User:RWIR/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.

Birth and parentage
Richard Waldron IV, a member of a prominent colonial New Hampshire family, was born December 20, 1719 and baptized in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on January 10, 1719/20. His parents were Richard Waldron (Secretary) 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.

A Harvard College student
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. . 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 reads: "20. No freshman shall ... go into the fellow's cuzjohn." This has been described as the "first recorded use of john for a privy" by an Oxford dictionaries contributor and author.

Graduation and Decease
Richard Waldron IV graduated in 1738. He was "lost at sea" in 1745, one of six children of Secretary Waldron and Elizabeth to pass away early. He was unmarried and left no children.