Stylized bust of Jonathan Edwards, carved in white pine and tinted with oils, by C. Keith Wilbur (1982) and photographed by Craig A. Morris. Wilbur, a physician living in Northampton, Massachusetts, is the author of numerous books on early American history, including Revolutionary Medicine (Globe Pequot, 1980), Tall Ships of the World (Globe Pequot, 1986, 1996), Early Explorers of North America (Globe Pequot, 1989), and The Woodland Indians (Globe Pequot, 1995). His JE bust, which appears here by permission, is featured in an online exhibit, Religion and the Founding of the American Republic, by the Library of Congress.
Jonathan Edwards medallion produced for the Hall of Fame for Great Americans at New York University (1972). The reverse side reads: "God: Head of the Universal System on Whom All Is Dependent."
Chocolate
seems to have been a staple in the Edwards household, as it was in many
colonial homes. Chocolate was purchased in a "cake" form, probably unsweetened,
and consumed as a beverage, usually at breakfast. Edwards' letters and
accounts indicate a steady demand for chocolate by his family; he often
had to rely on travelers to Boston and elsewhere to procure it. Below are
some references, culled from documents--mostly personal accounts in the
collections of the Beinecke (Yale) and Forbes (Northampton) libraries.
Mr. Hopkins for a Cake of Chocolate Octob. 1738 [£]6 0
1741 The Revd M Jonathan Edwards to Caleb Lyman &c Dr.
June 22 To 2 [lbs.] Chocolate @ 14/d Seth Pomeroy [£]1.8
To 10 [lbs.] Ditto @ 13/6 [£]6.15
Jan 4 [1742] To 2 [lb.] Chocolate @ 14/ [£]1.0
sent to Boston by Capt John Lyman £3 for Chocolate May 28. 1745 with Letters to Mr. Quincy & Bromfield with the money inclosed to them
Delivered to saul Alvord £3 & to Major Pomroy June. £5- to buy Chocolate Octob. 1747.
Octob 20 [1747] - sent to Boston by Richd Wright for Paper & Chocolate £4-0-0
sent to Boston by Elisha Pomroy for 7 Pound[s] of Chocolate . . . £7- Province Bills september the Last. 1750.
sent six Pound[s] in a Province Bill [to] Boston for chocolate & Ten by Mr. Brown of Stockbridge Novem 1750.
To Capt. Timothy Woodbridge [Letter 206]
[Stockbridge,] June 4, 1755
Sir,
I desire you to deliver this letter, which I have wrote to Col. [John Henry] Lydius about the chocolate, desiring him to deliver the whole of it to you. And here send the paper by which it appears under Mr. [Gideon] Hawley's own hand that the whole £12 was reckoned to me.
If you will bring what remains you will much oblige
Your humble servant,
Jonathan Edwards.
"Edwardsean Facts & Artifacts"!