It’s officially the start of the Holiday Season or at least it looks it as I sit here at The Crawford County Historical Society’s annual holiday book fair. With holiday parties coming (and food on my mind), what better way to celebrate the holiday season than to make one of Katherine Reynolds’ recipes for your next holiday party!

 

Beat very light and thick the yolks of 6 eggs. Stir the eggs gradually into a quart of rich unskimmed milk, add half pound of sugar, half pint of brandy and grated nutmeg to taste. Next beat the whites of 3 eggs by themselves and stir them quickly into the mixture. Divide into two pitchers and pour it back and forward until it has a fine froth.

 

Egg Nog (No 2) Six eggs, half a pound of sugar, half a pint of brandy or whisky, three pints of cream whipped into a froth. Beat the yolks of the eggs and the sugar together until it is a froth, add the brandy or whisky, next the whites of the eggs beaten stiff, and then the whipped cream.

 

Salmon Croquettes 1 can of salmon, 1 egg well beaten, 1 / 2 cup fine bread crumbs, salt, cayenne pepper, nutmeg, juice of half a lemon. Drain off the liquid and mince the fish, melt and work in 1 tablespoon of butter, season, and if necessary moisten with a little of the liquid, add the crumbs. Form into rolls and flour thickly, and stand in a cold place an hour. Fry in hot fat, and serve on a hot platter, garnish with parsley.

Coconut Macaroons1 / 2 lb. of fine desiccated coconut. 1 / 2 lb. pulverized sugar. Whites of 2 eggs, beaten very stiff with a pinch of salt. After eggs are well beaten add sugar and beat together, add coconut, and roll into balls into your hand. Bake.

Crullers (No 1) 4 eggs, 4 tablespoons of hot lard, 5 or 6 tablespoons of sugar , a little nutmeg, salt, flour to make stiff enough to roll out, fry in hot lard.

Crullers (No 2) 2 cups sugar, 1 cup butter, 2 / 3 of pint of buttermilk or sour milk, 1 teaspoon soda, 4 or 5 eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, roll thin and cut out. Fry in hot lard.

With the Thanksgiving Holiday approaching us in just days, families are scrambling to plan menus, family and social dinners, holiday get-togethers and more. The kitchen becomes one of the most sacred of rooms in the house with aromas of upcoming supper and friends and family fill the parlor.

Katherine Reynolds was as meticulous as the next when it came to holiday meals with friends and relatives and this meal in particular may even sound familiar to a few of her guests on Thanksgiving, 1941:

Thanksgiving 1941-Cocktails and Tomato Juice, Olives, Crackers, Oysters on Half-Shell – Sauces, Soup, Rex Crackers, Celery, Radish, Turkey with Chestnuts and Parsley, Cranberry-Sauce, Mashed Potatoes, Creamed Onions, Cold-Slaw, Bread, Pumpkin Pie and Cheese, Coffee

As some of you might remember, last Christmas season, we reproduced her “Christmas1959” menu in this column as well as sharing a recipe for plum pudding and golden sauce directly from Katherine Reynolds’ hand written recipe book. What better Thanksgiving gift than to share a few of her Thanksgiving favorites with you as you plan your holiday menu. Enjoy!

2 qts. tomatoes, strained

1 teacup rice (uncooked)

a pinch of whole cloves

Have prepared a beef-stock, into which put the tomatoes and rice and boil slowly till the rice is tender, add a little butter, pepper, and salt to taste.

1pt of milk scalded with 1 tbsp. butter, 1 tbsp. sugar, 1 teasp. salt.

Dissolve ½ cake of compressed yeast in half a cup of lukewarm water, and add to the lukewarm milk. Stir together and add gradually 6 or 7 cups of sifted flour, beating well. Do this at bedtime. In the morning knead on the board well, using only enough flour to keep from sticking. Shape into two loaves, and let it rise until double the bulk and bake 40 minutes.Please Note: No oven temperature is listed. A suggestion would be to check a homemade bread recipe and use comparable temperature.

 

Steam the pumpkin till tender and dry, press through a colander and add the other ingredients. Bake in one crust. Makes 4 pies.Please note: Amounts of salt, cinnamon, and ginger were not included in recipe nor was oven temp and time. I would suggest looking at your favorite Pumpkin Pie recipe for amounts of these ingredients and alter for four pies. Do the same with temperature and cooking time.

This week, I’ve been doing research on a building or two and decided to add another addition to our “Dating Your House” series. After spending some time in the Crawford County Courthouse this week doing some sleuthing on a building or two I’m documenting, it occurred to me (after asking for help several times…haha!) that this could be a daunting chore for those not accustomed to public records. A few weeks ago we talked about how to determine the period and architectural style of your home. What we did not cover, however, was determining who actually built your house! This long overdue article will cover just that. Ladies and gentlemen, let’s track down an owner or two, shall we?

