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“William L. Maury…”

A letter from Lewis’s soon-to-be wife makes it clear that William Lewis Maury was known as “Cousin L.” or “Lewis.”

Maury, A. (1941). Intimate Virginiana; a century of Maury travels by land and sea. Richmond, Va: Dietz Press, p. 255.

“…from New York to San Francisco.”

Williams, F. L. (1963). Matthew Fontaine Maury: Scientist of the sea. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, p. 190.

“…telegraph cables…”

Williams, F. L. (1963). Matthew Fontaine Maury: Scientist of the sea. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, p. 247.

“…international meteorological body.”

Williams, F. L. (1963). Matthew Fontaine Maury: Scientist of the sea. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, p. 309.

“…empire of wilderness…”

“The Memphis Convention,” J.D.B DeBow, et. al., De Bow’s Commercial Review of the South & West, p. 217.

“Maury attended the Memphis Railroad Convention…”

Williams, F. L. (1963). Matthew Fontaine Maury: Scientist of the sea. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, p. 189.

“…with a peculiar South Carolinian…”

“The Memphis Convention,” J.D.B DeBow, et. al., De Bow’s Commercial Review of the South & West, p. 217.

“Mittag told Maury…”

There is no record of Maury and Mittag speaking at the Memphis Convention of 1848, of Sims or otherwise, but the record clearly indicates—as will be shown later—that Anarcha was experimented on again in Richmond and in New York City, and that she was later owned by William L. Maury. I have used the highly serendipitous meeting of Sims’s former teacher, and William L. Maury’s cousin, Matthew Fontaine Maury, to offer an explanation as to how Anarcha came to be owned by the Maury family.

American Phrenological Journal, unsigned, Vol. XXV, No. 6, June 1857, p. 122.

“…Richard Maury of Memphis…”

Richard Maury, still a teenager at this point in the chronology, would in fact go on to be a gynecologist, and would eventually belong to some of the same medical societies as Sims. More important, Richard Maury, many years later, would serve on the committee that oversaw the raising of funds for the construction of Sims’s New York monument, which stood for many years in Bryant Park before being moved to Central Park. The monument was removed in 2018—marking the first time in the history of New York City that a monument was removed specifically because of concerns over its content.

Details of the committee and donors to the Sims Memorial Fund were printed monthly for a number of years in the 1880s in New York’s premier publication for doctors, the Medical Record.

“…purchased the Bowling Green plantation…”

See “…bought the famous Bowling Green…,” above.

“In the Samoas…”

Wilkes, C., Thiollière, V., & Jenkins (1851). Voyage round the world: Embracing the principal events of the narrative of the United States exploring expedition. New York: G. Putman, p. 190.