Translate

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Tulips in Dutch New York

I am finalizing the annual newsletter for the Stoutenburgh-Teller Family Association and was asked to include a picture of the Equitable Life building at 120 Broadway in New York City. This is the site of Pieter Stoutenburg's alleged tulip garden. Pieter (1613-1698/99), according to family legend, is supposed to have brought tulip bulbs with him to New Amsterdam and was the first to plant a tulip garden.

It is not clear when Pieter arrived in New Amsterdam but he certainly was there in 1649 when his marriage banns were posted. Most of the information concerning the time of his arrival is hearsay. I have not found a document that provides a clue as to when he arrived in New Netherland. Some relatives claim that he arrived with Director-General Willem Kieft in March 1638. And, again I can find no supporting documentation.

Tulips are an Asian plant that were introduced to the Netherlands in 1571. The bulbs were very expensive as the supply of bulbs was not large. Only the very wealthy could afford the bulbs. A virus had attacked some bulbs producing a multicolored bloom. The bulbs of these flowers were highly desired by the rich. By 1634, the price of a single bulb was out of the reach of all but the very, very rich. Tulipmania swept the Netherlands between 1634 and 1638 when the bubble burst. In the succeeding years, the price continued to drop.

Many of the people who settled in New Netherland were refugees without great means. And those who were not fleeing religious persecution also came to the New World with very little means. The Dutch West Indies Company, a trading company, depended on these people to cultivate a trading resource in the New World. I really did not expect to see tulips in North America before 1638 because of the prohibitive cost but tulips appear to be in New Amsterdam by 1640.


Once the cost of tulip bulbs cratered, I naturally assumed that I would find some reference to the bulbs appearing in New Netherland. It does not seem plausible to me that Pieter Stoutenburg introduced tulips to Dutch New York when the colony was established by a huge trading company. Adriaen van der Donck settled in New Netherland in 1641 for a few years before he was sent back to the Netherlands for a period of time. While Adriaen was in Europe, he wrote about New Netherland. This account was published after 1644 and includes passages that describe the gardens of New Amsterdam. These gardens include among other plants tulips.

I don't believe that Pieter Stoutenburg was the only resident of New Amsterdam who was growing tulips. But ironicially the tulip associated with the Dutch and the Netherlands is not a native plant. However, the tulip is viewed by much of the world as Dutch. The Netherlands imports tulip bulbs throughout the world with the United States as the largest buyer. The winter of 1945 was a famine year for the Dutch. The allies had cut off supplies to the Germans occupying the Netherlands. The German military stole all of the food sources leaving nothing for the citizens. The enterprising Dutch used the tulip bulbs as a food source.

The Dutch princess, Juliana, and her children were sent during WWII to Ottawa, Canada for safekeeping along with some tulip bulbs. Ottawa has to this day a tulip festival to commemorate Juliana's stay.

Friday, July 30, 2010

Part 6: Regulation of Medical Practice and Schools in the United States.

On May 27, 2010, I posted a blog concerning medical training in the United States before the 20th Century. In that blog, I mentioned that as early as 1732, I found complaints about the lack of regulation and licensing of doctors. As I researched the history of medicine in the United States, I found that there was no overall regulation of the practice of medicine until the 20th Century.

There was very little regulation in the British North American colonies. Although regulatory powers traditionally were given to the legislatures of the provinces, it was the professional societies that initiated regulation of medical practices. The first organization of medical professionals was chartered July 23, 1766 in the Province of New Jersey. The New Jersey Medical Society was established to develop a code of ethics, fee schedules, education standards and regulation of medical practice.

When the United States Federal government was formed, regulatory powers for the most part remained in the hands of the states. The state of New York in 1806 legislated licensing but only for the purpose of allowing licensed medical practitioners to sue in court for the recovery of fees. Attempts by other states to regulate medicine were repealed because public sentiment bristled at the thought of government control. By the early 1800s, medical practice regulation was firmly in the hands of the medical societies and by 1850 only three states and the District of Columbia had licensing regulations.

One would think the fact that the medical societies had instituted licensing regulations was adequate. However, there were different types of medical practices that were recognized including homœopathy, allopathy, herbalism, etc. Each had its own medical societies and each medical society defined its own regulations and guidelines. Competition in the medical field was intense and practitioners resorted to many means in order to compete that included ignoring regulations set by their societies.

