Author Archives: dfrierson1

George Dargan Frierson 23Jun1921 – 22Mar2014

On this 102nd anniversary of George Dargan Frierson’s (GDF) birth, I thought it would be interesting to look at his life through the articles I could find by searching newspapers.com. Typing “Dargan Frierson” in the search box, yielded 219 instances of his name in all the newspapers they have digitized, 199 of them in South Carolina.

Dargan-FriersonWedding1911 Here’s one of the first to pop up, a 1911 article in a Sumter newspaper announcing the marriage of GDF’s parents and thus solving the mystery of where he got his name! There is a typo in the article, the house where Georgia and John were married was named Marston.

GDF was born a little more than 10 years after the marriage, his older brother John L. Frierson Jr. (“Jack”) having been born in 1915. I am assuming that both boys were born at Fairview, the home that John and Georgia built after their marriage in 1911, situated north of Cherry Vale, the old Frierson home.

Watchman_Southron_14Dec1929__Shell_Explosion There was no newspaper coverage of young Dargan’s early years until 1929 when he made it into not only the local Watchman & Southern paper in Sumter County but also The Record and The State in Columbia for shooting himself in the stomach! Read the articles to see how he did it.

He did recover, and lived a long life, albeit with a large noticeable abdominal scar that had to be explained every time he went for a swim in the lake or ocean!

Dargan attended elementary and high school in Stateburg at the Hillcrest school where his mother taught music, and he appears on the honor roll each year in the newspapers as they publish the record of happenings there.

Then as a 17 year-old high school graduate, rising freshman at the University of South Carolina, Dargan and his parents move to Columbia. Apparently, Georgia returns to Stateburgh to teach at Hillcrest in each fall as this letter from Dargan in October of 1939 indicates. It was addressed to Mrs. John L. Frierson c/o S.O. Plowden, his Aunt Theo’s residence, and tells of his securing a job at Copeland’s clothing store in Columbia and how it’s going to limit his social life (Ha!) – see below!

Here’s a photo of the well-dressed sophomore!

All the remaining newspaper mentions of GDF during his college days reflect his involvement in the social clubs at USC: Alpha Tau Omega fraternity and the German Club are two examples.

I don’t remember too much talk about Lil Boulware, but certainly remember Kitty Bird, later married to Greensboro banker (NCNB) Tom Storrs. Tom and Kitty are remembered as friends to Dargan and Jo during their time in Greensboro.

Except for serving as best man in his older brother Jack’s wedding to Beverly Hook in June of 1942, no mention is made of GDF’s life at USC until articles about his time in the Army Air Corps begin appearing. The first was in May of 1943 mentioning his completion of basic flight school at Minter Field near Bakersfield, CA, and his heading on to Advanced flight training at Luke Field in Phoenix, Arizona.

By August of 1943, Dargan has gotten his wings at Luke Field and is stationed at Randolph Field in Texas to learn to become a flight instructor and this is what he will do for the remainder of the Second World War. He is then sent to Gardner Field in Taft, CA, where he teaches basic and advance flying. I remember many stories about this era and of course this is where Dargan met his love and future wife in 1944, Josephine Daniels of Bellingham, WA.

Here’s a little clip from December of 1943, about his first trip back home to Stateburg since entering the Army Air Corps.

Dargan returns to California after this Christmas visit home and within 4 months is married to Josephine Daniels, much to the shock (I’m sure!) of his parents (and hers too!). Here’s a link to the full page marriage notice in The State newspaper in Columbia from April, 1944: 23Apr1944TheStateGDfJDWedding

Dargan’s mother visited the newly weds in Taft in November of 1944 and they must have shown her around Hollywood and LA!

After Taft, Dargan and Jo are transferred to Lubbock, TX, where he is promoted to 1st Lt. and they remain there til the end of the war. I don’t remember Mom ever talking much about Texas, but she was apparently involved as an officer’s wife in some social affairs – see the article from the Lubbock newspaper from June of 1945.

