U.S. Camel Corps

On March 3, 1855 congress appropriated 30,000 to develop the U.S. Camel Corp. The idea was that camels might be better suited for the SW. Wikipedia has a nice overview of the project and process.

The Camel Corp never really developed because of the camels dispositions.

You can read an early account regarding The Camel: his organization, habits and uses ©1856 Chapter 17. The following chapter speaks on matters for the use of camels with the military.

Can you imagine being one of the men responsible for bringing in camels?

The Camp Hill Disaster or The Great Train Wreck of 1856

Trains are increasingly popular in 1856 and tracks have expanded all over the United States. The tragic event happened on July 17, 1856 between Camp Hill & Fort Washington, Pennsylvania. Records of fatalities are unclear the number is between 39 to 67 and another 100 were injured. In the end the excursion train filled with families & children from a church left behind schedule and were on the track they shouldn't have been when they were hit by a train coming in the opposite direction.

What makes this event worth mentioning on this blog? It was the deadliest railroad catastrophe in the world up to this time.

A copy of the Philadelphia Daily News articles compiled by Stu Beitier has the most information on this disaster.
Additional sources:
The NY Times article
And Wikipedia article

Politics Whigs

The Whig party was a short lived party of two decades but it was an integral part of the Second Party System for the United States. It operated from 1833-1856. The name was chosen for the American Whigs of 1776 who found for independence. The name was also used because the American Whigs were opposing autocratic rule.

We had four presidents who were Whigs, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore. Both Harrison and Taylor died in office leaving their VP's to hold the office.

The party fell apart because of anti-slavery faction. Lincoln left the party and ran as a Republican when he ran for president.

Thoughts about the Railroads from 1856

Here's an excerpt from the "Incidents of Western Travels" by Rev. George Pierce. The letters were written in 1856 and published in 1857.

Here are his thoughts on railroad travel:
I should cheerfully resign all my interest, as a traveller, in horses, buggies, and steamboats, to be assured on every route of a railroad. It is a grand invention. A pyramid is a regal toy compared with this modern contrivance for getting along. I trust that all which have been built will last for ever; that all in progress will go on to completion; that those which have been talked about will become realities, and that thousands more will be projected and finished. Success to them all! Highways of travel and commerce, they facilitate intercourse, enrich the country, save time, and enable a man to see as much—to go as far in a few months—as in the ordinary lifetime of our grandfathers. What a boon to a man who has been long from home ! How swiftly they bear him on his way! The iron horse seems to sympathize with his impatience, and, breathing smoke and fire, bounds along his destined track as though he were glad to confer a favor. I acknowledge my indebtedness for his help on many a weary journey.

Galveston 1856

Below is an excerpt from the "Incidents of Western Travels" by Rev. George Pierce ©1857 These letters were his reflections on his travels from GA to Nashville, to Oklahoma, to Arkansas, to Texas and back to GA.

Galveston, the " city of cottages," is a charming place. Open to the winds on every side, with wide streets and sandy soil, and a soft and balmy climate, it is eligibly located for a great and nourishing mart. Orange and lemon trees are found in almost every garden. They grow luxuriantly, and were laden with fruit when I was there in December last. The oleander is the common ornamental shrub in the town. It flourishes even along the sidewalks. The plantain, too, with its clustering fruit, is successfully cultivated. What the temperature may be in summer, I know not; but a visitor in winter would conclude that the good people had the productions of the tropics, without the accompanying fervor of a tropical climate. It is wellnigh impossible to conceive of a finer beach than the one around Galveston. An evening ride on these surf-beaten sands is a delightful recreation. The beautiful and the sublime, nature and art, the works of God and the inventions of men, combine in panoramic order. The island, with its human habitations; the Gulf, with its ever-heaving waters; the steamship, bannered with smoke, proudly defying wind and wave; the sea-birds, with tireless wing fanning the air, or descending to ride upon the billows ; the merry voices of the gay and the glad, as they gather shells upon the shore, mingling with the everlasting roar of the tide in its ebb and its flow, constitute a scene where one may well pause to think and feel, to admire and adore.

