This is Part 2 of a series of guest blog posts by Dr. Samuel Forman. Read Part 1 about the fates of Dr. Joseph Warren’s children first.
Read Sam Formans book to learn much more about the Warrens!
Mercy Scollay’s campaign to adopt Warren’s orphaned children did not succeed, though she took care of the children intermittently until Dr. John Warren returned to Boston in 1777. By then Dr. John had married Abigail Collins, the daughter of the governor of Rhode Island, whom he had met while in the Army. Dr. John and Abigail immediately started their own family and promptly adopted Joseph Warren’s four orphans.
We can imagine that Dr. John, following the dressing down by fictional Beatrice for his choice of treating Alan, was thereafter more tactful with the ladies. He got along well with spouse Abigail Collins Warren, having many children together.
John! That's no way to talk to a lady. Oh, wait, that's just Bea. Carry on.
Mercy’s letters advocating government support for the orphaned Warren children, and for her role in raising them, put her at odds at times with Warren’s brothers Ebenezer and John. By 1778 Benedict Arnold, who had met and apparently befriended Joseph Warren, but had not met Mercy, in Cambridge in April of 1775, donated five hundred silver dollars via Mercy toward the children’s welfare. In a time of inflation of Continental paper money, this was an impressive gift.
By 1780, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Robert Treat Paine, and other luminaries succeeded in influencing the Continental Congress to support Warren’s orphans with half pay of a major general, retroactive to the time of his death, to be allocated for support of the orphans until the youngest reached the age of majority. In a time before life insurance or veteran’s benefits, and with the Continental government in dire financial straits, the commitment to Joseph Warren’s orphans is noteworthy. Joseph Warren’s St. Andrew’s Lodge of Masons also had been making donations toward their support. The financial picture was stabilizing nicely for them, though we can only imagine the emotional effects of being shuffled among sometimes fractious surviving family and friends; the siblings alternating separated then partly reunited, and with little say in the matter.
As an aside, no likenesses survive, to my knowledge or to previous biographers’, of any of Joseph Warren’s children, brothers Ebenezer or Samuel, or matriarch Mary Stevens Warren. So Lora’s drawings of them are speculative. Same is true for Nathan Hale. I am suspicious that one or another picture may be lurking in someone’s attic, so I remain on the lookout for them. In contrast, fine paintings, modeled from life, of Joseph Warren, Mrs. Elizabeth Hooton Warren, John Warren, Alexander Hamilton, Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, and many others exist. I know that Lora has taken pains to adapt those into her web comic and contemporary style.
Brother John Warren’s legal adoption of the children relieved Mercy Scollay of a formalized role in the matter. The two younger children lived for a time in the Scollay Boston household under Mercy’s tutelage.
Don't worry, Mercy. Bea will make him pay.
Mercy never married nor had any children of her own. Her subsequent letters reveal that she was broken hearted, but found solace and strength in her Christian faith. She lived to age eighty-four, passing away on January 8, 1826, over 50 years after her lover’s passing.
Joseph Warren’s male children died as young adults without having a chance to make a mark in the world and without issue. The girls married, though only Mary had a child live to adulthood.
Elizabeth married General Arnold Welles, Jr. in Boston on September 6, 1785. She died childless at about age 39 on July 26, 1804.
Joseph ‘Josie’ Warren attended Harvard, graduating in the Class of 1786. He taught in the public school at Foxborough- Nathan Hale style. He was seized by an acute illness in April of 1790 and died after only a few hours illness at age twenty-two, possibly in uncle Ebenezer Warren’s house in that town. We do not know what happened in modern terms. It could have been, among innumerable possibilities, acute appendicitis. A routine and eminently survivable emergency in our modern age of antibiotics and safe surgery, appendicitis was unrecognized and deadly at the time. It was another century before a surgeon demonstrated the condition and a straight forward surgical cure, leaving no more sequelae than a lower right quadrant scar and the sufferer thinking twice about wearing skimpy swimming attire at the beach.