After the war, Dargan decides to go back to Law School at the University of South Carolina where his Uncle Nelson is just retiring as the Dean after more than 20 years. Here’s an ad Dargan placed in January of 1946 to try to find an apartment:

He doesn’t mention that his wife is 6 months pregnant, but then here’s a note from April, 18, 1946, from The State:

Then in May of 1947, Dargan is admitted to the Bar in SC and never practices… He’s decided to become an FBI agent and the next newspaper mention of him is in the Sumter Item about the visit his parents make to Detroit in August of 1950, where he and his young family are stationed.

By 1952, the growing Frierson family has moved to Greensboro (13 Branch Court, 2503 Woodview Dr. and finally 604 North Elam Ave.) and this is where Dargan and Jo will spend the rest of their lives. There are many stories left to tell about these Greensboro days…

Frederick R. Spencer’s Portrait of Daniel Kellogg

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Portrait of Daniel Kellogg by Frederick R. Spencer

I Daniel Kellogg by Charles L. Elliott, a copy of Frederick Spencer’s portrait.

I’ve learned some interesting things this week from Kihm Winship’s Blog about Skaneateles, NY, the village which was home to my 4th great-grandfather Daniel Kellogg. I had found among Uncle Nelson’s papers a promotional advertisement from the bank of Auburn that had a copy of a portrait of DK on it. Then I read about that portrait in the blog, and it’s reproduced to the left. It is a copy of one originally painted by Frederick R. Spencer a noted New York portrait artist. The copy was made by Charles L. Elliott for the Bank of Auburn. I’m not certain of the actual date of the original Spencer painting, but it was most certainly done between Daniel Kellogg’s death in May of 1836, and the date of the receipt shown below Oct. 3, 1836. The receipt is for both the painting and frame and was given by the artist to Rev. Mr. A. L. Converse, the son-in-law of Mr. Kellogg. You will recall that in 1825, Augustus L. Converse had married Daniel Kellogg‘s daughter Mary Ann Kellogg (1805-1848) and they moved to Stateburg, S.C. where he had been called to be the rector of the Holy Cross Church. Their daughter Catherine Kellogg Converse was born there in 1827 and she later married John Napoleon Frierson in 1844. I’m not sure if the Spencer painting ever hung in the Converse home in Stateburg, but according to the Skaneateles blog, it definitely hung in Daniel Kellogg Leitch’s home on Academy Street and was donated to the Onondaga Historical Association in Syracuse, NY, by Leitch’s widow in 1908. Daniel Kellogg Leitch was the son of one of Daniel Kellogg’s other daughters, Catherine Hyde Kellogg (1814-1862) and George Leitch.

John Lawrence Frierson (1883-1963)

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John Lawrence Frierson (b. 9/4/1883, d.1/30/1963) is my paternal grandfather – we called him “Papa” and his many friends called him “Johnny”. He was born in Stateburg, S.C., prepared for college at Porter Military Academy in Charleston and entered Hobart College (now Hobart and William Smith College) in Geneva, New York, in 1901 where he studied for two years. His oldest brother Nelson Frierson had graduated from Hobart in 1896 and no doubt Nelson encouraged John to follow in his footsteps. Hobart at the time was affiliated with the Episcopal Church as was the Porter Military Academy and it was always my understanding that admitting “Southern boys” into the mix at Hobart was an attempt by the Episcopal Church at reconciliation between the North and South after the Civil War. John played lacrosse and joined the Kappa Alpha fraternity while at Hobart, but left before graduating and returned in 1903 to Stateburg to the family home Cherry Vale where he worked as a cotton merchant and farmer. The stationery below was apparently used as a notepad by Nelson to annotate the grave locations of various military men of the Revolution, War of 1812 and the Civil War who hailed from Stateburg.