Galveston cannot be a sickly place, unless it be by the criminal.carelessness of the city authorities, or the bad habits of the people. Yellow-fever certainly cannot originate there, and if it prevail at all, it must be by importation. When Texas shall count her citizens by the million, and communication with the interior by railroads shall be opened, this city on the Gulf of Mexico will become an emporium of wealth and commerce.

Coffee on the Trail

Below is an impression about Coffee taken from the "Incidents of Western Travels," letters written by George Pierce a Methodist Minister on a trip out to the Indian Mission in Oklahoma in 1856 and published in 1857. I'm supplying the context for you to enjoy his comments about coffee.

A little before dark we came to an Indian cabin, and by signs and gestures made known our wish to tarry for the night. By signs and gestures we were made to understand that we could stay. We were left, of course, to wait upon ourselves; so we stripped our horses and led them to water; and when we returned, our host had brought to the lot a turn of corn and fodder, and as he let his own horses out, we put ours in and fed them to our hearts' content. Now we marched to the house t* see about our own prospects for food and rest. There was but one room, but this was neat and comfortable, save that there was about it an undefinable odor, any thing but pleasant. It is common, I learned, to Indian habitations. The man, his wife and children, were well clad, and were attentive and polite according to their notions. N"ot a word of English could we get from any of the household. They could speak it, for they understood us very well in much of our talk: that was very obvious. My good friend, McAlister, undertook to secure us a good supper by giving special directions, more particularly about the coffee—with me, when good, a favorite article. But, alas ! he succeeded better with every thing else than with this necessary beverage. By the way—pardon a little digression on this interesting theme—bad coffee is one of the afflictions of the land, and it is one of the miseries of travel. We find it everywhere—in taverns and private houses—among the rich and the poor. Often, when every thing else is clean and well prepared, the coffee is execrable stuff. Weak, or black, or unsettled, it is enough to make a well man sick. Why is this ? It is not stinginess, for there is often enough of the raw material, if it had been boiled and cleared. Sometimes, it is true, a man has to drink a good deal of wate» to get a little coffee ; but, generally, the difficulty is that the fluid is.muddy, the grounds all afloat; and then "the cup cheers" not, but sadly offends sight, smell, and taste. The country needs a reform. It is more necessary to the welfare of the people than some other things that agitate the nation. In these days of Womens' Rights I will not invade their province by pretending to give a recipe. I will only say, there must be good grains, well parched—not burnt—well boiled, and well settled; and then, as the cookery-books say, cream (not milk) and siigar "according to taste." A lady of my acquaintance says it takes a tablespoonful of coffee to every cup; a little more would not hurt to make the article decently good. I wish the people—Indians and all—would try her proportions.

Ice Box Refrigeration

Below are some interesting facts regarding refrigeration using an icebox. Often times today we think of those in the 19th century of not having refrigeration. And in terms of what we have today, that's somewhat true. However, below I've listed a few facts to help us rethink what our ancestors might have been using in the 19th century.

A lawsuit: Alaska Refrigerator Co. v. Wisconsin Refrigerator Co. et al. (Circuit Court, AT. D. Illinois. July 13,1891.)
Dealt with a patent violation: Here's the facts. The original patent No. 8,463, reissued October 22, 1878 and originally issued July 24th, 1877.

In another lawsuit it states "The original letters patent were granted to Azel S. Lyman, as inventor, Mar. 25, 1856 and were extended for seven years from Mar. 25, 1879 and were reissued to Lyman, Dec. 26, 1871 ...

This notes that the ice box was patented as early as 1856.

According to Ellen Plante in her book "The American Kitchen." She states that iceboxes were available in 1860 but not widely used until 1880.

In 1864 we have reference to the Refrigerator (icebox) in "The American Home cook Book: with several hundred excellent recipes by American Lady ©1864.