Dr. Nathan S. Davis, instrumental in the creation of the American Medical Association, in 1845 commented on page 418 in the Journal of Medicine concerning the lack of thorough training and education acquired by students of medicine. However, the real force in the founding of the AMA was the fact that doctors in order to compete in the free market made little money.

A national convention of physicians was held in 1847 and on May 5th the delegates established the AMA. Dr. Davis' complaint concerning the educational standards was addressed and for the first time a medical student was required to have clinical experience at a hospital. The AMA also defined requirements that a prospective student meet in order to be admitted to a medical school. The AMA strengthened the standards in 1852.

However, even by the 1870s many medical schools were not equipped with laboratories nor its own hospital. Johns Hopkins University decided to create a model school of medicine. In 1893 the School of Medicine opened with well-equipped laboratories and its own hospital. As universities overhauled their medical programs, many medical schools with inadequate facilities closed.

Between the establishment of the AMA and the creation of the medical program at Johns Hopkins University, by 1900 quality of medicine had vastly improved for patients.

Sources:
U. S. National Library of Medicine, www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001936.htm.

Wellness Directory of Minnesotat, www.mnwelldir.org/docs/history/history03.htm.


Francis Randolph Packard, M.D. The History of Medicine in the United States. Philadelphia: J. B Lippincott Company, 1901.


Nathn Smith Davis, M.D, LL. D. History of Medicine with the Code of Medical Ethics. Chicago: Cleveland Press, 1907.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

California Missions

We just came back from vacation having spent almost 2 weeks in Southern California. The trip to Los Angeles on I-5 through the San Joaquin Valley was hot and not very scenic. The scenery improved once we reached the Tehachapi Mountains. So with very little to see between LA and Los Baños, we decided to drive home on US Highway 101, a slower but more scenic route.

After a brief stop in San Luis Obispo for gas and Starbucks, we were on our way. About an hour later, we came upon Mission San Miguel Arcángel to the right of the highway. My husband began asking questions about the California Missions. I had come to California as a teenager so missed the study of California history and could not provide all the answers to his questions.

At that point he bought up Google on his cell phone to get the facts. As he read me the California Mission history, I realized that I had many misconceptions concerning the missions that included the subjugation of the native population and the order in which the missions were built.

I believed that Father Junípero Serra had founded all twenty-one missions mostly because his name was the only name other than Governor Gaspar de Portolà I ever heard in connection with the missions. I live near the Junipero Serra Freeway, see a large statue of Junípero Serra every time I drive past the Carmel Mission and read scholarship applications from students at Junipero Serra High School in San Mateo. The name Junípero Serra has surrounded me since I first visited the mission in San Juan Capistrano.

The Beginning of the Missions in Spanish California

King Carlos V of Spain created a set of "New Laws" that governed the treatment of native Americans in the Spanish colonies. Rather than subjugating the natives, these laws afforded the Indians protection and rights. The Indians had the right to live in communities of their own and select their own leaders. They were not permitted to live outside their community. However, Spaniards were not allowed to live in the Indian villages.

Spain being a Catholic nation and together with power of the Catholic Church, the "New Laws" required that natives be instructed in the Catholic faith. Thus, King Carlos allowed the Jesuits to establish missions in Spanish California. In order to protect the missions, Spanish soldiers were assigned to each mission and were under the command of the Jesuits.

The Jesuits built first Misión San Bruno about 12 miles north of Loreto, Baja California. (Baja California is a peninsula below the State of California and is part of México.) Between 1683 and 1767, the Jesuits built 18 missions and two visitas in Baja California. (Visitas are visiting stations or satellite missions. They have no resident priest.)

By 1767, the Spanish government decided that the Jesuits had gained too much power. The Jesuits were replaced by the Franciscans and control of the soldiers stationed at the missions was removed from clergy. Junípero Serra was made the head of the Catholic missions in both Alta and Baja California. He established in 1769 a 19th mission, Misión San Fernando Rey de España de Velicatá about 200 miles south of Ensenada, Mexico, and Visita de la Presentación located west of Loreto, the third visita. These were the only sites that the Franciscans established in Baja California before Father Serra and Governor Portola turned their attention to Alta California.

