“Tragically, the family experienced an appalling toll of mortality, which was not exceptional at the time. During the space of fourteen years Hester bore eleven children, six of whom died at birth or soon afterward. She and Henry were determined to have a male heir, but only their daughters lived to adulthood. There were miscarriages as well. Later in life she said that the pleasures of her marriage “consisted in holding my head over a basin six months in the year.”6 A list of dates will bring home how painful, and how seemingly inevitable, child mortality was. Frances died in 1765, Ana Maria in 1770, Penelope in 1772, Lucy Elizabeth in 1773, Ralph and Frances Anna in 1775, and Henry (“Harry”) in 1776. Few of the deaths, if any, would have been likely today. Even when diseases could be accurately diagnosed, which they often weren’t, the available remedies were useless or worse. When four-year-old Lucy had a serious ear infection made worse by a bout of measles, Hester called in a respected physician named Pinkstan. “He ordered sarsparilla tea and bid me do nothing else. Lucy however was fading away very fast, though everybody in the house persisted that she was well. I took her to Herbert Lawrence, who said it was the original humour repelled by Pinkstan which was fastening on her brain, but that he would try to restore it. A blister was accordingly laid on behind the ear.” Predictably, it did no good at all, and after that yet another physician had the child “roughly purged” and bled with leeches. Soon afterward she died.7 Damrosch, Leo. The Club (Kindle Locations 3732-3736). Yale University Press. Kindle Edition. Damrosch, Leo. The Club (Kindle Locations 3725-3732). Yale University Press. Kindle Edition. Damrosch, Leo. The Club (Kindle Locations 3724-3725). Yale University Press. Kindle Edition. ”

— child mortality