JLFSr_GeneralMerchandise

In April of 1911, he married Georgia Dargan (1886-1974) at her home Marston (incorrectly spelled in the Watchman and Southron issue of April 26, 1911, below) and over the next few years they built their own house which they named Fairview and began their young family. John L. Frierson, Jr. (“Jack”) was born in 1915 and George Dargan Frierson, my father, was born in 1921. John and Georgia and their sons were very active in the Episcopal Church of the Holy Cross at Stateburg, where John was lay reader, served on the vestry and was Senior Warden and Georgia was the organist for many, many years.

JLF_GDWedding1911

The photo of the family in church vestments was likely taken at the church probably in the late 1930s and shows (l. to r.) Jack, Georgia, John, and Dargan.

JLF&Family 1

The photo below that one shows Dargan, John, and Jack outside Fairview – it was also probably taken in the late 1930s. I think I still have that old rocking chair behind them!

John and Georgia continued their involvement with the Holy Cross Church as long as they lived in Stateburg and in 1950, in honor of the 100th anniversary of the laying of the present Church’s cornerstone, John wrote a short History of the Holy Cross Church. In it he describes the two churches that preceded Holy Cross, the people who were involved during those early years (including his grandfather John Napolean Frierson and his grandmother’s father, Holy Cross’ longest-serving rector Rev. Augustus Lawrence Converse), and many other interesting facts and figures about the Church. I recently found a copy of the history and have uploaded it on archive.org . Here’s the link and I hope you enjoy reading through it. The document can be read on the archive site or downloaded to your own device in .pdf format.

History of the Church of the Holy Cross

John and Georgia moved to Darlington, S.C., in 1957 after losing a battle with the U.S. Air Force to keep their home from being engulfed by the expansion of Shaw Air Force Base (this is another interesting story in itself that I’m working on!), and John died in Darlington in 1963 at age 79.

Birthplace of Georgia Dargan Frierson (b. Feb. 4, 1886)

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In the first draft of the previous post about my grandmother, Georgia Dargan Frierson, I stated that she was born in Darlington, which turns out to be incorrect – she was most likely born in Stateburg. Thanks to my cousin Lil Frierson Wetmore, who wrote that GDF’s obituary gave Stateburg as her birthplace, I created a timeline of the places her father John Julius Dargan lived in the late 1800s to early 1900s and found the article below to verify the obit. The growing family lived at a house in Stateburg named Woodville in 1886

Marshall Sheldon Wright, Jr.

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Marshall Sheldon Wright, Jr. (1922-2010), the father of Virginia Wright-Frierson, was born in Ogden, Utah, in 1922 where his father MSWSr (see previous post) was stationed as Chief of the Surveying and Mapping Division of the U. S. Forest Service in that region.

Within two years, the Marshall Wright family moved to Northern Virginia, where MSW Sr. took a new job at Forest Service Headquarters in Washington, D.C. There Marshall Jr. grew up and graduated in 1939 from Washington and Lee High School in Arlington, Virginia. He went on to Blacksburg, Va. and obtained a BS in Civil Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1943, and was immediately commissioned into the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and served in Patton’s Third Army in England, France, and Germany. Following the war, Marshall returned to the U.S. and began his long career in photogrammetric mapping and surveying in the public and private sector. In 1991, he was elected honorary member of the American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing recognizing his 45 years of distinguished service to the profession. Click on this link MSWrightJr to read the full text of the citation announcing his election and to see some photographs from his personal life and his professional career as well. Enjoy!

Marshall Sheldon Wright, Sr.

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Marshall Sheldon Wright, Sr. (1890-1974), paternal grandfather of Virginia Wright-Frierson, was born on December 28, 1890, as Marshall Wright Campbell in Toronto, Canada, to Mervyn Campbell (1865-1891) and Ada Wright (1869-1907).

