Martha Laurens Ramsay

Martha Laurens
Martha Laurens; portrait by John Wollaston circa 1767
Born	November 3, 1759 Charleston, Province of South Carolina
Died	June 10, 1811 (aged 51)
Spouse(s)	David Ramsay (m. 1787; b. 1749 – d. 1815)

Martha Laurens Ramsay, (November 3, 1759 – June 10, 1811) was an eighteenth-century woman from Charleston, South Carolina in the United States whose diary and private letters were published by her husband, David Ramsay, under the title "Memoirs of the Life of Martha Laurens Ramsay" six weeks after her death.^[1] The daughter of Henry Laurens, president of the United States Continental Congress and the third wife of politician, historian and physician David Ramsay, her papers chronicle the life of an educated privileged Southern woman during the American Revolution and the founding of the nation.^[2][3][4]

Her Life

Intelligent from a young age, Martha Laurens Ramsay was already able to read by the age of 3.^[5] While her father was serving on a diplomatic mission to England during the American Revolution, he was captured and imprisoned. Then in 1770 her mother died, and Martha was sent to live with her Uncle James Laurens. She would then take responsibility for the "kins-keeping" of the Laurens, she would also adopt a cousin. Martha Laurens Ramsay felt obligated to keep her family heritage alive. In 1775, Martha would move to England with her uncle and his family. However when the politics became to difficult they would then move to France. This move is why Martha Laurens Ramsay's letters reflected so little on the Revolution and the struggles the politics brought the young nation.^[6] In 1782, Martha's father would join her and the rest of the family in France after his imprisonment. Martha would then spent 1783 and 1784 with her father with the hopes of curing his grout. Then in 1984 Martha would sail back to Charleston, she would then met her father's physician who happened to be David Ramsay.^[5] She would go on to marry David Ramsay who was a prominent physician. He was the author of the first history of South Carolina in the American Revolution.^[6] David Ramsay would bring financial losses to his family which brought on economic hardships to the family, this would go on to test Martha's faith and should would have a sense of religious resignation. ^[7]Martha Laurens Ramsay would die in 1811 in her hometown of Charleston at the age of 51, she would then be buried in the congregational churchyard. ^[5]

Children

Martha Laurens Ramsay and David Ramsay would have 11 children within 16 years but only 8 would survive childhood. Their children where Eleanor Henry Laurens (1782), Martha H.L. (1789), Frances H.L. (1790), Katharine H.L. (1792), Sabine Elliot (1794), David (1795), Jane Montgomery (1796), James (1797), and 2nd Jane Montgomery (1802). ^[5]

References

1. Gillespie, Joanna Bowen. The Life and Times of Martha Laurens Ramsay,1759-1811. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2001.
2. Gillespie, Joanna Bowen. "1795: Martha Laurens Ramsay's "Dark Night of the Soul" The William and Mary Quarterly Third Series, Vol. 48, No. 1 (Jan., 1991), pp. 68-92 Published by: Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture
3. Gillespie, Joanna Bowen. "Many Gracious Providences: The Religious Cosmos of Martha Laurens Ramsay".(1759-1811). COLBY LIBRARY QUARTERLY XXV (Sp. Issue: WOMEN AND RELIGION) #3, September 1989, 199-212.
4. Middleton, Margaret Simons . "David and Martha Laurens Ramsay" Carlton Press, 1971.
5. Sarudy, Barbara Wells (2014-09-15). "18C American Women: South Carolina's Martha Laurens Ramsay (1759-1811) - the exemplar for Republican Motherhood". 18C American Women. Retrieved 2016-04-06.
6. Murray, Gail (2002-04-01). "Review of Gillespie, Joanna Bowen, The Life and Times of Martha Laurens Ramsay, 1759-1811". www.h-net.org. Retrieved 2016-04-06.
7. ""The Life and Times of Martha Laurens Ramsay, 1759-1811" by Shattuck, Gardiner H., Jr. - Anglican and Episcopal History, Vol. 72, Issue 2, June 2003 | Online Research Library: Questia". www.questia.com. Retrieved 2016-04-06.