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Nancy Randolph's nephew convinces John Randolph that she is having a lewd affair. Morris' will leaves it to Nancy as to how much each of his relatives should receive.
Family Accuses Nancy of "Lewd Amours"While still at Gouverneur Morris' home, Tudor told John Randolph that Nancy was involved in "lewd amours." Then Morris' great-nephew arrived and set about, with John Randolph's help, attempting to convince Morris that Nancy was being unfaithful and would eventually murder him. They presented Morris with all of the old dirt about Nancy: the murder trial, Richard Randolph's death, and Judith's accusation that Nancy had had sexual relations with a male slave. John Randolph even denounced Nancy, whom he had personally kicked out of her home some years earlier, for leaving the South and moving to the North. All of these accusations John Randolph put into a letter to Morris to give to Nancy. Nancy Randolph Morris Gets EvenWhat did Nancy do in response to John Randolph damming letter? She disdainfully answered it, but that was not all that she did. Nancy Randolph Morris "sent half a dozen copies" to John Randolph's political enemies in Virginia. In the letter, Nancy pointed out that John Randolph, by digging up old dirt about herself and John's brother Richard, as well as bringing to light, after twenty years, Nancy and Richard's murder trial, John was shedding a damning light not only on himself but on the entire Randolph clan. Nancy Gains Control of Morris InheritanceTwo years later, Morris now in his sixties, died. He left Morrisania and a comfortable income to Nancy, his wife. He left her "six hundred dollars per annum," in case she should remarry and need the extra income to defray the cost of a new marital union. He left "all the residue of his estate to his son." In case of his son's death, he left such residue to his nieces and nephews and their descendants, but there was a catch to this generosity. He left it to Nancy's discretion as to what proportions each should get. Previous: Happy Days for Nancy Randolph: Will they be Short Lived?. Recommended Reading:Source:American Heritage, August 1961, Volume XII, No. 5. Biddle, Francis. "Scandal at Bizarre." Society of American Historians.
The copyright of the article Nancy Randolph’s Revenge in American History is owned by Mary Trotter Kion. Permission to republish Nancy Randolph’s Revenge in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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