#laureloch

Laureloch since they are underrated (:

i haven’t until now, but after scouring through your and others’ blogs i find their dynamic very intriguing :) so here’s a little something of those two hehe

I'm glad to hear that my posts have inspired you to learn more about these topics!

John was generally educated by private tutors in Switzerland, and then he began his law education at the Middle Temple in England. A good discussion of John's education in Europe can be found in John Laurens and the American Revolution by Gregory D. Massey. I don't necessarily agree with all of Massey's interpretations and conclusions, but he puts together a decent timeline of John's life, including his education and lodgings in Switzerland and England. The Papers of Henry Laurens also cover a good bit of John's education. Letters from Henry Laurens cover his opinions on various schools in England and his plans for his three sons' educations. Letters from John to his father provide updates on how he and his brothers are progressing in said educations. I made this post a while ago with links to the volumes of The Papers of Henry Laurens that are available online, but I have not checked to see if the non-linked volumes have become available in the meantime. John also frequently wrote to his uncle James Laurens during his time in Europe, so some additional insight can be found in those letters (if you have ever read the letter about John trying to decide between theology, law, and medicine, that was written to Uncle James). The Digital Collections of the University of South Carolina Libraries contain many of these letters.

As for Laureloch, I made a list of all of the surviving/publicly available letters between Laurens and Kinloch. Unfortunately, there are multiple letters that are privately held, and others may simply be missing. Some letters between Louis de Végobre and John Laurens are also available through the Digital Collections of the University of South Carolina Libraries, and these contain some mentions of Kinloch (such as Kinloch refusing to write to Laurens again until Laurens finally writes him back).

To get a better understanding of the relationship between Laurens and Kinloch, one needs to understand both men as individuals. Laurens has one halfway decent biography that's readily available (see above), but I recognize that it is not as easy to find materials relating to Kinloch. Here are some of the sources that I've been using to learn more about him.

Microfilm of letters from Francis Kinloch to Johannes von Müller, held by the American Philosophical Society (APS): This is one of the best sources for learning about Kinloch's thoughts, ideals, and motivations. He wrote incredibly open and heartfelt letters to Müller, a man he lived with in Switzerland and more or less called his soulmate (How does one reduce Mülloch to but one sentence? Just search my blog if you want to learn more about them). These letters span over three decades and thus provide ample information about Kinloch's life from a young man dealing with internal and external conflicts related to the American Revolutionary War to an older man, settled down with a family, jaded by the ongoing political struggles of the new nation. You can request a PDF of the microfilm from the APS. I did have to pester them about it for several weeks before it was finally sent over. Surprisingly, I was not charged for it - it just showed up in my spam box late one night. I am not sure if this was an error on their part, or if they truly will provide the PDF free to anyone who asks. Unfortunately, the scan quality of the microfilm is quite poor. It is essentially scanned backwards and in a way that does not lend itself to scrolling from one page to the next. Some letters also have warping or poor contrast, making them impossible to read. Furthermore, these are scans of original letters, which means they are written in 18th-19th century cursive. No transcripts are provided. This makes it an adventure for the reader! If you are not very comfortable reading 18th-19th century handwriting, this may be a challenge for you, but what better way to learn than by trying? It will also be on you to figure out what Kinloch may be referring to in his letters, as there are no handy footnotes à la Founders Online that tell you who's who and what's what. But I think half the fun is in putting it all together!

The Kinloch family history and genealogy research files held by the South Carolina Historical Society (SCHS): This collection contains pieces of family history (written down family stories, newspaper articles, family trees, scans of portraits, etc.) pertaining to the American Kinlochs. You can visit the SCHS archives in person at the Addlestone Library in Charleston, SC. It is free to visit, and you are allowed to take as many pictures of the collection as you wish. If you are unable to visit, you can ask the SCHS to provide reproductions for a fee. This collection is not very well organized outside of certain members of the Kinloch family having a dedicated manila folder containing their relevant scraps (literal scraps, as some things are written on old envelopes and the like). There is an abundance of information here, and it seems like a family member at one point tried to compile a lot of their family history, but they may not have had the help or resources to put it into a nicely compiled source or cohesive narrative. But if you're willing to look through it all, you can turn up some really interesting stories!

Various books: Kinloch does receive a mention in various books, though he has no book dedicated wholly to himself. The History of Georgetown County South Carolina by George C Rogers Jr. probably contains the most information about Kinloch, his father Francis Kinloch Sr., and his brother Cleland Kinloch.

Yes, I would be interested! I'm still learning about Kinloch, so probably not right away. I'd feel more comfortable drawing laureloch when I know more about Kinloch, like his personality and in this case, their relationship (how he treated Laurens).