MSWrightSr_Photo His father died when Marshall was one year old and his mother moved the young boy with her to the home of her brother Dr. Frank Sheldon Wright in Salmon, Idaho. There Marshall was adopted by Dr. Wright and his name was officially changed to Marshall Sheldon Wright. Marshall led an interesting life in the West and eventually became one of the early mapping and surveying engineers to utilize aerial photography. His surveying took him all over the U.S. during his 52 years in government and while in the private sector, he travelled the world.

An excellent tribute to Marshall, giving some details of his personal life and cataloging his professional accomplishments was given by his son Marshall Sheldon Wright, Jr. (1922-2010) in a Memorial Address given to the Annual Convention of the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing in Baltimore, Maryland, on April 4, 1989. I’ve reproduced the published version of that address below in a .pdf format – just click here MSWrightSr and enjoy!

Bandit Shoots Banker at Edison, Washington

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The banker referred to in the above headline is Patrick Halloran (1844-1917), my maternal great-great grandfather. One hundred years ago today he was gunned down in a bank holdup in Edison, Washington, and died later that day in Burlington, WA. I remember my mother Josephine Daniels Frierson (1922-2003) telling me this story when I was very young but the incident was always a little hazy in my mind until I recently found the article in the Seattle Star that describes it in some detail. The newspaper incorrectly refers to Patrick Halloran as “Matt Halloran” – I guess he was referred to as “Pat” – and says that he was shot in the back as he ran into the street to “sound the alarm”. Click on the image to the left to enlarge it to be readable.

Patrick Halloran and his wife Bridgett McGinty (1840-1930) had a daughter Mary Ann Halloran (1872-1926) who married David Michael Donnelly in 1894 in New Whatcom, Washington (for a photo of Bridgett and Mary Ann, see the previous post where Josephine is photographed with her grandmother and great-grandmother.). David and Mary Ann’s only daughter was my grandmother Mary Esther Donnelly (1897-1931) who married Roland Michael Daniels (1895-1967) in 1921. To learn more about Pat Halloran, I’m copying his obituary from the Mount Vernon (Skagit County) newspaper on November 2, 1917. I found this obit and his photograph courtesy of a distant cousin Kathleen Halloran on Ancestry.com.

Front page of the Mount Vernon, Skagit County, Washington Newspaper Friday, Nov. 2, 1917

“People from all over Northwest pay last tribute to sturdy pioneer who met his death fighting for law and order — Edison scene of sorrow Sunday.

Several thousand people from all over the northwest, including many of the most prominent citizens of this section of the state, gathered at Edison Sunday to pay their last tribute of love and respect to the memory of Patrick Halloran, pioneer and citizen. On all sides in the old Samish trail point were heard expressions of regret that so valuable a man was compelled to sacrifice his life in his endeavor to uphold the law. All day visitors streamed in and out of the Farmers and Merchants Bank, whence were rehearsed over and over again the tragic scene that took place the Thursday of last week. It was a sorrowful throng; and on every lip was words of condemnation for the perpetrators of the crime and of highest praise for the man who fearlessly did what he considered his bound duty as a citizen.

Before the hour set for the obsequies the remains rested in the living room of the Halloran home, where hundreds of friends and old timers went to view them. By 2:30 the little town was crowded with people and automobiles and many points were rendered almost impassable. There were people from far and near; and numbers of old timers, some of whom seldom leave home, made the journey to Edison for this occasion. Among the throng were noted Hugh Eldridge, P McCoy, Congressman Lin H Hadley, AM Hadley, Perry Polson, Herb Conner, WW Conner, JJ Donovan, NL Griffith, EC Million, EG English, Thomas Sharpe, Charles Moore, JM McCulloch, WN Gilmore, WJ Simons, HT Dodson, JN Bussing, JW Romaine, CW Wilcox, ET Nobles, RI Morse, JS Jamison, Mr and Mrs John Murray. The Masons of Mount Vernon, Burlington, La Conner and Sedro-Woolley were there in force and a large delegation of the Bellingham lodge as well as prominent Masons from many other points.

