Episode #69: 1806 Timeline Twist & The Salem Divorce Scandal of 1806

West and West

6/4/2025: On today’s episode, we visit our old friends Napoleon and Lewis & Clark. We discuss the beautiful Arc de Triomphe monument, Lewis & Clark’s arrival in St. Louis, which was received with great fanfare (except for that one guy), the invention of carbon paper, the cocktail of cocktails - The Old Fashioned, and finally anthropometry in the 1806 Timeline Twist. Next, Amy Jo tells the sensational story of West v. West, a trial that shocked Salem, Massachusetts society, when wealthy Mrs. Elizabeth “Betsy” West charged the less wealthy Mr. West with adultery during the marriage. It was the first divorce case after a change in divorce law, the scandalous details of which were made much more entertaining by the salacious diary entries of the gossipy Reverend Bentley, who detailed the story seemingly from beginning to end.

The Trail of Lewis and Clark 1804-1806 The Vintage Map Shop, Inc.

Winter snow on the Pikes Peak Highway

Ingres, Napoleon on his Imperial Throne

The Arc de Triomphe during the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

1954 stamp commemorating the Lewis & Clark Expedition, US Postal Service

Advertisement for the Stylographic Manifold Writer

Old-Fashioned Cocktail

​​D-I-V-O-R-C-E - Tammy Wynette

Childhood Home of Elizabeth Derby West

Elias Hasket Derby by James Frothingham

The Grand Turk, one of Derby’s ships

Oak Hill

West Oak Hill Parlor

The Rev. William Bentley

Just Divorced Sign

Sources/Photo Sources

Intro Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisha_Worthington

Timeline Twist Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1806 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_I_on_His_Imperial_Throne

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1806_in_architecture 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1806_in_music 

https://lewis-clark.org/day-by-day/23-sep-1806/ 

https://lewis-clark.org/the-trail/the-final-leg/eighteen-toasts/ 

https://www.edn.com/carbon-paper-is-patented-to-aid-the-blind-october-7-1806/

https://punchdrink.com/recipes/old-fashioned/ 

https://www.merriam-webster.com/time-traveler/1806

Timeline Twist Photo Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_I_on_His_Imperial_Throne#/media/File:Ingres,_Napoleon_on_his_Imperial_throne.jpg 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arc_de_Triomphe#/media/File:PARADE_DES_CHAMPIONS_PARIS_2024_CHAMPS_ELYSEES_(53997937113).jpg 

https://thevintagemapshop.com/products/11860 

https://punchdrink.com/recipes/old-fashioned/ 

https://www.roadtravelamerica.com/pikes-peak-highway.htm 

https://www.nps.gov/articles/the-return.htm

The Salem Divorce Scandal of 1806 Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divorce_in_the_United_States https://www.weberglaw.com/articles/history-of-divorce-law/ https://www.masshist.org/beehiveblog/2012/07/divorce-colonial-style/  https://www.fischervanthiellaw.com/history-of-divorce-in-america/ https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110715843 https://www.sandrawagnerwright.com/west-v-westthe-salem-scandal-of-1806part-3/

https://saleminnma.com/west-vs-west/ https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/elizabeth-derby-west-scandalous-1806-divorce/  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Married_Women%27s_Property_Acts_in_the_United_States

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D-I-V-O-R-C-E  https://www.masshist.org/beehiveblog/2012/07/divorce-colonial-style/ 

The Salem Divorce Scandal of 1806 Photo Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divorce_in_the_United_States#/media/File:Just_divorced.jpg 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elizabeth_Crowinshield_Derby_ca1790s_possibly_by_William_Lovett_MFABoston.png 

https://www.sandrawagnerwright.com/west-v-westthe-salem-scandal-of-1806part-3/ 

https://saleminnma.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Derby-and-West.jpg 

https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/elizabeth-derby-west-scandalous-1806-divorce/ 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D-I-V-O-R-C-E#/media/File:D-I-V-O-R-C-E_-_Tammy_Wynette.jpg