However, this left in Baja California an area encompassing the 200 miles south of Alta California with no missions. Between 1774 and 1834, the Dominican Order built nine missions and two visitas that filled that gap.


Missions in Alta California

I had heard that the distance between the missions in California was a day's journey on foot. Based on that piece of knowledge, I assumed that the missions were constructed starting with the mission in San Diego and culminating with the mission built north of San Francisco, Misión San Francisco Solano.

As I expected, Father Serra established Misión San Diego de Alcalá in 1769 as the first mission in Alta California. I then assumed that the second mission would be a day's journey north of San Diego. Misión San Luis Rey de Francia is located north of San Diego and east of Oceanside but was established June 13, 1798 as the 18th mission. Father Serra died August 28, 1784. Father Fermin Francisco de Lasuén succeeded him as head of the mission system and it was he who founded the 18th mission.

As it turns out the missions were not built in order from south to north. The plan was when the mission system was completed one could travel by horseback or boat from one mission to the next in one day and by foot in three days. The second mission was Misión San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo and was established June 3, 1770. This mission is located in Carmel, California and is the final resting place of Father Junípero Serra.


Of the 21 missions, Fathers Serra and Lasuén were responsible for the building of 16 missions. Father Lasuén died in 1803 and is buried at the mission in Carmel near Father Serra.

Indian Subjugation

Apparently in some way, I learned that the Indians of California were nothing more than slaves within the mission system. As I read more about the mission system and its history, I found my perceptions to be wrong. The "New Laws" and how King Carlos viewed the native population of Spanish America was my first clue that I did not have an accurate picture. As I researched further, I found that both the Jesuits and the Franciscans had an even more benevolent view of the Indians.

The plan in establishing the mission system included turning over the common land within the mission to the native population ten years after a given mission was founded. The Spaniards introduced European crops and livestock to Spanish California. The Franciscans hoped that the Indians would learn how to grow crops and raise livestock instead of living as a hunter-gather society.

As the mission system entered the 19th century, the secular community of Spanish colonists gained more influence. It was the view of many of the colonists that the aborigne population in Spanish California was primitive and not much above the status of the woirk animals that they employed.

Eventually the mission system broke down and the native population lost many of its rights and lifestyle. One can argue whether the Jesuits and Franciscans should have interfered with the Indian society or not. It seems to me that they were much like many parents who tell their adult children how to live. It is done out of love and concern and not to be exploitive.

The Indians fared no better when the people of the United States descended on California after gold was discovered. In fact, the Indians fared much worse.


Sources:
A Virtual Tour of the California Missions
The Lewis and Clark Journey of Discovery
The Spanish Mission of California
California Mission History
California Missions Resource Center
Library of Congress
Monterey County California
The Old Mission San Juan Bautista

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Who is Pieter Van Stoutenburgh? Part 2

This post is a continuation from the one I posted July 9, 2010 concerning the errors I found in "Monmouth Families, Volume II." I concluded that post with the children of Pieter Stoutenburg and Aefje Van Tienhoven, his wife. This post begins with the children of their son, Tobias Stoutenburg, and his wife., Anneke Van Rollegom.

ISSUE, 11-21 (of Tobias #10):

11-PIETER bp. 4/26/1685 d. pr. 1720 md. ANN ERLE

12-TRYNTJE bp. 11/1686

13-JAN bp. 9/26/1688 d.y.

14-JOHN bp. 10/27/1689 d.pr. 12/1716

15-LUCAS bp. 9/20/1691 md. HELENA VAN PELT bp. 5/29/1695 dau. of ANTHONY VAN PELT & HELENA JOOSTEN

Comment: Tobias Stoutenburg #10 and Anneke Van Rollegom had 12 children, several of them died young. Ann Erle was known as Anna Erle and Hannah Earle. Ann was not a name that was in use when she lived. Based on the naming traditions, John (#14) probably died between December 31, 1692 and February 13, 1694/5. There were two sons, Lucas and Jacobus, born between John (#14) and Johannes. The baptismal record for John (#14) gives his name as Jan.