Thanksgiving Cranberries Part 1

How does this relate to the 19th century? Note that it is a native fruit of North America. Also, note where the cranberry is grown. In my opinion it makes for a unique setting and occupation. Also there is a paragraph below that relates to the growth of this industry in the 19th century. But the primary reason for including this excerpt about the cranberry for Thanksgiving is because it was a part of the early Thanksgiving celebrations in Plymouth, MA.

Here is an excerpt from: From the Cyclopedia Of American Horticulture ©1906

CRANBERRY. A name applied to trailing species of the genus Vaccinium (JSricAcece). Of the true Cranberries there are two species in North America,—the small ( Vaccinium Oxycoccus), and the large ( V. macrocarpon). These are native to swamps, where they trail their slender stems and little oval evergreen leaves over the sphagnum and boggy turf. The red, firm berries ripen late in fall, and often persist on the vines until spring, when well protected with snow. Each berry is borne on a slender pedicel; and the curve of this pedicel in the European species is said to have suggested the name Craneberry, which is now shortened to Cranberry. See Vaccinium.

The large Cranberry, Vaccinium macrocarpon, is now cultivated on hundreds of acres in the United States; and this Cranberry culture is one of the most special and interesting of all pomological pursuits. This Cranberry grows only in North America; and North America is the only country which has a domestic or cultivated Cranberry. Because Cranberry-growing is such an unusual type of horticulture, it is thought advisable to devote considerable space to it in this Cyclopedia.

Cranberries may be grown on land both low and high; but it is the general experience that low, boggy lands are the only ones which give permanently good results. In the winter, the natural Cranberry bogs are usually flooded, and in summer they are free of standing water. The flowers are often caught by the late frosts of spring, and the fruit may be injured by the early frosts of fall. Bogs are often ruined by fire in times of drought. Insects and fungi often play havoc with the crop.

The ideal bog for Cranberry culture is the one in which the natural environments of the plant are most nearly imitated, and in which the grower can have the greatest control over the difficulties mentioned above. It should have the following qualifications : (1) Capability of being drained of all surface water, so that frea water does not stand higher than one foot below the surface in the growing season. (2) Soil which retains moisture through the summer, for Cranberries suffer greatly in drought. (3) Sufficient water supply to enable it to be flooded. (4) A fairly level or even surface, so that the flooding will be of approximately uniform depth over the entire area. (5) Not over-liable to frosts. Bogs which contain moss or sphagnum and which have a peaty or mucky soil are usually chosen. If heath-like shrubs grow naturally in the bog, the indications are all the better. The presence of the Cassandra or Leatherleaf is regarded as a good augury. Black ash, red maple, swamp huckleberry, and white cedar swamps are often very satisfactory. Old mill-ponds often give good results.

Before the Cranberries are planted, the bog must be cleaned of trees, bushes, moss and roots. This may be done by "turfing," which is the digging out of the flood in spring or fall, to kill insects or to protect from frosts. The objects of flooding are as follows: (1) to protect the plants from heaving in winter ; (2) to avoid late spring and early fall frosts ; (3) to drown insects; (4) to protect from drought; (5) to guard against Hre. Unless serious contingencies arise, the bog is flooded only in winter. A flooded bog looks like a lake (Fig. 568). Good results are obtained now and then in "dry"or upland bogs, which cannot be flooded; but such bogs or meadows rarely give uniform results, and they are less advised than formerly.

