#this has a few inaccuracies though so take it with a pinch of salt

[ltcol-laurens]

Any reminiscences of mine of Abbeville of old would be grossly imperfect and partial, that omitted the two Hendersons, Francis senior and Francis junior - father and son. My account of the former is, that he was born in Scotland, and made his way to London when a young man, whether with or without family prestige I know not. He became, however, an officer in the Bank of England, and must have occupied a fine social position to have met there, on a visit to her relatives, the beautiful, accomplished and wealthy Miss Laurens, of Charleston, S.C. She was the only child and heir of Col. John Laurens, who fell (a historical fact,) in a skirmish in South Carolina at the close of the revolutionary war. Col. John was the only surviving child and heir of his father, Col. Henry Laurens, and was the aid and special friend of Gen. Washington. [...]  The marriage afterwards referred to was one of those concordant disconcordancies, anomalies, or freaks of Venus that occur once in a while, and I never think of it without being reminded of the remark of the eccentric Judge Dooly, of Georgia, who once said, that "If there were any two things God did not foreknow, they were, who a woman would marry, and what would be the verdict of a petty jury in Georgia." This remark fell out just after a petty jury had rendered a verdict of manslaughter for stealing a hatchet. I have heard further that the former was impressed upon him by the action of a pretty and sensible girl "kicking" the speaker and taking instead a stupid vagabond. However, I mean to cast no personal reflections, upon Francis, sr., except upon his personal appearance. He was certainly the ugliest man in Abbeville or elsewhere, five feet four inches high, shaped like a barrel, with not a feature to plead in extenuation. He was not even intelligent in general or specially; and if he was a business man he had the poorest way of showing it in his own transactions; if he had ever known much, he had forgotten it in less time than any man I ever knew. He had but little confidence in anybody and less in himself. He was a lawyer's client and never moved without him; wouldn't sign a receipt for [___ ___] without the inspection and advice of his attorney. He was the  [___ ____] man ever seen, and it was [____] inflection to be in close and constant proximity to him. Meeting him in the morning you had to shake [____] and tell him how you were and at ever encounter during the same day you had to stop and tell him how you were "by this time." [....]. But the point to reach is, that Miss Laurens, with fortune, fame and rank at her feet, waved them off and married little ugly Frank Henderson. This must have occured about the year 1800. They lived together about a year, during which time young Frank was born. [I suppose he was born in London and it was so understood in Abbeville, as I several times heard him say his vote was challenged at Cedar Springs in '30 or '32 for evidence that he was 'civilised.' The husband and wife spent the second year or a part of it, in Paris, and quarrelled and filed bills and cross-bills for divorce, with evidneces that looked ugly for both. I  do not know whether the battle was in England , France or South Carolina; no dissolution of the marriage tie was granted but the child was awarded to the father, and also the trusteeship of the estate, the wife being allowed an annuity of $1800, and the balance of income divided between father and son. My understanding is, that the father placed his son in Scotland with his relatives and came himself to the United States to manage the estate, making his residence at Newport, R.I., where he again married and raised a family, spending the winter in Charleston and Abbevilles, leasing and renting the property. The wife remained in England and was living at an advanced age 26 or 28 years ago. Frank junior, was graduated at Edinburgh College and afterwards went through and graduated also at one of the first German colleges and travelled a year or two. He then came to Charleston and read law with Jas. L. Pettigrew, or another, and was admitted after a most brilliant examination and the highest hopes entertained of his. (This I learned from the lips of one who studied and was admitted with him.) But just at that seemingly propitious period, he learned of the existence of his mother, whom he he supposed had died at his birth, and with the message there came too much for his; his proud heart broke, and thought caring not for the bowl he sought refuge in it from thence until the grave closed him. When I first saw him in 1834 he appeared to be between 30 and 35 years of age, and had reached his quart per day; in 1840 he could 'run' it, and to the end there was no difficulty in disposing of it. He made Abbeville his home and never left it but three times that I remember - twice he spent the summers at Flat Rock, N.C., and about 1836 he went to Washington. His father was trying to get reimbursed for a large sum expended by the elder Laurens in aid of the first 'rebellion,' and supposed his presence would aid it. [...] Afterwards he weakened rapidly and required aid at the end of day sittings and on the 'quarter stretch' he had to read and drink mostly in bed. He went under in 1847. How a man could drink so much, so persistently and so long, is a puzzle. My explanation is this: he in the first place inherited a perfect physical development, strengthened by the school and college discipline in Europe and he was free from all irregularities or habits taxing the system until perhaps 27 years of age with the basis of a good constitution established; again he always ate his meals and slept; and drank only the purest spirits, and never before breakfast on an empty stomach. [...] NOTE BY THE EDITOR - Henry Laurens was President of the Continental Congress, and a merchant of Charleston and one of the most distinguished citizens of South Carolina, and being sent by the Revolutionary authorities on a mission to Holland was captured on the high seas by the Bris-ish and was required to spend a long time (four years) in the Tower of London, where he wrote his famous journal. Before the Revolutionary war broke out, he had sent his son John Laurens to London to complete his education. His father, Henry Laurens, had a partner in business in Lodnon by the mane of Manning with whom his son John lived whilst in London. An intimacy grew up between John and the daughter of Mr. Manning, which resulted in his marrying her, and as fame reports it, he never saw his wife after the marriage ceremony, but embarked that very day for Paris, where he was staying when the Revolutionary war broke out. As his father was being carried a captive to the Tower of London, John passed him at sea on his way to join the rebel army. He arrive and became an 'aid de camp' of Washington, and afterwards Lieutenant Colonel of Lee's Legion, after the resignation of Light Horse Harry, and in endeavouring to check a foraging party on the Cumbahee River in this State was killed - the very last man who fell in the Revolutionary war; and it had always been said that he sought his death. He was accomplished and gallant and for him our neighboring County, 'Laurens,' was named. In the mean time, the wife he had left, before she doffed the bridal attire, was delivered of a daughter, Frances Eleanor Laurens, who had a career as remarkable as any lady we ever read of in romance of story. We will not publish all we have heard of her but it connects with our subject, and we state she fell heir, during her life, to the famous Laurens Lands in Abbeville County under the will of her distinguished grandfather Henry Laurens, of which Dr Ramsay, the historian, was executor.  She married one Francis Henderson, a Scotchman, then living in London, and said to have been a clerk in the Bank of England. They had one son, Francis Henderson, junior. The marriage was unhappy. W have heard much of one Sir Harry Vane Temple in this connection, but this deponent knows nothing of his own knowledge and therefore forbears to state any more. Suffice it to say that Francis Henderson, senior and his wife Frances Eleanor were divorced in London and by the articles of separation, the quondam husband Francis Henderson, had secured to him during his wife's life, the usufruct of the Laurens lands in Abbeville County and the Hampstead marshes near Charleston. The life of Mrs. Henderson was much prolonged - she lived to quite an old age - said to near a hundred - and died within the last few years. In order to look after these lands and collect his rents, Mr Henderson came to Abbeville and lived with a Scotchman then here, John McLaren. Afterwards he had his son Francis Henderson, junior with him, and these are the people of who our firend, the ex-Abbevillian writes so pleasantly.