ISSUE 22-23(of Lucas #15):

22-TOBIAS bp. 6/7/1713 S. I.

23-ANTHONY 1720-1783 md. 7/26/1745 MARY SEQUIN

16-JACOBUS bp. 12/31/1693 d.y.

17-TOBIAS bp. 3/1698 d.y.

18-EVA bp. 10/15/1704

19-JACOBUS bp. 6/7/1696 d 1772 md. 5/25/1717 MARGARET TELLER dau. of WM. & RACHEL KEERSTIDE

20-TOBIAS bp. 12/22/1700 d. pr. 1767 md. MARY TEN BROCK GOLDSMITH

21-CORNELIUS bp. 5/23/1703

Comment: Lucas Stoutenburg had four children that included Tobias (#22) and Anthony (#23). Sara Bearing, Lucas’ first wife, was the mother of Tobias. Anthony was the son of Helena Van Pelt. Issue #16-#21 are the children of Tobias Stoutenburg (#10). Anthony married Mary Seguin. Margrietje Teller is the daughter of Willem Teller and Rachel Kierstede. Toward the latter part of her life and as the English were influencing the American Dutch, her name was recorded as Margaret. I also was finding more records in which Stoutenburg was being recorded as Stoutenburgh. Tobias Stoutenburg (#20) was a silversmith and goldsmith. His wife was Maria Ten Broeck.

pg. 204
23-ANTHONY STOUTENBOROUGH 1720-1783 Will pro. 6/9/1783 of Colts Neck md. 7/26/1745 MARY SEQUIN (SEGANG) of S. I.

Comment: Anthony’s surname was spelled many different ways in the various records that I encountered. Stoutenborough eventually was the spelling that Anthony and his descendants used. Mary Seguin was also known as Mary Seguine and Segang.

ISSUE 24-30 (of Anthony #23):

24-Capt. JOHN bp. 9/1/1754 a. 5/6/1839 @ 84-9-5 @ Bpt. Holmdel md. CATHERINE HOLMES b. 11/18/1765 d. 5/1/1838 @ 72-6-13 Holmdel

25-ELIZABETH md. EPHRENS JOHNSON

26-MARY bp. 10/21/1764 md. JAMES LATURETTE

27-LENNAH

28-JAMES

29-ANTHONY bp. 4/4/1762

30-STEPHEN d. 2/20/1818 @ 47-2-20 Christ. Ch. Shrwsby. of Colts Neck md. HANNAH LAWRENCE d. 12/1/1849 @ 72-8-4

Comments: Elizabeth married Ephraim Johnson. Mary married James LaTourette. I have seen the name spelled Latourette and La Tourette. No. 27 is Leanah, Leana, and Elenor. Her name is spelled Leanah in her father’s will, Leana in her first husband’s will, and Elenor in the marriage entry for her first marriage. Shrwsby refers to Shrewsbury, NJ.

ISSUE 40-46 (of Stephen #30):

40-ELIZA d. 3/31/1866 @ 66 Chrst. Ch. Shrwsby. un md.

41-JAMES H. d. 5/7/1814 @ 1-  -

42-JOHN L. d. 12/22/1850 @ 47-2-6 un md.

43-JOHANNAH 4. 5/27/1844 @ 30-9-23 un md.

44-STEPHEN HENRY d. 8/24/1828 @ 20-2-20 un md.

45-MARGARET d. 6/15/1838 @ 42-4-3 un md.

46-MARY b. 3/20/1794 d. 1/18/1836 md. 11/21/1821 CHARLES BUCK (or BURK)

Comments: James H. was 1 year, 6 months and 12 days old when he died. The New Jersey Marriage Index indicates that Mary married Charles Burk. Her gravestone reads “MARY wife of Charles Burk and daughter of Stephen and Hannah Stoutenborough.