There are three centers of Cranberry growing in North America,— Cape Cod peninsula, New Jersey, Wisconsin. Each has methods peculiar to itself. It was in the Cape Cod region that Cranberry culture began. The first attempts were made early in this century. William Kenrick, writing in 1832 in this "Orchardist," says that "Capt. Henry Hall, of Barnstable, has cultivated the Cranberry twenty years;" "Mr. P. A. Hayden, of Lincoln, Mass., is stated to have gathered from his farm in 1830, 400 bushels of Cranberries, which brought him in Boston market $600." In the second and subsequent editions, Kenricks makes the figure $400. It is not said whether Mr. Hayden's berries were wild or cultivated. At the present day, with all the increase in production, swamp growth, or by "drowning," which is deeply flooding the place for a year. The method of preparing the surface for receiving the plants varies in different regions. Open ditches are run through the place in sufficient number to carry off the surface water. They are usually made 2 to 4 feet deep. If some water stands in them during the summer, better results are expected. These ditches usually feed into one main or central ditch; and this main ditch is preferably the one which, when dammed at its lower end, floods the bog by backing up the water. Growers prefer, if possible, to divert a living brook through the bog, or to straighten and deepen one which may exist there ; but in the absence of a brook, a reservoir may be constructed above the bog. Sufficient water supply should be had to cover the entire area from December until April or early May, to a depth of at least one foot. The lower places will have a deeper covering, but 4 or 5 feet in places usually does no harm in the winter. It 569. Cranberry hand-picker, also may be necessary to prices are higher than those received by Mr. Hayden.

In the third (1841) and subsequent editions, it is said that "an acre of Cranberries in full bearing will produce over 200 bushels ; and the fruit generally sells, in the markets of Boston, for $1.50 per bushel, and much higher than in former years." It was as late as 1850, however, that Cranberry culture gained much prominence. It was in 1856 that the first treatise appeared : B. Eastwood's "Complete Manual for the Cultivation of the Cranberry." About 1845, Cranberry culture began to establish itself in New Jersey.

In the Cape Cod region, the bogs are "turfed." The surface covering is cut into small squares and hauled off. The object is to obtain a uniform surface in order that all plants may have equal opportunity. The bog is then "sanded." Rather coarse, clean sand is spread over the entire area to the depth of about 4 inches. In this covering, the vines are planted. The sand keeps down weeds and thereby lessens subsequent labor; it affords a moisture-holding mulch for the muck; it renders the plantation easier to be worked in wet weather, and it prevents the too vigorous growth of the vine. Every four of five years a fresh sanding, to the depth of an inch or less, is given. This keeps the vines short and close. Formerly, whole roots or " sods " of Cranberry were used for planting, but now cuttings are employed. These cuttings are 6- or 8-inch pieces of rigorous runners, with the leaves on. They are thrust obliquely through the sand, only an inch or two of the top remaining uncovered. They are set about 14 inches apart each way. In three or four years a full crop is obtained. The bogs are kept clean by means of hand weeding. At Cape Cod, it is estimated that the sum of $300 to $500 per acre is required to flt and plant a bog. A good yield from a bog in full bearing is 50 barrels to the acre ; but 200 barrels have been grown.

In New Jersey, the general tendency is to omit the sanding. The bogs are not cleared so carefully. The plants are often set directly in the earth bottom, after the heavy turf is removed. The bogs—or meadows, as they are usually called—are not kept so scrupulously clean. It is thought that a reasonable quantity of grass prevents scalding of the berries. If the vines become too by the form of the berry, —the bell-shaped (Pig. 570), the bugle-shaped (Pig. 571), and the cherry-shaped (Fig. 572). There are many named varieties in each of these classes, differing in size, color, firmness, keeping qualities, productiveness. These varieties have been selected from plants which have appeared naturally in the bogs. Some of them have been discovered in wild bogs. The demands of the market, as respects varieties, are constantly changing. In Massachusetts, the following varieties are now popular: Early Black, Howe, Matthews, McFarliu.

The Cranberry is now a staple article of food in North America. "Turkey and Cranberry sauce" may be said to be the national dish. The berries are used in great variety of dishes. An effort has been made to open an European market, and an agent was sent abroad in 1891 for that purpose by the American Cranberry Trade Company. The export trade has now assumed some importance, and is growing. The approximate Cranberry crops for a series of years are shown below, in bushels:

deep, they are mown or burned in order to secure a fresh growth from the roots.