Richard Hooton ‘Dickie’ Warren traveled to Fredericksburg, Virginia, to pursue a merchant’s business. That was home to another Revolutionary War fighting physician and hero – General Hugh Mercer, who died of wounds suffered at the Battle of Princeton in January of 1777. Warren and Mercer were both named in the same Continental Congress resolution, sponsored by Sam Adams, for federal monuments to be built in their honor. Congress has never gotten around to building those. Dickie Warren died on a visit to Boston in April of 1797, age 28. Dickie’s demise remains unknown in modern terms. Causes may have included a severe case of malaria or yellow fever, both occurring in low lying areas of Virginia at the time. Such diseases could have had a fatal course if contracted by a Yankee, who had never encountered such maladies as a youth in Boston, on taking residence in the South as an adult.
Youngest child of Joseph Warren’s four, Mary ‘Polly’ Warren, married Samuel Lyman of Northampton, Massachusetts, in October 1797. By 1802 Mary was widowed. She re-married Judge Richard E. Newcomb of Greenfield, Massachusetts in May 1803. Polly died February 26, 1826, outliving octogenarian Miss Mercy Scollay by just a month. Polly was described as inheriting “the personal, as well as the mental qualities which are said to have characterized that distinguished patriot.” She had a child who continued the matri-lineal line and cherished the memory of grand dad Dr. Joseph Warren. Since publication of my biography of Joseph Warren, I have been in contact with Newcomb descendants of Polly Warren. I am working with them to locate interesting Warren artifacts that, if genuine, have never been known to scholars.
Remember, no regular Dreamer update today or Friday. Come back on Friday to read the last part of this series, and learn the fates of Dr. Joseph Warren’s three brothers: Samuel, Ebenezer, and John.
I’ll be in New London, Connecticut on Saturday, June 30th at 2 PM for the grand opening of the exhibit I wrote and drew for the Nathan Hale School House.
Ooo, the plot chickens!!
THICKENS!!! Sorry…
Chickens are OK. The Warren Roxbury farm probably havd some. Cows for sure. Boston itself wasn’t so citified (population in 1775 of about 15,700) that one would probably find some chickens in some people’s back yards
My friends and I always say, ”Every good movie or show has a chicken in it.” You just wanted to add ”comics” to that list. ;-)
Hahahaha, that makes me feel better :)
My friends always say you know a good movie, show, tv commercial, etc because it has a monkey…but chickens are good too. :P
Monkeys and apes creep me out. I’ll stick to the chicken. lol
Also chickens don’t throw their doo-doo at people! I’d watch out for their beaks and talons, though.
Continuing the Team Mercy versus Team Mary/Eben/John controversy of Part 1, Dreamers must be on the latter side simply because there is no Mercy in The Dreamer fiction. Talk about slanting the rules of the game!
Historical Team Warren may have not known what to make of proto-feminist Miss Scollay. Mercy was mature at just months younger than Dr. Joseph; evidently very accomplished in embroidery and needlepoint; extremely knowledgeable about women’s fashions (if not actually wearing them herself. She probably made the most important toga in American history); active politically as a Daughter of Liberty; maintained cordial relationships with leading Patriots on the basis of mutual respect; and could quote and live Scripture with the best pastors. What does one do with such a woman? Break her heart and send her into a lifelong funk. Nice going, team Warren.
One little detail would have changed the outcome of this drama for all participants. If Mercy and Joseph had made time to marry in the chaotic late winter of 1775, it would have been Mercy who had the last word on her step-children, with full legal sanction. If Team Mary/Eben/Jack were to dispute that, Mercy could have called on a few rather capable lawyers like John Adams to plead her case.
At the risk of moralizing and inducing groans in the legion of female Dreamer fans, the next time a boyfriend suggests that you should be a modern, committed couple without being married, remember Miss Mercy. “It’s just a piece of paper,” may be the universal assertion of the non-committal male, but it can make all the difference when stuff happens. Team Mercy was the loser for the lack of that little detail.