Words of Tribute. At half past two the body was taken under Masonic escort from the house to the Odd Fellows hall. Here the Masonic funeral rites were said under the leadership of Worshipful Master NB Hannay, of Mount Vernon, the LaConner lodge assisting. “Abide With Me” and “Nearer, My God, to Thee” were sung by a quartet composed of WS Packard, CH Drier, John Begg, and GH Clark. Mr Hannay spoke in unstinted terms of the high character and worth of the deceased. He said in part:

“It is most proper that public acknowledgement be made here of the kindness, the generosity and the patriotism of our dead brother, of the usefulness of his life and the courage with which he met his death. He was born in poverty. To find the opportunity which his native country of New Brunswick denied him he crossed the continent and became one of the hardy pioneers who found this country around us a savage wilderness and made it a garden. At a time of life when most men have submitted to the harsh fate which denied them early opportunity for education, disregarding the jibes of men young enough to be his sons, who sat with him in the boardroom, he resolutely set himself the task of gaining the schooling which he lacked. So earestly did he apply himself that scorn was turned to deep respect.

So, in all activities which make use the life of a useful and respected citizen, Patrick Halloran opened for himself the door of opportunity which fate had closed to him. No other man served his county and country so faithfully and unselfishly. For himself he wanted neither honor nor profit. Yet many honors came to him unasked. For his friends he worked unceasingly. Enemies he made. What man of strong character and convictions does not? But a thousand praised and loved him where one detracted and disliked him. And no man who knew him failed to respect him for his manly and unselfish virtues. The same fortitude which carried him through life enabled him to meet this death like a soldier and a hero, resisting criminal violence. Well may we be proud to have known him.”

After the ceremonies at the hall the funeral cortege formed and moved to the cemetery a mile distant. Amid solemn words and chants the remains were laid in their last resting place. The pallbearers were: Active – Emerson Mamemr, James Dunlap, William Calkins, AE Holland, Thomas Esary, Charles Nelson: honorary – Sophus Joergenson, Thomas Hastie, JS Church, Charles S Allen, Frank Brown, and TJ Rawlins. The latter are all from the La Conner lodge, of which Mr Halloran was a charter member.

Deceased leaves a widow, two sons, James and George Halloran, and a daughter, Mrs. David J Donnelly. Two sisters and a brother survive; they are Mrs Mary Maloney, of Seattle, who was in attendance at the funeral; Mrs Ellen Collins, of Alpena, Michigan, and John Halloran, of Boyne City, Michigan.

Biographical.

Patrick Halloran was born in New Brunswick in 1844. When a young man he went to Michigan and in 1876 he came west and settled at Edison the following year. He took up a farm, which is still owned by the estate, and farmed for many years. In the fall of 1885 he was elected county commissioner; and was re-elected two years later. In 1904 he was elected county treasurer, which office he resigned before the expiration of his term to go into the banking business. He organized at this time the Farmers & Merchants Bank of Edison. Some years later he disposed of his banking interests, but continued his real estate, loan and insurance business, which he had been conducting for many years prior. Mr Halloran was twice elected chairman of the Republican county central committee and represented this state at the last Republican National Convention at Chicago.

Mr Halloran was married in 1868 at Alpena, Michigan to Miss Bridget McGinty. Three children were born to Mr and Mrs Halloran, all of whom are living. “

Josephine Daniels Frierson (Part 2)

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I can’t believe I wrote Part 1 a year ago and never did Part 2! Well, here it is, more photos of Jo with her family, growing up… later I’ll post some more of Jo and Dargan and their young family.

This first photo on the left may be the earliest photo I have of Mom – “Josephine Anne Daniels” written in pencil on the back of this photo – so it must have been taken early in 1922.