The gathering of the crop is done preferably by hand-picking, particularly in plantations which" are well cared for. In some eases the berries are raked off with a steel garden rake, but many of them are lost and bruised, and the vines may be injured. It is said by some that the tearing out of the old and large vines in the raking tends to renew the plants, and this is undoubtedly true; but there are better ways of keeping the vines young and short, as by sanding or mowing. In the East, raking is now rarely employed, unless the crop is very poor or prices very low; or unless hard frost is expected, in which case the berries may be raked, the bog flooded, and the berries caught at the flume. Sometimes the bog is flooded when hard frost is threatened and the water is allowed to remain all winter, and the berries are harvested in the spring; but such early flooding may injure the vines. The price paid for the picking of Cranberries is usually about 40 to 50 cts. a bushel. Three to four bushels is considered to be an average day's picking. There are various devices to facilitate the picking. On Cape Cod a popular implement is the Lumber1: picker (Fig. 5C9). The machine is tjirust into the vines, and the operater closes the lid by bearing down with his thumb; drawing it backward pulls off the berries. Usually the pickers are"lined-off " (Fig.568) by cords stretched across the bog, thus limiting each one to a particular area, which he is required to pick clean. The berries are cleaned by running them through a separator, by passing them over a screen, by floating off the litter by dowsing them in water, and by other means. Dowsing usually reduces the market value. They are then marketed in barrels or crates.

Of varieties there are three general types, determined:

The Low-bush Cranberry, or Wolfberry (V. VitisIdaa), is much used in Nova Scotia and other parts, and is gathered and shipped in large quantities to Boston; but it is not cultivated. This berry is also common in Europe, where it is much prized. The quantities of this fruit imported into the U. S. from various sources is considerable. For example, between July 24 and Dec. 31, 1897, the following imports were received (as compiled by Rider):

The Cranberry is subject to the attacks of various insects, for most of which the best remedy is flooding, although the fruit-worm is probably best destroyed by spraying with arsenites. There are also fungous troubles. For information on all these difficulties, the bulletins of the New Jersey Experiment Station are the best literature.

The best literature on the Cranberry is comprised in the Proceedings of the American Cranberry Growers' Association, with headquarters at Trenton, N. J. This society holds an "annual meeting" in January, and an "annual convention" in August. Beginning with 1880, it has published regular reports of each of these gatherings. The standard books are White's "Cranberry Culture," largely from the New Jersey standpoint, and Webb's "Cape Cod Cranberries."

Notes By A Wisconsin Grower.— Cranberries are raised mainly in the states of Massachusetts, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota. The eastern marshes are mostly "made," while in Wisconsin there are thousands of acres of natural marsh as yet entirely uncultivated, as well as much that is cultivated.

The natural soil for the Cranberry is peat. Sand is also good, but, when used alone, must have a new coat of it spread over the ground every few years, as it becomes exhausted and the vines become woody and cease to bear. The ideal soil seems to be a foundation of peat, with from 2 to 4 inches of sand spread over it. It is very desirable that the surface should be level, so that it can all be kept equally moist. The leveling is usually done by "scalping," i. e., taking off the sod and carrying it away. This also removes the moss and other foul vegetation, and gives the vines a chance to take full possession of the ground. If scalping is considered too expensive, the moss may be killed by flooding in winter and drawing the water off in spring ; but it takes two or three years for it to rot sun *, ittly to allow vines to do well. Plowing is sometimes resorted to where it can be done, or the sods turned upside down by some other means.

The best sites for Cranberry raising are those which afford a perfect water supply. There should be a reservoir of water on the upper side of the marsh (and if it is on the north or northwest so much the better, as it will then be more sure protection from frost), which can be emptied on to the marsh at short notice; and there must also be good drainage, to carry it away from the marsh quickly when desired. A level piece of marsh which has vines already growing on it looks very tempting to the uninitiated, but, if it has not a good water supply, it is better to leave it in the natural state and take the crops which grow in favorable seasons, than to spend money improving it.

A good sand marsh may be made near any stream in a sandy region by selecting a spot where water can be drawn from the stream, but there should also be a reservoir to hold water in, as that which comes directly from a running stream is sometimes too cold for Cranberries.

