Gouverneur Morris / Nancy Randolph

Gouverneur Morris

Nancy Randolph was awaiting her visitor in a small room in a New York boarding house. She was justifiably nervous and anxious. Just beyond the appointed hour, there came a knock at her door. She hurried to open it. The gentleman was Gouverneur Morris, one of the principal framers of the Constitution in 1787.

Nancy Randolph: Thank you for coming, Sir. Please come in.

Gouverneur Morris: Thank you kind lady.

Nancy: Please sit, I’ll take your hat.

Morris: Imagine my surprise to receive a letter from the little girl of thirteen who has now become a handsome woman.

Nancy: You must have heard that I’ve fallen in the eyes of many for what they believe to be true.

Morris: What I heard, I’ve already forgotten because I immediately considered it silly gossip.

Nancy: I insist on telling you what I’ve been accused of doing. If you are to consider me for employment, you must know how deeply I have been injured. Since I am not in prison, you can conclude that the charges have not been sufficiently believable. It has been stated that I became pregnant by my sister Judith’s husband Richard Randolph and that the baby’s body was left on a woodpile after Richard murdered it.

Morris: Was there indeed a baby?

Nancy: Yes.

Morris: And was Richard Randolph the father?

Nancy: I was engaged to be married to Richard’s brother Theodoric. I was aware that Richard had shown an interest in me as well. 

Morris: I repeat. Was Richard Randolph the father?

Nancy: I don’t think so. I only had relations with Richard two times but I was promised to Theo and I was planning to marry him.

Morris: Why didn’t you?

Nancy: In the meantime, Theo died of tuberculosis.

Morris: Oh dear.

Nancy: Richard believed he was the father and everyone thought he had killed the child.

Morris: Did Richard confess to killing the baby?

Nancy: On the contrary. He went around to all his acquaintances and told them he was innocent. The more he said it, the less he was believed. He finally took out a notice in the Virginia Gazette declaring his innocence and offering to appear in the Cumberland Court. He appeared and was instantly arrested on suspicion of murder.

Morris: He wasn’t the brightest candle in the room, was he?

Nancy: He did have the good sense to retain an excellent team of attorneys to plead his case. He had Patrick Henry and John Marshall for his defense.

Morris: Sensational trials always bring out the finest legal talent.

Nancy: The superb defense brought forth an acquittal and Judith, Richard and I returned to the plantation.

Morris: The court was apparently satisfied and so was Richard but was Judith satisfied?

Nancy: Judith testified that she believed that her husband Richard and I had a warm relationship but did not believe we had been intimate. Since no one had any conflicting proof, we were exonerated.

Morris: That is indeed an interesting story.

Nancy: But it is not complete. Much to everyone’s surprise, Richard Randolph died suddenly. His brother John asked Judith and me if we knew anything about his illness. We knew that he had suffered a very high fever and complained of stomach pains but that’s all we knew. John took over the Bizarre and …

Morris: Took over the bizarre what?

Nancy: That was the name of the plantation—Bizarre.

Morris: How appropriate! Now if I understand it, there is an unmarried woman named Nancy and a widow named Judith living at the plantation with the unmarried brother of the deceased Richard. Bizarre.

Nancy: Yes.

Morris: Did the two sisters have any interest in this brother of Richard whose name is John?

Nancy: I know I didn’t. I rejected his attentions when he showed an interest in me. I don’t know how Judith reacted to the tensions I felt dealing with him.

Morris: Now that you have me entrapped in this story, can you tell me how you were injured by these events?

Nancy: Judith, on marrying Richard Randolph, invited me to live with them. The Randolphs are cousins of ours. It’s a large Virginian family. My father entertained George Washington, General Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson who was also a relative. I assumed my home with my sister and Richard was secure but it turned out that it was not. Judith and I began to drift apart as she drew closer to John. One evening after spending considerable time in Judith’s room, John knocked on my door and asked me when I planned to leave the house and that the sooner it was the better. He was putting me out. I had no place to go and was terrified. Somehow he and Judith wanted to believe that I had something to do with Richard’s death. By putting me out, our entire social set would blame me for many things I had nothing to do with. I had no background to tutor children and I had little money of my own. I was a marked woman who had been ostracized from the family and the people I knew as friends.  So, Mr. Morris, I wrote you a letter asking if I could apply as a housekeeper in your home.

Morris: Thank you for sharing this painful story. I know instinctively that you are not the woman some portray you to be. Your plight is your beauty. The men want to devour you and the women are wildly envious of you. My plight is my insatiable appetite for beautiful women. But you can rest assured, I will employ you to manage my home and I will never add to the pain others have inflicted on you. Besides, pointing to his leg, this one is wooden and I dare say, I can’t run very fast if the nymph chooses to avoid me. (laughs) 

Nancy: (full of smiles) I heard you lost your leg trying to escape from a married woman’s bedroom on the second floor. But I’m sure that’s not true.

Morris: You are right, that’s not true. I made the mistake of feeding my foot into the spokes of the carriage wheel and lost a good part of my leg. (stands with some difficulty). I’ll have my carriage come for you and your things on the morning of Monday next.