The photo on the right above is one that I was able to talk about with Mom when she was alive so I’m pretty certain about the people in it. Three of four generations are in this photo: Mom’s great grandmother Brigit McGintie Halloran (born ~ 1840, died 18 April 1930) on the left, Brigit’s daughter and Mom’s grandmother is Mary Ann Halloran Donnolly (b. 2 March 1872, d. 19 Sept. 1926), Mom is about 3 years old in this photo, since her grandmother Mary Ann Donnolly died in 1926. I haven’t been able to find any photos of Mom as a child with her mother Mary Esther Donnolly Daniels (b. 12 May 1897, d. 21 Dec. 1931) before she died in 1931, but here are two dated May 1933; one of Mom alone and one with her younger sister Micheline Marie Daniels (b. 10 Dec. 1925, d. 19 June 2012). I’m not sure who the gentleman in the hat is – one of the Donnolly uncles? Their uncle Frank Daniels?

Next is one of the two sisters dated 1934, dressed in swimming suits and standing on a bridge – where was this photo taken?

The photo to the left shows the two sisters in 1935 with their stepmother Alvina Carolina Dietz Daniels (b. 27 Sept.1910, d. 29 Jan. 2007) holding their stepbrother Michael Roland Daniels who had been born in December of 1934.

Next is a photo that was labeled as having been taken in 1936. Jo on the left with her younger sister Mike on the far right. I’m not certain but I think the other children in the photo are their first cousins Mary Ann and Patrick Donnelly, children of Jo and Mike’s uncle Hubert Patrick Donnelly (b. 14 June 1909, d. 28 April 1972)

and their aunt Inez Nelson Donnolly (b. 5 Nov 1912, d. Apr. 1978).

Now some studio photos of Mom – not sure about the dates… But she did work in the Bellingham Parks in the summer while she was between sessions at Western Washington College and the photo of her as an archer appeared in the Bellingham Herald in July, 1941. (See below)

Josephine Daniels Frierson (Part 1)

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Today would have been my Mom’s 94th birthday and I’ve been thinking a lot about her this week… So I thought I’d post some photos in remembrance of her. Click on any photo to enlarge it.

My mother, Josephine Ann Daniels (7 Jan 1922 – 26 May 2003), was born in Seattle, Washington, the first child of Esther Marie Donnelly Daniels (12 May 1897 – 21 Dec 1931) and Roland Michael Daniels (12 Mar 1895 – 29 Nov 1967). I’ve never heard much about her early days – the photo at the left of Jo and her father is the earliest I’ve seen – is she holding a child’s golf club?? I’m not sure of the location of this photo, but could be in Bellingham or Sedro Wooley, Washington, perhaps. The one below to the right shows Jo around age 5 with her younger sister Micheline Marie Daniels Percich (10 Dec 1925 – 19 Jun 2012). My best guess is that they grew up in Bellingham, since Micheline ( “Aunt Mike” as we called her) was born there. Jo and Mike’s mother died in December of 1931 (by suicide), leaving the young girls without a mother until their father Dan married Alvina Carolina Dietz (27 Sep 1910 – 29 Jan 2007) in September of 1933. Jo spent her school days and two years of college in Bellingham, before moving to Taft, California, during World War II to work at an airbase there as a secretary. It was then that she met a young Air Corps flight instructor, George Dargan Frierson, and they married in April of 1944. Most of the photographs I have of my Mom are from high school days and later and I’ll post some of my favorites. I’ll try to label them with whatever information I have, though some info is sketchy. Hope you enjoy these remembrances of Mom – we miss her a lot!

I don’t have much information about the two photos above, but they both appear to be taken around the same time, mid to late 1930s. The one on the left was taken at the cabin on Samish Island that the Daniels family frequently visited during this time – note the antlers and animal skins hanging on the outside wall! Before Aunt Mike died, she told me a story about this photo, and if I remember correctly the woman on the far left in this picture was a friend of the family and the woman seated next to Aunt Mike was Inez Nelson Donnelly (5 Nov 1912 – Apr 1978), the wife of Jo and Mike’s uncle Hubert Patrick Donnelly (14 Jun 1909 – 28 Apr 1972).

