#James Woodhouse

[incidentsblog]

Page 305 of Harriet Jacobs's Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, published in 1861. Edited by L. Maria Child for its author, Jacobs, who uses the pseudonym Linda Brent.

This is an ongoing blog. The James Norcom Family Papers are extensive, including over 900 documents, and I've barely scratched the surface. There are several documents from 1847, for instance, about Norcom's politics that I have yet to delve into. Naturally, continuing to look through these is, of course, the first next...

...step. As the development of my project from last semester to this one has shown, there are always new things to find and new clarifications to be made.

This semester, I’ve become particularly intrigued by Norcom’s connections with prominent Penn faculty members—beyond Rush and Wistar, for whom he named his sons—such as Frederick Beasley, Benjamin Smith Barton, and James Woodhouse. I would love to explore this in more depth. Additionally, the materials Norcom instructed his son to retrieve from Philadelphia may offer valuable insights into his medical ideology. Either of these would be worthy of a full-semester project.

I have also found intriguing Norcom's connections to those close to Jacobs. For instance, he was the business partner of M.E. Sawyer, the father of Samuel Tredwell Sawyer, who fathered Jacobs’ children. Additionally, Norcom served as an officer in the Society Auxiliary to the ACS alongside James Iredell Jr., the brother-in-law of James Iredell Tredwell, with whom Jacobs’ daughter stayed in New York. Norcom's pursuit of and vendetta against Jacobs may have been more personal than previously realized, and I would love to further explore these "it's-a-small-world" connections.

Norcom’s role as an advisor—and later, son-in-law—of Elizabeth Horniblow and her family is ripe with potential for exploration. Specifically, it suggests how he may have leveraged his medical degree to access enslaved individuals, acting as both executor and beneficiary of several Horniblow family wills. Reconstructing what Norcom received from this family would give insight into how and why he was able to access Jacobs and others he would later enslave.

Letter dated December 2, 1809, addressed to “Mrs. Horniblow.” Letter 14 of the James Norcom Family Papers. This letter is briefly discussed here, with further explanation of Norcom's relationship with the Horniblows provided here.

And those are just some of the many ways this semester has opened up new avenues for exploration.

To reiterate from last semester, although Rush and Wistar have been studied extensively, I believe their lecture materials, manuscripts, notes, and other documents—particularly those from 1795 to 1800, when Norcom was a student—warrant deeper exploration to reconstruct Norcom’s time at Penn. I would say the same about the materials of Barton and Woodhouse, who were professors at the time Norcom attended. While this project has focused on material from after Norcom graduated, it would be immensely valuable to re-create the conditions of his time at Penn Medical School. This would help determine the influence Penn had on Norcom’s life, especially through his education under Rush, with whom he remained close throughout his life.

Additionally, Norcom’s sons, John, Benjamin R., Caspar W., William A.B., and Henderson S., attended the University of Pennsylvania after their father. How the curriculum at Penn Medical School influenced Norcom’s sons, Benjamin R., Caspar W., and Henderson S., who also attended and graduated from the program, and how the University of Pennsylvania shaped the intellect and politics of his son John, who graduated from the collegiate department, at the time they each attended is a fruitful question for further research. As a student with limited time, I haven’t been able to fully explore the intergenerational legacy of the Norcom family at Penn. However, this long-standing connection to the University offers a fascinating opportunity to study how Penn influenced the Norcom family across generations, both academically and ideologically.

In the future, I would like to write a more in-depth comparison of Norcom’s self-portrayal—through his correspondence, actions, medical writings, and other records—with his depiction in Harriet Jacobs’s autobiography, drawing on specific passages from her work. Additionally, I hope to investigate any evidence of how the Norcom family may have reacted to Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl upon its release, or how they grappled with that legacy after historian Jean Fagan Yellin revealed Jacobs to be its author.

I am also interested in further exploring the connections between Penn, Freemasonry, and slavery, as well as the relationship between Penn, Whig politics, and slavery—topics I have only begun to examine in my paper and on this blog.