Well put all the way around, Sam! I agree that when children are concerned, it’s a good idea to have as many pieces of paper on hand as possible. I wouldn’t have kids without them, myself.
Too bad the Warrens couldn’t work a compromise and have Mercy join the children at the farm in Roxbury. She could have helped with both the kids and the farm (more mouths to feed means more plot chickens, after all). But perhaps that would’ve been the makings of an awkward 18th-century sitcom.
All that said, I’m still strongly on Mercy’s side. If just for the children’s safety, Worcester was a better – if temporary – home. (Hope Lora doesn’t punch me in the nose on Saturday, for this.)
We are differing with creative spirit Lora with respect to Mercy Scollay. This is dangerous for me, what with the implied threat of meeting an untimely end in a drawing of Knowlton’s volunteers at Bunker Hill. I leave it to you to tell Miss Scollay’s story in realistic fiction or theater. Enough facts about her are finally emerging that one could do that. So far, her appearance in my biography of Joseph Warren is the most extensive airing of her in print. Perhaps we can influence a women’s studies major or three to obtain their PhDs on the reality and meaning of Mercy’s life.
Sam, are you working with the Cambridge Historical Society’s Mercy Scollay collection online, in transcribing the letters you’ve shared with us? I’ve had that site bookmarked for a while, but haven’t delved into it, in depth. I can’t enlarge the images enough to read the letters, so I wondered if they were transcribed in full elsewhere. Along with your book, they seem like the best place to start in “recreating” Mercy’s life.
Tamesin, yes that is the collection at the Cambridge Historical Society. There are 90 letters in all. I can post a few of my full-text letter transcriptions as I have done this week, but any more than that requires CHS’ special permission. I did not know that they are posting document images now. Excellent! When I was last there, I worked from the original letters and also very good typewritten MS transcriptions that someone had done in the 1930s. A few of the better known Mercy Scollay letters are found in the miscellaneous letters of the Second Continental Congress. I found one or two more at the Mass Historical Society. Can give you the latter details off-line.
It’s okay. You guys are allowed to be wrong. ;)
@Sam: Thanks! I’m excited about pursuing this further…
@Lora: If it makes you feel better, I can commission a picture of Jack punching Will in the nose. (I’m sure he’d be willing to take the fall for me.) :D
As much as I will always be Team Warren just by virtue of being a Dreamer fan, I tend to think that the compromise of having Mercy move in with the family would have been a reasonable one. She was engaged to their beloved family member! Unless they had already expressed concerns about the match, I would think it appropriate to offer the woman a home among the family of her beloved if she would want it. Call me crazy, but it seems a bit odd that the Warrens closed ranks against Mercy after Joseph’s death. Is there nothing documented of their opinions of her (aside from taking the orphans from her)?
Julie, it is curious and seemingly out of line with so many laudable things the Warrens did. Unfortunately, we do not have any first hand account of this from Team Warren. What we do have is all from Mercy’s standpoint, and those patriot luminaries like Sam Adams who went to bat for her. Oh, I do have one letter from rival Team Mrs. Miller, also not in The Dreamer, and distinct from Team Warren. Mercy and the Warrens must have worked things out at least partially, After the Siege of Boston, Mercy visited and seemed to be on decent terms with Mary Warren. And the younger children stayed with her at least some of the time even after Dr. John Warren was back in Boston and had formally adopted them. But it was a shadow of the role she wanted to have played, and she was very saddened by that.
Okay, that is awesome. Well written, Sam. It’s nice to see how some things stay the same no matter what era you live in. I’m almost tempted to commission a Mercy vs Eben Mortal Kombat style print with all this.
Not marrying him might’ve saved her heartache. If he had lived, she might’ve been made sadder by …things that might have come to light. So long as he died when he did, she could always chose not to believe that he never would have disappointed her.