24-Capt. JOHN STOUTENBORO bp. 9/1/1754 d. 5/6/1839 @ 84-9-5 @ Bpt. Hlmd. md. 4/19/1785 CATHERINE HOLMES b. 11/18/1765 d. 5/1/1838 @ 72-6-13 @ Bpt. Hlmdl. dau of DANIEL HOLMES & LEAH BOWNE

ISSUE 31-39 (of John #24):

31-DANIEL md. 10/3/1805 ELLENOR SCHENCK

32-JOHN b. 12/8/1791 d. 12/25/1867 bur. Franklin, Ohio md. 11/1815 JANE SCHENCK b. 11/7/1796 d. 3/28/1888/3 (to Ohio in 1815)

33-WILLIAM of N. Y. City

34-ANTHONY of Alabama

35-MARY b. 4/1/1787 d. 4/29/1861 @ 74-0-24 Bible md. 3/9/1807 CORNELIUS R. COVENHOVEN b. 5/3/1783 d. 4/11/1817 Bible son of CORNELIUS & JANE DENISE

Comment: Jane Schenck died in 1883. I cannot confirm anything about William. Stephen Stoutenborough and Hannah Lawrence had a son named William who lived in New York at least until 1835. By 1850, he is living in Brooklyn. Anthony moved to Alabama near Selma about 1821. Cornelius R. Covenhoven’s mother is Jannetje Denyse. Hlmd refers to Holmdel, NJ.

ISSUE 32A-32C (of Mary #35):

32A-HOLMES b. 1/9/1809 d. 5/22/1860 @ 52-4-13 Bbl. md. CAROLINE CRAWFORD d. 8/28/1843 @ 24 Hlmd.

32B-LEAH b. 12/2/1810 d. 6/28/1895 Bible Hlmd. md. WILLIAM H. CRAWFORD b. 8/18/1809 d. 12/19/1874

32C-JANE b. 10/19/1807 d. 8/15/1869 Bible Hlmd. md. Capt. C. D. EMSON

36-LEAH md. 6/22/1807 HENRY CROCHERON

37-ELIZABETH d. 1/30/1872 @ 78-10-28 Holmdel md. JOHN S. LONGSTREET d. 6/20/1847 @ 56-10-17 Hlmd.

38-MARGARET d. 4/6/1833 @ 94 md. 2/16/1818 SAMUEL HERBERT

39-JANE ANN

Comment: Margaret married Samuel Hubbard.

I am surprised at the number of times the surname of the spouse is completely wrong. I will continue in another post with that last section of the information from the book.

Friday, July 9, 2010

Who is Pieter Van Stoutenburgh?

I came across a USGenWeb Website for Monmouth County, New Jersey that posted information about an ancestor of mine. It appears to be a response to a query about a John Stoutenberg (sic) and his possible wife, Jane Schenck.

As I read the information that was included in the response, I was awestruck of the number of facts cited that were simply not true.

The information was taken from a book, "Monmouth Families," written by Ann P. Miles and was published in 1980. It can be found on page 203 of Volume II.

The STOUTENBERG (sic) family were early 1700 residents of Colts Neck, here is then a very small portion of the family who have long disappeared from the area.

1-PIETER VAN STOUTENBURGH (sic) b.c.1613 in HOLLAND d. 3/9/1699 @ 86 in N.Y. City (He came to U.S. in 1638. He was N.Y. City's first Treasurer. He also introduced Tulips to this country, lived at the corner of Broadway & Wall Streets) md. 7/25/1649 ALFGY (sic) VAN TIENHOVEN dau. of CORNELIUS & MARIE VANDAMIN

My Comment: The records do not indicate that Pieter Stoutenburg was the first treasurer of the New York City. He was appointed treasurer of the City of New York for a few years but long after the British took over the Dutch colony.

At this time, I have not found any indication that Pieter introduced tulips to the New World. He may have had a tulip garden, but even that fact I have not been able to confirm.

I have not seen a transcription the documents at the time of Pieter’s life in which his name is written as Van Stoutenburgh. The Dutch spelling has no “h.” I rarely saw his name written with the preposition “van.” I believe that he came from the area of Utrecht Province in which the town/village of Stoutenburg is situate.

I have never seen Aefje van Tienhoven’s name recorded as Alfgy. I have no idea where this information is found. Also, her parents were not Cornelius and Marie Van Damin. Who ever came up with this has confused several facts.

Aefje was the sister of Cornelis van Tienhoven, a very powerful man in New Amsterdam. Cornelis married Rachel Vigne whose step-father was Jan Jansen Damen. Aefje and Cornelis were children of Luycas van Tienhoven and his wife Jannetje.


