Mary Cary Ambler (1732 – May 1781) was an early American diarist. Her 1770 diary provides an early account of smallpox inoculation in colonial America.[1][2][3]
Mary Cary was the daughter of Colonel Wilson Cary (1702-1772), owner of the plantation Ceelys on the James in Elizabeth City County, Virginia, and his wife Sarah (1710-1783).[4][5] In 1754, eighteen-year-old Mary Cary married Edward Ambler (1733-1768), the son of wealthy merchant Richard Ambler (1690-1766) and heiress Elizabeth Jaquelin. Edward Ambler was a graduate of Cambridge University who was six feet tall and fond of wearing red velvet suits trimmed with gold lace.[5][6]
They had seven children, three of whom lived to adulthood:[7]
Elizabeth Ambler (1754-1756)
Richard Ambler (1756-1759)
Edward Ambler (1758-1782)
Sarah Ambler Macon (1760-1782)
Colonel John Ambler (1762-1836)
Mary Ambler (1764-1768)
Martha Ambler (1764-1768)
Edward Ambler inherited the Yorktown property of his father in 1766 and the couple lived there. When his brother John Ambler died later that year, Edward Ambler also inherited his father's property on Jamestown Island from his brother. The couple moved to Jamestown, preferring the natural and historical setting. Edward Ambler died "after a tedious illness" in 1768.[5][6]
In 1770 took her children Sarah and John on a three month journey to Baltimore, Maryland in order to get them inoculated against smallpox, a frequent and lethal disease of the time, by a "Dr.Stephenson", presumably John Stevenson. The process was lengthy and expensive. In her diary, Ambler wrote about the process, the details of their meals and travel, and her appreciation for her Baltimore landlady's library, especially Sermons to Young Women.[1][2][3][8]
During the American Revolutionary War, Ambler decamped further inland for Hanford County, Virginia, renting her Jamestown property to a Captain Edward Travis. She died there in 1781 and was buried in Jamestown at her request.[5]
Mary Cary is sometimes said to have been a love interest of a young George Washington, but this is due to confusion with her elder sister, Sally Fairfax.[7]
^ abAmbler, M. (1937). "Diary of M. Ambler, 1770". The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. 45 (2): 152–170. ISSN 0042-6636. JSTOR 4244789.
^ abMartin, Crista (1999–2002). Anne Commire; Deborah Klezmer (eds.). Women in world history: a biographical encyclopedia. Waterford, CT: Yorkin Publications. ISBN 1-4144-1267-3. OCLC 186968548.
^ abBreslaw, Elaine G. (2012). Lotions, potions, pills, and magic : health care in early America. New York. ISBN 978-0-8147-3938-9. OCLC 813286346.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Pecquet du Bellet, Louise (1907). Some prominent Virginia families. Vol. 2. pp. 64–65.
^ abcdMcCartney, Martha (2000). Documentary History of Jamestown Island(PDF). Vol. 3. National Park Service. pp. 9–11. OCLC 45751986.
^ abRafa, Cheryl (November 1987). "The Ambler Family in Virginia - Historic Jamestowne Part of Colonial National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
^ abPecquet du Bellet, Louise (1907). Some prominent Virginia families. Vol. 1. pp. 23–28.
^Hayes, Kevin J. (1996). A colonial woman's bookshelf. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press. ISBN 0-87049-937-8. OCLC 33667521.
eighteen-year-old MaryCary married Edward Ambler (1733-1768), the son of wealthy merchant Richard Ambler (1690-1766) and heiress Elizabeth Jaquelin. Edward Ambler was...
favor of slave owners. Marshall met Mary "Polly" Ambler, the youngest daughter of state treasurer Jaquelin Ambler, during the Revolutionary War, and soon...
outbreak of the Civil War. He was married to MaryCaryAmbler, daughter of Major Thomas Marshall Ambler and Lucy Johnston, from the neighboring estate...
and 1776, and the Virginia state legislature. Anne Cary Randolph was the daughter of Archibald Cary, an important Virginia planter. Anne's grandmother...
"Trailblazing African-American women to be honored at William & Mary Commencement". College of William & Mary. March 23, 2018. Archived from the original on May 11...
the parking ticket on his Hungadunga. In Marc Eliot's 2005 biography of Cary Grant, Eliot wrote that as a teenager, Grant favored Zeppo: While the rest...
Allen Isaac Allerton Jr. Willoughby Allerton Thomas Allonby Edward Ambler John Ambler Charles Anderson George Anderson John Anderson Matthew Anderson Richard...
would be in danger if yesterday's unforgotten little tramp were allowed to amble down the gangplank of a steamer or plane in an American port". The same...
pp. 1–10. ISBN 978-1-4381-0815-5. Cary, Wilson Miles (1896). "The Dandridges of Virginia". The William and Mary Quarterly. 5 (1). JSTOR: 30–39. doi:10...
Republican 1870–1916 William Allison 1782–1786 Middle Charles Alt Henry S. Ambler 1899–1905 24 Republican 1836–1905 George A. Amedore, Jr. 2015–2020 46 Republican...
Sevilla Delofski Home Movies United Artists Brian De Palma (director); Kim Ambler, Dana Edelman, Robert Harders, Stephen Le May, Charlie Loventhal, Gloria...
production company(1958) The Night Comers with Jean Simmons – adaptation of Eric Ambler book State of Siege The Four Winds from a 1954 novel by David Beatty – for...
was the eldest of three children. Her parents, Walter Fletcher Murray and Mary Campbell Van Horne, were of Scottish and Dutch descent, and attended West...
Ehrhart represented the district since 2019. 3rd term incumbent Democratic Mary Frances Williams represented the district since 2019. 7th term incumbent...
organizational theorist Leon P. Alford (1877–1942) - scientific management Tim Ambler (born 1938) - marketing effectiveness Igor Ansoff (1918–2002) - strategic...
Albright Maya Angelou Nellie Bly Lydia Moss Bradley Mary Steichen Calderone Mary Ann Shadd Cary Joan Ganz Cooney Gerty Cori Sarah Grimké Julia Ward Howe...
United Kingdom (specially England). Became a U.S. citizen in 2015. Ernest Ambler - Born and raised in the United Kingdom (specially England). Became an American...
government to large plantations owned by the Ambler and Travis families. Built circa 1750 by Richard Ambler, 350 yards east of the old Jamestown Church...
Greater London Borough (1915–1965) Carterton Oxfordshire town council Castle Cary Somerset town council Castleford West Yorkshire borough (1955–1974) Chagford...
Influence, and Representation". Cather Studies. 10. doi:10.2307/j.ctt1d98c6j.12. Cary, Richard (1973). "The Sculptor and the Spinster: Jewett's "Influence"on Cather"...
Town of Reading. October 26, 2017. Retrieved November 18, 2017. Shuman, Cary (April 27, 2019). "Council Votes to Ban Single-Use Plastic Bags". Revere...