South Carolina - The Fence at Brabants on French Quarter Creek, The Seat of the Bishop Smith

1800. Charles Fraser (1782-1860). Brabants on French Quarter Creek, The Seat of the Late Bishop Smith. South Carolina. The Carolina Art Association Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, South Carolina. 

This plantation lies on French Quarter Creek, a tributary of the Eastern Branch of the Cooper River. The original grant to Francis Pagett in 1704, was later joined a tract granted in 1709 to Daniel Brabant, a surgeon whose name became that of the plantation. It amounted to 3,000 acres, when Elizabeth Pagett married the Reverend Robert Smith, rector of St. Philip’s Church in Charles Town. He became the 1st Bishop of the State of South Carolina, & was the First Principal of the college of Charleston, where Charles Fraser was one of the students.

The watercolors of Charles Fraser allow us feel the South Carolina landscape around us as we learn how it was being groomed & planted. Thanks to South Carolina native Fraser, we have a chance to see, through his eyes, the homes & gardens there as he was growing up. Although he was primarily known his miniature portraits, he also created watercolors of historical sites, homes, & landscapes. He painted while working as a lawyer, historian, writer, & politician. Today, many of Fraser's works are displayed at the Carolina Art Association & the Gibbes Art Gallery in Charleston.

Plants in Early American Gardens - Globe Centaurea

Globe Centaurea (Centaurea macrocephala)

Globe Centaurea, also called Great Golden Knapweed, is a robust perennial from the Caucasus, introduced to Britain by 1805. Philadelphia nurseryman Bernard McMahon sent seeds to Thomas Jefferson in 1812. The plant forms clumps 3-4’ high with large, thistle-like flowers in early summer. Its chestnut-brown buds open to expose a crown of rich yellow florets.

For more information & the possible availability
Contact The Tho Jefferson Center for Historic Plants or The Shop at Monticello 

Garden to Table -

 At Market with the Fruit Seller by Louise Moillon (1610–1696)    Detail

Garden to Table - Home-Made Daisy Wine

 

John Greenwood (American artist, 1727-1792) Sea Captains Carousing, 1758.  Detail

Old-Time Recipes for Home Made Wines Cordials & Liqueurs 1909 by Helen S. Wright

DAISY WINE
One quart of daisy heads, one quart of cold water. Let stand forty-eight hours. Strain and add three-quarters pound of sugar to each quart of liquid. Let stand about two weeks, or till it stops fermenting. Strain again and bottle. It improves with keeping.

Old-Time Recipes for Home Made Wines is a cookbook for those who want to make their own wines & liqueurs from available ingredients, including fruits, flowers, vegetables, & shrubs from local gardens, farms, & orchards. It includes ingredients & instructions for making & fermenting spirits, from wine & ale to sherry, brandy, cordials, & even beer. 

Colonial Era Cookbooks

1615, New Booke of Cookerie, John Murrell (London) 

1798, American Cookery, Amelia Simmons (Hartford, CT)

1803, Frugal Housewife, Susannah Carter (New York, NY)

1807, A New System of Domestic Cookery, Maria Eliza Rundell (Boston, MA)

1808, New England Cookery, Lucy Emerson (Montpelier, VT)

Helpful Secondary Sources

America's Founding Food: The Story of New England Cooking/Keith Stavely and Kathleen Fitzgerald Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, 2004.

Colonial Kitchens, Their Furnishings, and Their Gardens/Frances Phipps Hawthorn; 1972

Early American Beverages/John Hull Brown   Rutland, Vt., C. E. Tuttle Co 1996 

Early American Herb Recipes/Alice Cooke Brown  ABC-CLIO  Westport, United States

Food in Colonial and Federal America/Sandra L. Oliver

Home Life in Colonial Days/Alice Morse Earle (Chapter VII: Meat and Drink) New York : Macmillan Co., ©1926.

A Revolution in Eating: How the Quest for Food Shaped America/James E. McWilliams New York : Columbia University Press, 2005.

Plants in Early American Gardens - English Daisy

English Daisy (Bellis perennis)

English Daisy was well-established as a garden flower in America by 1700, and was known by a number of common names, including Bone Flower, Herb Margaret, and Measure of Love. Thomas Jefferson listed it for planting with other hardy perennials at Monticello in 1771. This cool-season, short-lived perennial bears small double daisies in shades of red, pink, and white and prefers cool, moist soil.

For more information & the possible availability
Contact The Tho Jefferson Center for Historic Plants or The Shop at Monticello