marble falls

marble falls's Journal

February 29, 2020

Mammoth Cheese An article courtesy of the Thomas Jefferson Encyclopedia.

https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/mammoth-cheese

In the summer of 1801, Elder John Leland persuaded the ladies of his Baptist congregation in Cheshire, Massachusetts, to manufacture a "mammoth cheese." He intended to present it to President Thomas Jefferson in honor of his republicanism and his support of religious liberty.1

Word of the cheese-making and its purpose soon appeared in print. That August, a Republican newspaper in Rhode Island reported that the cheese utilized the milk of 900 cows, was formed in a cider press that measured six feet in diameter, and had engraved on it the motto, "Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God."2 Federalist papers responded with derision. One writer in the Hampshire Gazette employed Charles Willson Peale's scientific term "mammoth" to underscore how ludicrous he found the production of the enormous cheese.3 On January 26, 1802, after the cheese had been delivered, the Norwich Packet sarcastically reported that bakers in New York were "now preparing an oven of a magnitude sufficient to make a loaf of bread proportionate to the cheese," and that a glass manufacturer in Albany had "already blown a bottle of a size to contain one tun, which they intend to fill with ... [the] best American Porter." The article included that "Mr. Jefferson's convivial friends ... may not only have cheese, but bread, cheese, and porter."4

Late in November, Leland transported the cheese by sleigh or wagon from Massachusetts to the Hudson River, by sloop to New York and Baltimore, then by wagon to Washington, where it arrived on December 29, 1801. The Baptist elder presented the cheese to Jefferson in a small ceremony in the President's House on New Year's Day. He praised Jefferson for the "singular blessings that have been derived from the numerous services you have rendered to mankind in general." Leland further noted that the cheese "was produced by the personal labor of Freeborn Farmers, with the voluntary and cheerful aid of their wives and daughters, without the assistance of a single slave."5 The president's accepting remarks praised the people of Cheshire for this "extraordinary proof of the skill with which those domestic arts which contribute so much to our daily comfort are practised by them."6 Jefferson later wrote privately to his son-in-law of the cheese: "the Mammoth cheese is arrived here and is to be presented this day. it is 4 f 4½ I. diameter, 15. I. thick, and weighed in August 1230. ℔. They were offered 1000. D. in New York for the use of it 12. days as a shew. it is an ebullition of the passion of republicanism in a state where it has been under heavy persecution."7

Jefferson's policy to refuse gifts while in office led him on January 4, 1802, to pay Leland $200 for the cheese.8 Though no precise date can be given for the cheese's ultimate disposal, it appears to have been present at the President's House the following New Year's Day, and was reported to still be there as late as March of 1804 (at which point it was described as "very far from being good&quot

.9 Apocryphal accounts assert that the last of it was served at a presidential reception in 1805, or that it was dumped in the Potomac at some date unknown.

-J. Boehm, 10/97https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/mammoth-cheese

February 28, 2020

Lets face it: coronavirus will be cured. There's a market for a cure ...

and there are universities, pharma-labratories galore to be first and best.

The question will be who gets to meter the cure: the government like it did for polio and eventually did for HIV, or will it be in the hands of someone like this:

February 22, 2020

Twofer: The Apartment in 3:41 and Pogo ...

February 13, 2020

Black History Month Day 13 - Clara Belle Williams

Clara Belle Williams

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clara_Belle_Williams

Clara Belle Williams
Born Clara Belle Drisdale

October 29 1885
LaGrange, Texas
Died July 3, 1994 (aged 108)
Citizenship United States
Education BA in English (1937)
Alma mater New Mexico College of Agriculture & Mechanic Arts (now New Mexico State University)
Occupation Teacher
Employer Booker T. Washington School, Las Cruces, New Mexico

Known for Being the first African-American graduate of New Mexico State University
Spouse(s) Jasper Williams (m. 1917)
Children Charles, Jasper, James

Clara Belle Williams (1885-1993) was the first African-American graduate of New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (now New Mexico State University), became an educator, and raised sons who became doctors.