 

 

Well…ok, so this is not really a step per se, but there are a few things one must remember when going to the courthouse. There are metal detectors and security guards at the courthouse doors (and with good reason), so let’s talk common sense. The easiest method of entering the courthouse and saving time doing so is to only bring what you need, thus avoiding bag checks, setting off the metal detectors, etc. Your must have list should be as follows:

 

 

Avoid pockets full of miscellaneous items that are unneeded for this trip to save time.

 

 

The first stop you should make in the courthouse is at the Assessor’s Office. This is where current property records are maintained for tax and value purposes. This may not be where you would think to start, but I assure you it saves steps.

 

First, locate your home on the maps available on the left hand wall in the back of the office based on your location in Crawford County (borough, township, city, etc.). This will give you your lot’s identification number which can then be used to pull up the card for your property in the file drawers in the center of the room. These are organized alphabetically by townships or city/borough and can be searched through rather rapidly with the lot number and location name. Your card will have your home’s value, your information (if you own this property, but even more helpful these cards often have the last several owners listed on them including who owned the property, when it was transferred, and possibly even deed book numbers to look at. You may be able to go back several decades without much effort this way. If you don’t find the card…just ask! Often new transfers or lots do not have a card immediately. Now we have this information, let’s move on to the next step!

Researching Charles Yates’ history to go along with his portrait has aroused my interest in some of the other portraits at the museum, especially the rather dignified man now hanging in my 3^rd floor office. Pearson Church has fascinated much of Crawford County for generations. His legal decisions have had great impact in our history and if you spend just a minute outside the 2^nd District School, you’ll see his name on a blue historical marker, outlining his achievement.

 

Pearson Church graduated from Allegheny College in 1856, studying law with his father, judge Gaylord Church. He was admitted to the bar in 1858 at the age of twenty. He was a husband and father of two as well as a mason and active on the Meadville School Board in the 1870s. It wasn’t until 1877, however, that his career really took off.

 

Church was elected President Judge of the Thirteenth Judicial District in 1877. In 1880, however, his legal abilities were put to the test when Elias Allen of Meadville put current school segregation laws to the test.

 

Elias Allen refused to send his son to the all black school in Meadville where the Crawford County School Board assigned him. The school was farther away from Allen’s home than the local white school and all students were educated in one room rather than by grade as in the white school. Allen sued the school board in Crawford County, claiming the 1854 state law, which stated that areas with 20 or more African American students could place them in a separate school, was unconstitutional, basing his claim on the 14^th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. Judge Church agreed, declaring the state school segregation law unconstitutional nearly three-quarters of a century before the famous Brown vs. Board of Education decision in the U.S. Supreme Court.

 

Church was known for other cases as well, including the Tidewater Pipeline Case in 1883 which helped to end the Standard Oil Monopoly (in this case for carrying oil). His judicial record is one to be admired even today and this historical marker and his home still stand in Meadville as his legacy…as well as the portrait on my office wall.

While doing some fall cleaning recently, I couldn’t help but become perplexed at a portrait I was walking past. Charles Yates currently resides in Section 5, Lot 121 of Greendale Cemetery (for those who would like to pay their respect) with both his first and second wife. One wonders, however, what Yates did during his lifetime? What impact did he leave? What happened during the “dash” that is now seen between the dates on his tombstone?

 

After having my interest sparked from this painting, I started digging (in books that is) for more information on my portrait. Charles M. Yates was born January 2, 1804 in Germantown, just outside Philadelphia, PA. He was left as an orphan at approximately eight years old, inheriting his parents’ estate. With this money for a decent education, Yates was put under the direction of a private instructor, Rev. Francis Luther. Several other schools followed, leading him to finish medical school at the University of Maryland in 1825. He practiced for over 40 years in Meadville, retiring here.

 

Charles Yates was married twice. He and his first wife, Maria Buchanan (brother of future President James Buchanan) were married in 1826, having five children. Maria passed away in 1849.

 

The November 13, 1849 issue of the Lancaster Intelligencer printed the following obituary for her:

 

                        “Died at Meadville, on Friday, the 2d instant, Mrs. Maria T. Yates, wife of Dr. Charles M. Yates, and the only surviving sister of the Hon. James Buchanan.  This excellent lady throughout life endeared herself to all her acquaintances by the cheerfulness and benevolence of her disposition, and in the domestic circle she was the object of enthusiastic affection.  Her last illness was long and painful; but she bore it with resignation to the will of her Heavenly Father, and died the death of a Christian.  She has left a husband and six children to deplore their irreparable loss.”

 

In 1850 Yates was remarried to Clara Chamberlain, the daughter of a fellow doctor in Crawford County and had seven more children.

 

Yates was an early physician, upstanding citizen, and notable member of our community and even connects Meadville to a presidential family! What was just another “pretty face” on the walls of the Baldwin-Reynolds House now has a story. The “dash” between his dates is filled in at least a little more!