“Make me in your memory into whatever form of fallen hero brings you the most comfort, for that idol, too, will fade after it has served its purpose.”
Profound. Dr. Joseph was quite complex. Had he survived, Mercy would have had to adjust to that, and him to her. His prior marital experience had been with a barely 17 year old who immediately got into the family way. Elizabeth Hooton warren was unlikely to have crossed him in any matter. Not so for Mercy. His untimely demise so early in their relationship seems to fixed him in her memory, and whatever promises made between them assumed to her the power of a promises made to a saint. the defeat of Team Mercy pushed her forever away from considering any subsequent romantic involvement.
That letter Alan wrote Beau is seriously the saddest thing I have ever read. I was crying–and my family calls me “heartless” because I never cry at books and movies, lol, so that’s pretty impressive. And yet I’ve gone back and re-read it several times…..
However you stand on the Team Mercy/Team Warren debate, no one can deny that Mercy Scollay was a remarkable woman for her time, or ANY time, for that matter.
True!
Agreed.
I have to say, I feel bad with how things shook out for Mercy. Yikes, what a messy affair. Of course, you think the kids might’ve done something after they became adults, though I realize that’s heavy on the monday-morning-quarterback.
And, I had to go look up what octogenarian meant. Ugh. XD
It’s also a shame they didn’t list long themselves.
I have learned – as a reformed former lurker – that The Dreamer is very entertaining and coincidentally educational. Dreamers themselves endlessly amuse and inform one another.
Not only does one find ‘octogenarian’ (12 letters) here, but also ‘the latter.’ According to Lora, the latter is a big word of 10 letters, counting the ‘the’ and the space. Ha! Take that, Team Warren!
I’m still Team Warren!! Lol
Colette, you made my day with “The plot chickens!” I think that qualifies as a malapropism, a figure of speech popularized in an English play by Sheridan. The play debuted in 1775. Did you plan this?
Too funny!
Aww, thank you, lol. I’m glad it made somebody happy….just made me embarassed!! Lol. But you gotta learn to laugh at yourself……and check for spelling errors before posting ;)
Haha, and no, I didn’t plan that :). I love anything Colonial though(I went to Williamsburg two years ago at Christmas). I’m not familiar with that play–what is it about?
I had the “H” on “Triple Letter Score.” :P
**does the wave!**
Well, at least the kids weren’t too damaged by the soap operaness and made it to adulthood okay…..more or less. It’s kinda sad to think that I’ve already outlived two of them, though. Le sigh….
Just sending out a big THANK YOU to Lora, Sam, and everyone else hereabouts for taking the time to do this kind of thing. I can’t describe how exciting this mix of great art, half-forgotten history, and good fun is! I wouldn’t know half of what I do about revolutionary history if not for your prompting… and I’ve been raiding the American history shelves since I was a wee patriot (= teen trying to find out why it all mattered so much to her). I’m so grateful.
Thank you, Faith.
And we have all enjoyed an all-time classic malapropism about plot chickens. A special day indeed. Colette is claiming a mistake. I am thinking she planned everything. It is the first comment today. Could not be an accident!
If there can be plot bunnies, why not plot chickens? Perhaps these ones will inspire stories about Mercy Scollay.
Hahaha, it *was* a mistake! I’m typing on my iPad and it has automatic spell check. Gets me in so much trouble, lol ;)
Oh… the auto correct on iTouch devises, be they pods, pads, or phones, is soooo dangerous. We all look like fools, Collette!
Lol, yep :)
p.s. So John’s already married at this point in the comic? Sighings.
Nope!
OH! In that case… MINE.
Oh my sister and I have been fighting over Jack Warren, haha. Welcome to the club! Then again I do love Nathan the most, I have a shirt to prove it!!!! Haha
Which one of you is going to the schoolhouse and which one of you was just by my house? I get you both confused, ha ha!