Early life and marriage

Williams was born Clara Belle Drisdale in Plum, Texas on October 29, 1885. She pursued her education on scholarship at the Prairie View Normal and Independent College, graduating as valedictorian in 1905.[1]

In 1910, she studied at The University of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois. She married Jasper Williams in 1917 and they had three sons.
College and graduate studies, teaching

In 1928 enrolled at the New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts.[2] She earned her diploma with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 1937, at the age of 51.[3] She was the first African-American to graduate from the New Mexico College. For the duration of her studies, professors did not allow her into the lecture halls; she took notes and attended classes in the hallway.[4] Williams continued her studies with graduate classes into the 1950s.[5]

Williams taught at Lincoln High School, which opened in an A.M.E. Church in Las Cruces after the institution of segregation removed African American students from integrated Las Cruces schools in the 1920s when state law allowed districts to segregate. She later taught at Booker T. Washington School at 755 East Chestnut after it opened in the 1930s.[6] in Las Cruces for over twenty years.[when?][7]

Family and legacy

All three of her son's became doctors: Jasper Jr., James, and Charles.[8][5][3] Williams worked as a receptionist for her sons' practices.[9]

In 1961, New Mexico State University named a street on its campus after Williams. In 1977, she was inducted into the National Education Association teachers' hall of fame. In 1980 Williams was awarded an honorary doctorate of laws degree by New Mexico State University, which also apologized for the treatment Williams was subjected to as a student.[10] In 2005 the building of the English department was renamed Clara Belle Williams Hall.[7] [1] New Mexico State University offers a scholarship for undergraduates in her memory.[9]

February 12, 2020

Thanks everyone for the hearts!

February 12, 2020

Black History Month Day 12 - PHOEBE HENDERSON - a Century of change

PHOEBE HENDERSON

http://genealogytrails.com/tex/state/slavenarra5.htm

PHOEBE HENDERSON, a 105 year old Negro of Harrison Co., was born a slave of the Bradley family at Macon, Georgia. After the death of her mistress, Phoebe belonged to one of the daughters, Mrs. Wiley Hill, who moved to Panola County, Texas in 1859, where Phoebe lived until after the Civil War. For the past 22 years she has lived with Mary Ann Butler, a daughter, about five miles east of Marshall, in Enterprise Friendship Community. She draws a pension of $16.00 a month.

Phoebe Henderson

"I was bo'n a slave of the Bradley family in Macon, Georgia. My father's name was Anthony Hubbard and he belonged to the Hubbard's in Georgia. He was a young man when I lef' Georgia and I never heard from him since. I 'member my mother; she had a gang of boys. Marster Hill brought her to Texas with us.

"My ole missus name was Bradley and she died in Tennessee. My lil' missus was her daughter. After dey brought us to Texas in 1859 I worked in the field many a day, plowin' and hoein', but the children didn't do much work 'cept carry water. When dey git tired, dey'd say dey was sick and the overseer let 'em lie down in de shade. He was a good and kindly man and when we do wrong and go tell him he forgave us and he didn't whip the boys 'cause he was afraid they'd run away.

"I worked in de house, too. I spinned seven curts a day and every night we run two looms, makin' large curts for plow lines. We made all our clothes. We didn't wear shoes in Georgia but in this place the land was rough and strong, so we couldn't go barefooted. A black man that worked in the shop measured our feet and made us two pairs a year. We had good houses and dey was purty good to us. Sometimes missus give us money and each family had their garden and some chickens. When a couple marry, the master give them a house and we had a good time and plenty to wear and to eat. They cared for us when we was sick.

"Master Wiley Hill had a big plantation and plenty of stock and hawgs, and a big turnip patch. He had yellow and red oxen. We never went to school any, except Sunday school. We'd go fishin' often down on the creek and on Saturday night we'd have parties in the woods and play ring plays and dance.

"My husband's name was David Henderson and we lived on the same place and belonged to the same man. No, suh, Master Hill didn't have nothin' to do with bringin' us together. I guess God done it. We fell in love, and David asked Master Hill for me. We had a weddin' in the house and was married by a colored Baptist preacher. I wore a white cotton dress and Missus Hill give me a pan of flour for a weddin' present. He give us a house of our own. My husband was good to me. He was a careful man and not rowdy. When we'd go anywhere we'd ride horseback and I'd ride behin' him.

"I's scared to talk 'bout when I was freed. I 'member the soldiers and that warrin' and fightin'. Toby, one of the colored boys, joined the North and was a mail messenger boy and he had his horse shot out from under him. But I guess its a good thing we was freed, after all.

February 11, 2020

Black Histort Month Day 11 - Advertising in the US

https://www.buzzfeed.com/babymantis/racism-in-30-vintage-ads-1opu

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