Richard Waldron IV

Richard Waldron IV's 1735 handwritten transcript of Harvard College laws or regulations is considered the earliest extant example of the use of the slang word "John" to describe a washroom or bathroom or privy.^[1]

Birth and parentage

Richard Waldron IV, a member of a prominent colonial New Hampshire family, was born December 20, 1719,^[2] and baptized in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on January 10, 1719/20.^[3] His parents were Richard Waldron and Elizabeth Westbrook, daughter of Colonel Thomas Westbrook. The oldest of eight children, he was fourth in a direct line of Richard Waldrons stemming from his great-grandfather, Major Richard Waldron.

Impact of a young Harvard College student's assignment

Young men of well-to-do colonial New England families were often sent to Harvard College at about age 14. Richard Waldron IV's own father had graduated in 1712 after entering at about the same age.^[4] One of a new student's first tasks was to hand-write a copy of the College laws or regulations and have these signed by the college president or one of the fellows. Richard made his copy on June 24, 1735, "in his own immature hand and erratic orthography". One of these laws read: "20. No freshman shall ... go into the fellows' cuzjohn."^[5] This has been described by an Oxford dictionaries contributor and author^[6] as the "first recorded use of john for a privy."^[7]

Graduation and decease

Richard Waldron IV graduated in 1738.

He was "lost at sea" in 1745.^[8] "My eldest Son left me abt 2 yrs agoe, to seek his fortune abroad, nothing at home offering to his mind, and him I have not heard of since, but under such circumstances as give reason to believe, yt ye vessel in which he went, with ye whole Company perish'd in ye Deep. This is a gloomy Dispensation..."^[9] Richard IV was one of six children of Secretary Richard and Elizabeth Westbrook Waldron to pass away early. He was unmarried and left no children.^[10]

References