‘Reminiscences of Abbeville’ in the Abbeville Press and Banner, 19 April 1876 [x]

Okay first of all this is all very interesting and I love learning about Frances. Secondly, I just wanted to address a few inaccuracies: the article says that John was the ‘only surviving child’ of Henry Laurens when Martha, Mary, Henry Jr and James were still alive so that’s not true. It also says that John left Martha on their wedding day when they got married October 26th 1776 and he left 2 months later on the 27th of December 1776 and Martha gave birth sometime in January 1777. Further regarding this subject it says that Martha gave birth right after the wedding which isn’t true at all, she gave birth 2/3 months later. 

I love the fact that it says ‘a historical fact’ like we aren’t just making this up to feel sad reader, it really happened and as if all of this isn’t historical fact.

Frances died in 1860 at aged 83 so this article was done 16 years after her death. 

[segretecose]

About the speech, I feel the same way as you do, but I'm also not trans so take this with a pinch of salt. There is also something else that bothers me about that speech though, the part that goes "men don't have this pain that we (cis women??) have so they invent gods and demons and wars to make up for it". Obviously it's a hyperbole to drive the point home but like, it removes women's (cis women's?) role in these things completely which uh... uhhhhhhhhhhh I don't love. (1/2)

(2/2) Like I feel the whole speech really oversimplifies gender roles in a way that I find very unoriginal and perplexing, all to say "menopause is great actually", which you could try saying without implying that women have had no weight over cultural/spiritual/political matters in history AND that all women have periods and all people with periods are women. Considering the speech has been so praised by critics and the public, I see very few interesting things in it. I hope I was clear haha

yes you were very clear and also this is pretty much what i think as well. 

i think it might seem like a pretty convincing and impactful speech when you first see it on tv, but on closer inspection... yeah there really isn’t much to it. it’s quite redundant and the points it tries to make are but inaccuracies and oversimplifications which are naive at best and harmful at worst