In My Blood: Six Generations Of Madness And Desire In An American Family

IN MY BLOOD  Six Generations of Madness and Desire in an American Family  John Sedgwick To the memory of my parents, Robert Minturn Sedgwick (1899–1976) and Emily Lincoln Sedgwick (1913–2003) And what thoughts or memories would you guess were passing through my mind on this extraordinary occasion? . . . I shall be frank and tell you what it was, though the confession is a shameful one. I was thinking, “So, I’m Emperor, am I? What nonsense! But at least I’ll be able to make people read my books now.” . . . I was thinking too, what opportunities I should have, as Emperor, for consulting the secret archives and finding out just what happened on this occasion or on that. How many twisted stories still remained to be straightened out. What a miraculous fate for a historian. —Robert Graves, I, Claudius   CONTENTS Epigraph v The Genealogy of the Sedgwick Family x–xi pa rt one PRELIMINARIES 1. My Fall 3 2. Our Graveyard 13 pa rt t wo THE LEGACY 3. A Man of Property 23 4. Mr. Sedgwick Builds His Dream House 31 5. A Friend of Order 35 6. Among the River Gods 43 7. The War Within the War 49 8. Williams Family Secrets 57 9. The Household Did Not Run of Itself 61 viii Contents 10. All Men Are Born Free and Equal 69 11. The Proper Object of Gibbets & Racks 79 12. Bottled Lightning 93 13. The State of Widowhood 99 14. A Disorder of the Blood 107 15. Among the Maniacs 113 16. The Reign of Terror 117 17. Colonel Lovejoy’s Methods 121 18. It Can Not Be Told 133 19. In Mamma’s Room 141 pa rt t hr ee THE LEGACY DEFINED 20. The Third Mrs. Sedgwick 147 21. The Will 153 22. To Worship the Dead 157 23. Catharine in Silhouette 161 24. I Have Located My Heaven 175 25. The Great Central Fire 181 26. In the Country Burial Place, Would I Lie 199 pa rt four THE PRICE OF LEGACY 27. The Great Wheel Turns 207 28. Babbo & Ellery 227 29. Marrying Up 237 30. Good Night, Sweet Prince 243 31. The Family Patriarch 251 ix Contents 32. Evasion and Escape 263 33. Sally & Shan 275 34. The Anti-Helen 279 35. My Mother’s Diary 283 36. A Little Scratch on the Chromosomes 291 37. Little Duke 303 38. Edie, Superstar 315 39. “One Loves to Remember Beauty” 327 40. In Loco Parentis 331 41. “We’re Ruined” 343 42. “Wssht” 355 pa rt fi v e WHAT REMAINS 43. Our Interior Weather 363 44. A Guide to Life 379 Acknowledgments 383 A Note on Sources 387 Index 401 About the Author Other Books by John Sedgwick Credits Cover Copyright About the Publisher The Genealogy of the Sedgwick Family Major General Robert Sedgwick 1613–1656 3 generations m. Elizabeth