If dams are built from the sods thrown from the ditches, it is desirable, at least for the reservoir dam?, to cover them with sand. This should be put mostly on the top and upper side, and should slope from the top of the dam to the center of the ditch. This prevents muskrats from doing very much damage, and the dam is not so apt to be washed out by high water as when built in a perpendicular wall. The cheapest way to move sand to build dams or for spreading on the marsh is to haul it on sleighs in the winter. A platform is built on rockers, so that the load may be dumped at one side of the sleigh ; and two loads in a place on a good peat dam will make a heavy reservoir dam. The pit from which sand is taken should be well protected with snow or sawdust to prevent its freezing badly. One of the best ways of making waste-gates is to place three joists lengthwise of the dam a little below the bottom of the ditch, and a platform built upon them, and the whole settled down as firmly as possible; then the dam is built right onto the platform for 3 or 4 feet on each side, and then the sideboards put in place, and cleats nailed up and down into which to slip the sluice boards. It is a good plan to have an outside ditch, which will carry surplus water around the marsh instead of across it, in wet seasons.

D.L. Moody

"I remember when I was a boy I used to try to walk across a field after the snow had fallen, and try to make a straight path; and as long as I kept my eye on a point at the other side of the field, I could make a straight path, but if I looked over my shoulder to see if I was walking straight, I would always walk crooked—always. And where I find people turning around to see how others walk, they always walk crooked. But if you want to walk straight through this world, keep your eye on the Captain of your salvation, who has gone within the vale. Just keep your eye on Him, and you will have peace and light.

I remember, too, I used to try to catch my shadow. I used to try to see if I could not jump over my head. I ran and jumped, but my head always kept just so far ahead of me. I never could catch my shadow, but I remember when I was a little boy, I was running with my face toward the sun, and I looked over my shoulder and I found my shadow coming after me.

And I find since I became a Christian, that if I keep my eye on the Son of Righteousness, peace and light and joy and everything follow in the train; but if I get my eye off Him, I always get into darkness and trouble. So if you want to keep in the light, keep your eye fixed on the Son of Righteousness and follow Him."

Excerpt from Dwight L. Moody:the man and his mission ©1900

D. L. Moody was one of the most well known evangelists during the 19th century. Moody converted to evangelical Christianity in 1855. He moved to Chicago in 1856. It was there that his ministry began.

Saw Horse

When I saw the image of the sawhorse in this children's primer I was surprised for a moment. Today most sawhorses that carpenters work with aren't in this shape. So, I thought it would make an interesting tidbit for writers. Enjoy!

There is another easy letter besides o and s. It is x. The letter x is easy, because it is shaped like a cross, or like the end of a saw-horse.

Look, now, at this picture, and see if you see any thing in it
that looks like an x.
It is a saw-horse. What is a saw-horse for? To saw wood. Each end of the saw-horse is formed of two bars crossing each other. The lower ends of the bars spread, and form the legs. Don't you see that the lower ends make legs?
The upper ends spread, and make places to rest the ends of the stick of wood in while the man" is sawing it.
Do you see the place where they put the stick of wood in this saw-horse when they saw it? Is there any wood in the sawhorse now? No, there is not. The sticks of wood are lying all about in the snow.
What a cold-looking place! The ground in the yard is covered with snow, and so is the roof of the house. Even the top of the chimney is covered with snow. See, too, how the snow is piled up against the windows, and against the door under the porch! The people ought to come out and shovel the paths.
But perhaps there are no people there. I think that if there were any we should see smoke coming from the chimney.
What is this picture put in here to show you? Do you think you shall know the x whenever you see it after this? Now we will turn over the leaf and see another picture.
Source: Learning to Read ©1856

1856 Fashions

It's Historic Fashion Wednesday and 1856 Fashions is the topic of today's post. Below are several images from 1856 sources.

Dresses

Children

Cloak & Jacket

Riding Habit

Bonnet

Caps

Baby Hood

Purse