It’s ok our family even get us confused, haha! Sarah is the medical historian and I’m the theater major/Nathan Hale fan(I also work at a museum) I was in Ohio, but both of us are going to New London tomorrow! I’m ginger and Sarah’s not. I hope that helps! Haha
I am really enjoying learning more about the Warren family! Thank you so much Sam and Lora!! I only just discovered the Dreamer a few months ago and I’m already hooked! There just aren’t enough things published about Nathan Hale or the Warrens for that matter, and I was ecstatic about the huge part said historical figures play in the Dreamer (like so many others I’m a Nathan Hale junkie :P)
Isn’t it a wonderful thing?
Also: Any friend of Nathan Hale is a friend of mine. :)
yay, another Nathan Hale fan!
Big weekend coming for the Nathan Hale regiment. Don’t miss Lora’s appearance and artwork at the re-opening of the school-house in New London, CT this Saturday.
Consider this a gift to Team Mercy adherents from me, and a guilt offering from Lora and Team Warren. It is a portrait I believe to be of Miss Mercy Scollay by the famous painter John Singleton Copley. Officially in art circles the sitter has never been identified. The mysterious painting now resides at the Terra Foundation in Chicago. For the past 250 years it has simply been known as ‘The Lady in a Blue Dress.’ In the new Warren biography I detail why this handsome, elegant and regal woman is probably Miss Scollay. Terra Foundation art historians are currently reviewing the evidence and are likely to confirm the ID.
That is such a beautiful picture! Hadn’t seen the enlarged copy before. There’s definitely genius in those eyes (and she’s got her fan all ready to tap home the point she’s getting ready to make).
I went on an interlibrary loan splurge last night and requested a bunch of books on women’s lives in the 18th century – including reading habits, the lives of single women, etc. Figure I’d better “immerse” a little, if I want to write anything on Mercy.
Go for it, Ms. Eustis! Team Mary/Eben/Jack is not going to tell this important story. At least one of them prefers their women pregnant and in the kitchen with many, many, many children.
Ooo… *SNAP*!!!
I think that’s the fate Miss Mercy wanted. Just with an older Warren.
Mercy was going to be 34 in a few months (September 11, 1775) when Joseph “departed.” Starting relatively late, many, many, many children would never have been a possibility for her. Those feather beds would have come in handy for part of this process. Was that why she was so ticked that Jack had sold them to George Washington?
Maybe they already held some good memories! :)
@Tamesin: Ms. Eustis!!! This is a PG rated venue.
Not Mercy Scollay. No way.
@Lora Maybe or maybe not. Watch out for the good girls hiding in feather beds. They never tell.
Beautiful painting!! I love old oil paintings. They’re fun to paint, actually, except I use acrylics *nodnod*
And let’s be clear: the proper name is “Team Mary/Eben/Jack,” not “Team Warren.” Dr. Joseph Warren, who mistakenly triggered all this posthumous fuss, had made his choice – Miss Mercy Scollay!
Eben/Jack/Mary call them what you will. You won’t change my mind on the matter! Blood runs thicker than water.
I think about my nephews and god forbid something would happen, I think with Uncle Mike, Aunt Lora and Grandma would be the proper place for them to grow up. Not with some dude not yet in the family. Put a ring on it, or step aside!
But would it be the proper place if cannon balls were flying – or in a modern idiom – Al Qaeda were threatening in the neighborhood – when the alternative was a loving place for the precious little ones, far out of harm’s way, with a special lady that your favorite son had chosen for the role from among all women?
A war zone is obviously no place for little kids. Team Mary/Eben/Jack should have at least waited till the fighting had moved away from Roxbury before taking custody of the children. Of course the longer they stayed with Mercy the harder it would have been for them when they finally left, but their safety should have been the prime consideration of everyone involved so long as the war was nearby.
@David Amen to that.
Ok, while the army was in Roxbury and the fighting going on I’m sure they were safer elsewhere. I guess I’m mostly arguing for the legal adoption stuff.
