiny incision with their lil’ sharp teeth.

Transylvania University’s mascot is a bat named Raf, not Transy as I indicated in the drawing above. Transy is the school’s nickname. Transy’s mascot is Raf.

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2

The last state to repeal its anti-miscegenation laws banning interracial marriage did so in 2000.

There were rumors that Richard Mentor Johnson and Julia Chinn were married. No papers (marriage licenses, “free papers”, etc.) support this. And Kentucky didn’t recognize interracial marriages at the time… which of course made me curious. When did the last state finally real their anti-miscegenation laws, banning interracial marriage?

2000.

2000!!!

Holy crap, Alabama!

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3

The origination of the term “poindexter” comes from a cartoon, not a governor.

Richard Mentor Johnson maybe released a statement during the 1836 election that “Unlike Jefferson, Clay, Poindexter and others, I married my wife under the eyes of God, and apparently he has found no objections.”

I wasn’t familiar with Poindexter, though now I suspect he will pop up all over allowing me to enjoy the glorious Baader-Meinhof phenomenon.

In any case, I wondered if the nerdy definition came from George Poindexter. One look at this ridiculously blurry depiction of the U.S. Senator / Mississippi governor made me realize that he had far too much charisma to be the source.

My interest has been piqued with this guy though. Married twice, once to an Agatha Chinn (who I have no reason to believe was related to Julia but what a weird coincidence! It did send me off on a tangent trying to uncover a connection with my minute-and-a-half minutes worth of internet sleuthing but I came up empty). Apparently Poindexter had a secret or not-so-secret relationship with someone he enslaved (which I’m slowly learning was not an uncommon occurrence). Also he killed a guy! In a duel! And he broke Bro Code!

He actually broke code duello, but that’s neither here nor there. (Is it just me or does it seem like maybe men might be too emotional to lead?)

The etymology of Poindexter tracks back to Felix the Cat, a cartoon created in 1919. I was going to include a video here, but they seem a bit… problematic. In the 30s, the cartoon was brought back by Van Beuren Corporation (Van Beuren?? That’s very close to Van Buren!) I don’t think the character Poindexter showed up until the 50s.

Tangent on the tangent (A Note to Self):
Blog post on eponyms and non-eponyms. Poindexter, gerrymander, and Fall guy, to start…?

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4

Samuel Morse . - -.-. .-.-.-

Julia Chinn ran the show and made sure everything was perfect for Marquis de Lafayette’s visit Blue Spring. The painting I used as a reference for the terrible doodle below was painted by Samuel Morse. (Check out the close up sketch of his face — it’s incredible.)

In any case, the reference painting sent me digging through my sketchbooks until I found my doodle about Samuel Morse. Morse was in the middle of painting Lafayette when he learned his wife was sick. He left immediately, but it was too late. This heartbreak prompted his interest in developing faster methods of communication.

Inspired by Unfamiliar Fishes, by Sarah Vowell

Bonus tangent:

I happened to read about Lafayette’s visit around the same time that I was headed to Clermont State Historic site to hear about Lafeyette’s visit to Clermont. And also around the same time that I learned about this incredible Lafayette Farewell Tour 1824 - 1825 shirt sold by Plodding Through the Presidents. The shirt lists all of the cities Lafayette visited, including Louisvlle, Kentucky. It’s amazing and I want one.

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5

Tradwives & Republican Motherhood

During the Revolutionary War, gender norms were broken as women helped with the war effort… and gained confidence in their abilities and potential. Many wanted to redefine marriage and motherhood. Some just wanted to educate [white] women so they could raise better [white, male] kids. Republican Motherhood was the 20th century phrase describing what was happening in the 18th century.

This sent me down a rabbit hole learning about tradwives. It was an unpleasant journey.

Back to the book. Once married, women stopped being people. According to author Amrita Chakrabarti Myers, “Women went from being able transact business in their own names to ceasing to exist as persons under the eyes of the law. No longer considered autonomous legal beings, married women couldn’t buy or sell goods or services, enter into legal contracts, own property, sue or be sued, or conduct any business apart from their husbands. They weren’t even entitled to their own wages if they worked outside of the home.”

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6

Cholera posters & protocols

To get inspiration for the typography in my doodles, I looked up cholera posters from the 1830s. Some of the advice seems so silly:

“Be temperate in eating & drinking!”
“Avoid raw vegetables and unripe fruit!”
“Sleep and clothe warm!”
“Do not sleep or sit in a draught of air.”

… but then I remembered a brief period of time when we wiped down our groceries and mail. Not so silly after all.

Hey, if you happen to read the stuff in the background about women punished for violent crimes against them… I don’t know, maybe make sure you make it a priority to vote on November 5.