Thomas Lee Shippen

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Thomas "Tommy" Lee Shippen

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Personal details
Born 1765
 
Died February 4, 1798
  near Charleston, S.C.
Resting place
Residence(s)
Education Needwood Forest Academy
Inner Temple
College of William and Mary
Alma mater
Profession Lawyer
Spouse(s) Elizabeth Farley Bannister
Relatives Thomas Lee (grandfather)
Ludwell Lee (cousin)
Known for
Signature [[File:|left|200px]]

Thomas Lee Shippen was born in 1765 to Alice Home Shippen and Dr. William Shippen, a medical pioneer, Professor of Anatomy at the University of Pennsylvania, and Director General and Chief Physician of the Continental Army. [1] Despite Dr. Shippen's reputation as the region's leading authority on obstetrics, Alice Shippen only saw two of her eight children live past birth--Nancy and Thomas "Tommy" Shippen. [2] During the Revolutionary War, Dr. Shippen was frequently away as part of his duties as physician to the army. His wife, Alice, and the children frequently lived with Dr. Shippen in the army encampments at Reading, PA; Middlebrook, NJ; and Valley Forge, PA. [3] During this time Nancy was sent to Mistress Rogers' School and Tommy Shippen was sent to Needwood Forest Academy in Fredrick Town, Maryland. [4]

After completing his preperatory studies in Maryland, Thomas Shippen toured Virginia with his family relations, the Lees. While in Virginia, he studied law with George Wythe from 1784-1786. [5] Inspired by this experience, Dr. Shippen sent the young, twenty-one-year-old Tommy to study law at the Inner Temple in England. [6] However, Shippen much preferred "[to] go out into society, to travel, and to chase women," over study. [7] Shippen completed two years of legal study in England before returning to Pennsylvania to practice law. Despite having a brilliant legal mind, Shippen "immediately disliked the drudgery of legal practice." [8]

In 1790, Shippen accepted another family invitation to tour of Virginia. While there, he visited the Nesting plantation and met a seventeen-year-old widow, Elizabeth (Farley) Bannister, and fell madly in love. [9] By the time Shippen returned to Pennsylvania, he was engaged. As Elizabeth was part of the notable Byrd family and granddaughter to King Carter, she had both a distinguished lineage and great wealth. Consequently, Shippen was able to happily retire from legal practice and lead the life of a country gentleman. [10] The two were married at Nesting on March 10, 1791, and the couple purchased a farm, "Farley," in Bucks County just outside of Philadelphia. [11]

Shortly after Shippen married, his health rapidly declined. His journal described "[a] worsening cough, his fight to breathe, the frequent times he was bled, his dependence upon laudanum (an alcoholic tincture of opium), his medications disasterous effects upon his gastro-intestinal system, and his morbid outlook as he lounged in his green silk dressing gown." [12] He remained at Farley and comforted himself with his private library of over 800 volumes. [13] Shippen died of tuberculosis at the age of 33 on February 4, 1798, and was buried in Charleston. [14] Elizabeth remarried soon after Shippen's death, and Shippen's two children with Elizabeth were raised by Shippen's mother, Alice. [15]

Shippen had the potential to be a brilliant lawyer and statesman according to many who knew him, but Shippen's lack of ambition unfortunately undermined that potential. [16]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Paul C. Nigel, The Lees of Virginia: Seven Generations of an American Family (Oxford University Press, 1990), 116, accessed September 16, 2015; Steve Sheppard, The History of Legal Education in the United States: Commentaries and Primary Sources, Volume 1 (The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd., 2006), 153.
  2. ↑ Nigel, The Lees of Virginia, 116.
  3. ↑ "Alice Lee Shippen," Stratford Hall, accessed September 14, 2015.
  4. ↑ Nigel, The Lees of Virginia, 116.
  5. ↑ Sheppard, The History of Legal Education in the United States, 153.
  6. ↑ Nigel, The Lees of Virginia, 145.
  7. ↑ Ibid, 146.
  8. ↑ Ibid.
  9. ↑ Ibid, 146-147.
  10. ↑ Ibid.
  11. ↑ Ibid, 149; Edmund Jennings Lee, Lee of Virginia, 1642-1892: Biographical and Genealogical Sketches of the Descendants of Colonel Richard Lee (Heritage Books, 2008), accessed September 16, 2015.
  12. ↑ Nigel, The Lees of Virginia, 149-150.
  13. ↑ Ibid, 151.
  14. ↑ American National Biography Online, s.v. "Shippen, William, Jr.," by Randolph Shipley Klein, accessed September 16, 2015.
  15. ↑ Lee, Lee of Virginia, 1642-1892, 152.
  16. ↑ Nigel, The Lees of Virginia, 149.
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