ISSUE:
2-ENGELTJE bp. 8/20/1651 d.y.

3-ENGELTJE bp. 1/5/1653 md. 2/18/1671 WILLIAM WALDRON b.1647 son of BAREN RESOLVED

4-Child b. 12/13/1654

5-JANNETJE bp. 8/30/1656, md. ALBERTUS RINGO b. 1620 in Holland son of PHILLIP JANZSEN RINGO & GERTJE CORNELIS

6-WYNTJE bp. 5/8/1658 d.y.

7-LUCAS bp. 1/10/1660

8-WYNTJE bp. 10/15/1662 bur. 7/11/1734 md. 1st GERRET CORN, VAN EYEEN md. 2nd 5/25/1693 EVERT BYVANKS

9-ISAAC b. 9/23/1668 d. 9/21/1711 N.Y. md. 7/21/1690 NIELTJE BOGART

10-TOBIAS bp. 1/18/1660 N.Y. City d. 1715 N.Y. City md. 7/2/1684 ANNEKEN VAN ROLLEGOM bp. 7/15/1665 d. 1744 dau. of JAN JOOSTEN VAN ROLLEGOM from Holland

Comment: Engeltje Stoutenburg married Willem Waldron. Their banns were published On Feb. 18, 1671. I assume that the entry in the Reformed Dutch Church marriage book in New York was the date on which the 1st bann was published. If that were the case, then Engeltje and Willem were married about 3 weeks later as banns have traditionally been published for 3 Sundays.
Willem Waldron was the son of Resolved (Resolveert) Waldron and his first wife Rebecca. After her death, Resolved married Tanneke Nagel. Resolved and Tanneke had a son who was named as tradition would dictate for her father, whose given name is Barent. For some reason, Resolved and Tanneke’s son Barent Waldron has been confused with his father Resolved Waldron and grandfather Barent Nagel, both of whom I have seen in stories given the title, Baron.

I really don’t where this author has found the names of the people as I have not seen some of the names above spelled in that manner. For example, Gertje is not a spelling of her name that I have seen or would expect to have seen based on the records of the time that I have examined. Albertus Ringo’s mother was Geertje.

There are variations in how Wyntje Stoutenburg’s husband’s name was recorded then, but I have not seen a record in which his named is written Gerret Corn. Van Eyeen. I have seen his name recorded as Gerrit Cornelisen Van Westeen, Van Echtsveen and Van Exveen. Corn. is an abbreviation for Cornelis but also for the patronyms Cornelisz, Cornelisen or Corneliszen.

Isaac married Neeltje Uittenbogart or Uyttenbogart.

Do not believe the family trees, old books and family lore if you want a true picture of who your ancestor's are.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Northwest Territory AKA Ohio

Anyone who has ancestors who lived in British North America before the America Revolution has a good chance of finding relatives who lived in Ohio just before the end of the 18th century. However, what today is the State of Ohio was called the Northwest Territory of the River Ohio.

Also, known as the Northwest Territory, this region was established in 1787. The territory included all of the land in the current states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin and part of Minnesota. The Northwest Territory ceased to exist in 1803 when the State of Ohio was created. The land not included in the State of Ohio became known as the Indiana Territory.

Following the Revolutionary War, the new United States government was cash poor but became land rich as it acquired land to the west that the British government had preserved for the aborigine populations, i. e., Indians. Some of this land was part of the Northwest Territory. The Federal government saw an opportunity to raise revenue by selling land in this area.

Much of today's Ohio was surveyed around 1785 to provide saleable lots. In addition to lots that could be purchased, lots could be exchanged for Military Bounty Land Warrants. During the Revolutionary War, the patriot government had little money to pay the military personnel fighting in the war. The pay situation was no better at the conclusion of the war.

Soldiers were offered the land warrants in lieu of pay. The holder of the warrant could exchange the warrant for land patents, primarily in the Northwest Territory in what is Ohio today. Not all people who were given the land warrants exercised them, because for some it was more advantageous to sell them to another who then exchanged the warrant for land.