That being said, grief is messy and painful. And if Mary Warren just needed to see and hug those little boys who looked like her own boy she had just lost well… I get that. And I respect it.
You know, I never understood the “blood is thicker than water” idiom. Molasses is pretty darn thick (I don’t know for certain that it’s thicker than blood, but I’d imagine it is), so what does the thickness of blood have to do with the thickness of water?
And before someone explains the obvious, I know that it’s supposed to be a phrase that indicates the closeness of family or whatever. I’m more interested in the origin of the phrase…and why water was selected to be the compared fluid? Blood may be thicker, but water is necessary for life! :)
I wonder where Alan would have stood on this matter? Also, can you imagine what would have happened if Bea had stuck her nose into it?
@Julie: Check out this link, about the blood/water saying: http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/19/messages/140.html. The follow-up at the bottom by “Lorrie” is also interesting. (Being a librarian, I couldn’t resist following up on that.)
Good question. It is a very old expression. Must have something to do with the four humors.
@David:. That is a complicated existential (11 letters) question. Since Alan is the fictional creation of Ms. Innes, then he must be on the side she wants him to be – Team Mary/Eben/Jacks’ side. Yet Alan holds his little cousins very dearly, as he did Dr. Joseph Warren. We all know that Alan would not want these kids in Roxbury among stray British cannon balls and in constant anxiety of attack. He loves Bea and can deal with an outspoken female. He would be chafing to be on Team Mercy, though torn by his own loyalty to motherly Mary Warren.
Now Bea is so outspoken and unlike the 18th century norms, that all teams might be tempted to tell her to shut up, Miss Mercy included.
Thank you Tamesin! :) That blood covenant being stronger than the ties family (waters of the womb) makes so much more sense than anything anyone’s ever explained to me before…and it makes me glad I don’t use the phrase since apparently everyone uses it wrong. :P
Gorgeous painting! :) My favorite part is how real the fan looks sitting against her gown. :)
Going by the portrait, if that really IS Mercy, does anybody have any suggestions about who could play her if a movie were made about this particular subject?
This would be a very challenging and career making role. I read Mercy as not overtly beautiful, but projecting a smoldering and long suppressed sensuality. She is genuinely patriotic and religious. She is reticent and deferential to males, as is expected, but has strong opinions and is willing to mold convention to suit her. She has pursued other peoples’ happiness over her own for so long. Always the bridesmaid and never the bride, she is genuinely happy for her sisters’ marriages and children, and remains very close to her parents. Her brief relationship with Joseph has awakened parts of her that she has never acknowledged. Most of this is conjectural.
We all would want Lora to write The Dreamer screenplay in which Miss Mercy appears. Ha! Victory for Team Mercy!!.
Going by that, I would say Ellen Page, Natalie Portman maybe, or Anna Kendrick
Gorgeous lady and gorgeous painting! Part of the mystery of The Lady in a Blue Dress is why the painting descended in the artist’s family rather than the sitter’s. In 1763, when Mercy was 22 and the painting made, the typical convention was for a young lady’s likeness to be commissioned by well-to-do families around when she was marriageable or had just gotten married. But Mercy did not marry ever and the Scollay family never took the painting. Why? If we knew, it would tell us a lot about Mercy’s life prior to 1775. I hope Tamesin can find out eventually and write Mercy’s story.
Hm, perhaps she fell in love with the painter?
Such a great painting! I love it!
This history drama reminds me of some I heard at work. In the 1780′s Nancy Shippen left her abusive husband, Henry B Livingston. Her daughter Peggy was taken to live with her paternal grandmother and uncle, Margaret B. Livingston and Chancellor Robert Livingston. Nancy’s memories were found and is the talk of Liningston historians. Let me cut to the chase, the Warren/Mercy drama isn’t so strange when you think of what the mind set of the time. Admittedly I think Jack had a right to be their legal guardian, but don’t understand why they couldn’t have more access to Mercy.