I think the clipping at the left is from the State newspaper in Columbia, SC, and it contains a lot of information about the young married couple. The one with the photograph is from the Bellingham Herald and mixes up the groom’s name with the air base where he works!

Now some of Mom as a young married woman in California…

The final one below shows the young married couple on their first visit to South Carolina, probably in late 1944, with her new in-laws: my Dad’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. John L. Frierson, Senior (“Grannie” and “Papa” to me) and Dad’s brother and wife, Mr. and Mrs. John L. Frierson, Junior (Uncle Jack and Aunt Bev). Notice the young boy on Grannie’s lap, my first cousin John L. Frierson III.

Now a couple more random, pre-children photos… (left to right, top to bottom) 1. A HS yearbook photo? 2. A visit from Georgia Dargan Frierson to the young couple (California?) 3. What kind of car is this?? 4. Jo’s family in Bellingham, sister Micheline and her half-brothers (Jo and Aunt Mike called them “the boys”), Michael, Pat, and Larry Daniels. 5. Young couple in California, working in the yard. 6. Jo dressed for work in California.

In Josephine Daniels Frierson Part II, I’ll next post some of my favorite photos of Mom after her five children come along and their young family begins to grow…

Amarintha Carson McCauley Nelson

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One of my goals for 2016 is to organize all the family history “stuff” I have so I can write more posts here and decide where the original material should be donated. I have a whole bookcase full of books originally from the collection of James Nelson Frierson, my great uncle, the subject of the first post in this blog. Starting my task at the top shelf, I noticed a small ( ~ 3″ x 5″) bug-eaten leather-bound book titled “Domestic Cookery”. Since I’ve been doing some cooking recently, I opened it to see if it might contain some interesting old recipes that I could try.

The first two pages revealed the full title and the signature of the original owner: my great-great-great grandmother, Amarintha Nelson. She was the grandmother of Elizabeth Nelson Nelson Frierson (1849-1935), who was the subject of an earlier post showing photographs taken at Cherry Vale on her 85th birthday. Click on any of these images to open a larger one you can explore…

Amarintha Carson McCauley (16 Nov 1792 – 1 Sep 1875) was married to Samuel Edgar Nelson (13 May 1774 – 25 Jul 1852) on December 20, 1810. The publication date of the cookbook was also 1810, so I’m guessing it might have been a wedding present for the newly married couple. Their oldest child, born two years later, was Bama’s father, James McCauley Nelson (17 Jan 1812 – 17 Dec 1855). Amarintha’s portrait is included on page 284 in the 1996 book by the South Carolina Society of Colonial Dames of America, South Carolina Portraits: a collection of portraits of South Carolinians and portraits in South Carolina . I’m trying to get a copy of the book to find out more about the painting: who did it, when it was painted, where is it now? As to the recipes in Domestic Cookery, I don’t think I’ll be making any of them any time soon. Two pages of the Index to the book are shown below and as you can see, many of these contain words that are not in common use today: “soals in the Portugese way”, ” skate crimp”, “sago to give away to poor families”, “saloop”, “sowter”, “sprats to make them taste like artichokes”, “tench broth”, “syllabub” and “thornback” . Wow, I’m not sure where to begin with these – a dictionary might be the first step! I think I’ll work on the one listed below on page 98 titled ” … a very good sauce especially to hide the bad colour of fowls” . Check out the scan to the right below to see some of Amarintha’s jottings of a recipe on the last page of the book… ginger bread?

Amarintha McCauley Nelson and her husband Samuel Edgar Nelson were from Clarendon County, SC, and are buried in the Nelson – Plowden – Haynesworth Cemetery, a few miles NE of Manning, SC. You can see their portraits and a photo of his tombstone on the Find A Grave link for that cemetery, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gsr&GScid=2376615