Because the warrants could be transferred to another either by gift or by sale, you cannot conclude that your ancestor who settled in Ohio at conclusion of the war actually fought as a patriot.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Georgia, the Peach State, vs. Early and Late Crawford Peach

I was trying to find some information on Edwin Stoutenborough. That journey led me to William Henry Crawford who, as it turns out, created the early and late Crawford Peach. William Henry Crawford lived in Monmouth County, New Jersey from 1809 to 1874 when he died. He was married to my relative, Leah Conover.

I had never heard of a Crawford peach. Since the creator of this peach was married to a relative, I felt compelled to press on and learn about this peach. It is a freestone peach. I like freestone peaches because I can easily remove the fresh from the pit (or stone). I then made a Google search query on this peach.

Not surprisingly, I came across the State of Georgia. Afterall, Georgia is the Peach State. On a trip to Georgia many years ago, I came across Peachtree Street, Road, Park, Hotel, etc. Eveything seemed to be related to a peach tree in Atlanta.

In my Google search, I found a Crawford County in Georgia that is noted for peach growing. Thinking that this county was named for my New Jersey relative's husband, I grew excited only to learn that Crawford Co. is named after US Senator William Harris Crawford and not after William Henry Crawford. I guess the saying, "Close only counts in horseshoes" applies here.


As my dad would say, "Sam Hill." I only heard my dad swear when he cut his head while working under the car or something akin.

OK, so Crawford County, Georgia wasn't named for my relative's spouse. My son graduated from Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Their mascot is a yellow jacket. I thought that was a bit weird, but after what I learned about the Peach State doesn't seem quite so odd.

According to Kathryn C. Taylor of the University of Georgia (2003), Georgia peaches are primarily grown in Crawford, Peach, Taylor and Macon counties. However, she then indicated that Georgia (the Peach State) produces less peaches than South Carolina and California. Georgia isn't the biggest peach producing state but I wondered what happened in New Jersey that knocked it off the peach map.

I found an article on the History of the New Jersey Peach written by Ernest Christ, a professor emeritus at Rutgers University. It seems that the San Jose scale decimated the New Jersey peaches in 1886. This scale came from China on plants imported to California. The scale reached New Jersey on plum trees from California. The scale killed thousands of acres of peach trees in New Jersey by 1920.

Monday, July 5, 2010

Formatting Problems with My Blog

I have been having real problems with formatting my blog entries recently. So instead of having the time to write entries, I have been struggling with the formatting of my last few entries.

Blogger has an option that lets me edit the HTML code. Having been a former programmer, HTML code is easy. However, the code I saw and edited was not the same code that I saw after I published my blog entry.

I find it interesting that I have the most problems when I use Google Chrome as my browser, afterall Blogger is a Google company. When I use Internet Explorer, I have fewer problems.

George Washington Cass

In my blog entry (June 21, 2010) about General Lewis Cass, I mentioned that Cass County, North Dakota was not named in his honor, but was named for George Washington Cass. As it turns out George W. Cass is General Cass' nephew.

Born in near Dresden, Ohio, George W. Cass was sent in 1824 to the Detroit Academy to study. At this time he lived with his Uncle, General Lewis Cass. George Cass completed his studies at the Academy and in 1827, was appointed from Ohio to Westpoint. He was a topographical engineer and served in the Corps of Engineers until 1840. He built the first cast-iron arch bridge in the United States.

Cass established the Adams Express Company to transport items between Baltimore and Pittsburgh. Eventually his interest in transportation led him to the railroad industry.


George Cass, in 1875, was president of the Northern Pacific Railway. He had acquired an extensive landholding in the northern part of the Dakota Territory. He owned 27,000 acres at Casselton near Fargo. Dalrymple, who was known as the king of wheat farmers in Minnesota, moved to the Dakota Territory about this time. He teamed up with George Cass to grow wheat on a large scale. (Colossal Farms, Page 1031: History of Dakota Territory, Volume II by George W. Kingbury. Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1915.)

Cass County was organized January 4, 1873. With nearly 1,125,000 acres of land, it is one of the largest counties in eastern half of North Dakota. By 1910, 90% of the county was under cultivation. (Cass County, Page 53: North Dakota Magazine, Vol. 4, No. 4, August, 1911; Year Book 1910. Bismarck, ND: Agricultural Department.)