All-in-all, the work on this project has only just begun. For now, I would like to extend my gratitude to anyone who has made it this far and take a moment to acknowledge the following for their invaluable help this semester and last:

Kathleen Brown

Scott Wilds

John Pollack of Kislak Center for Special Collections

Jim Duffin of the University Archives

Paul Wolff Mitchell  

Historical Society of Pennsylvania

Library Company of Philadelphia

State Archives of North Carolina

James Pensabene

Ann Farnsworth-Alvear

Finally, I would like to provide, in a more traditional format, the sources I have used throughout this project here.

[scarareg]

[sircolinmorgan]

So, how are you?

Exhausted. Never met so many hardened drinkers in all my life.

[starry-on-ao3]

A friendship in the making...

She might not be the only one being territorial / Am I about to hear I've done something wrong again?

I meant me. I may have over reacted, very slightly, about the bedroom.

I'm in your way. I'll find somewhere else. I confess, I'd grown rather fond of the place.

I grew up in boarding school. It's been novel to put roots down somewhere / Then you'll stay. And we'll share.

All Creatures Great And Small (2020-)

5x4 (Uninvited Guests)

[graceisinthelibrary]

So it begins...

[bowtiesarecool11]

All Creatures Great and Small - Incorrect Quotes

[thoumpingground]

Okay, obviously I get why Emma gets to be the resident Disaster Matchmaker TM, but really John Thorpe gives her several runs for her money. He beats her in numbers of matches, execution, and production value accidentaly. Emma only managed to get Harriet's heart broken - twice. Thorpe's got it down to the details: he got Cathy the guy and a swoon worthy proposal. Cause if left to his own devices, Henry would have put together something sweet and heartfelt but simple, and Cathy would have been very happy of course, but she clearly doesn't mind a little bit of ✨romance✨. Thanks to Thorpe, she gets to brag forever that her husband loved her so much he bore being disowned and rode 70 miles on a horse to propose against his father's will.

Thorpe might be shooting in the dark, and aiming for the complete opposite goal, but d-mn it, he gets results, and I think he deserves to be the Austen Extended Universe Hipercompetent Matchmaking Menace TM. Not the least because, unlike Emma and every other Austen romantic rival, he has nothing else going for him.

[servants-hall]

Samuel West 💙💛 @ exitthelemming: "Hello again. One week to go till the new series of #AllCreaturesGreatAndSmall, and the return of these handsome buggers. (That’s @ RachelShenton with Jelly Jimmy the rehearsal baby, subject of a great Undertones song) #ACGAS

[pyjamacryptid]

Emma & Mr. Knightley from 'EMMA' || Spock & Jim Kirk from 'STAR TREK' || Parallels

This was inspired by the similarity I noticed between the last two quotes.

S1 E16: The Galileo Seven, Star Trek: The Original Series (1966) // EMMA, dir. Autumn de Wilde (2020) // S3 E24: Turnabout Intruder, Star Trek: The Original Series (1966) // Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, dir. Nicholas Meyer (1982) //Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, dir. Leonard Nimoy (1984) // EMMA, Jane Austen (1815) // The Autobiography of Mr. Spock, Una McCormack (2021)

[dogzcats]

And we absolutely do not want to hear what was said. Do we, Jim?

[howaboutthemoon]

I'm watching for the plot! (Thank God the plot looks this good in 1930's and 40's clothing)

[hephaestn]

Callum Woodhouse as Tristan Farnon + Nicholas Ralph as James Herriot All Creatures Great and Small (2020) — Season 2, Episode 1

[mrs-remarkable]

“Christmas Past and Present”

It's times like this which remind me how grateful I am for everything I have. Not the practice, or the house, or the beautiful countryside, or any other thing.

It's the people. (Siegfried Farnon)

Happy Christmas @fortytworedvines ! From your Secret Santa.

Thank you @acgasfanchallenge for the prompt.

[roominthecastle]

All Creatures Great and Small (2020)

main cast + character name meaning

[scarareg]

[ballonleamusings]

The comedy and tragedy of Tristan's character is that every other young vet in the show has the personality or work ethic that Siegfried wishes he had. As a result, Tristan constantly feels out of place and inferior. Despite this, he always manages to earn the respect of everyone around him through his courage and love for animals. Even Siegfried comes to realise that while Tristan is not bookish like James and Carmody, he is no less talented or capable than they are. This is what makes him so endearing and loveable.