First the loom, now the hearth: ready for action
For the past three years, Salmon Brook Historical Society’s Sadoce Wilcox House and Lyman Wilcox Barn at 143 Simsbury Road in West Granby have been providing visitors with a window into New England life in the early 1800s. The Wilcox family’s well-preserved homestead has a great story to tell about what it took to make a living and thrive in the early days of the republic. The early inhabitants struggled with the ups and downs of the local and national economy, and made their mark on issues of the day ranging from religious toleration to democratic governance.
Each year more and more of this gem of an old house has been opened for the public. First there was the main floor with its keeping room, pantry and parlors. In one parlor skilled weavers from the Connecticut Weavers Guild now ply their traditional trade on a 300-year-old loom. Last year, after careful restoration, the second floor and attic were available for viewing.
This summer will be no exception to the gradual unfolding of all that this historical resource has to offer. People touring the Wilcox House have been awestruck by the keeping room fireplace. Built from huge fieldstones and equipped with a brick baking oven, it compels us to imagine Roxey Wilcox and her daughters as they prepared meals for the large family. No need to imagine any more—this summer the art of open-hearth cooking will return to the Wilcox House after two centuries.
Becky Hendricks of Windsor, a professional Historic Foodways researcher and open-hearth cook, will show us how Roxey and her girls fed their family. Hendricks draws on “receipts” (recipes) from cookbooks published in the 17th and 18th centuries, prepared in pottery dishware and cast-iron pots and kettles. “Think historic hearth cooking and fine dining are an oxymoron?” she asks. “Think again!” So much for the idea that early American food fare consisted of multi-day reheated gruel!
To be sure, early American cooking was no outdoor barbecue party. Women toiled a good part of the day (when they weren’t doing many other tedious and exhausting tasks) in smoky, sometimes sweltering, or even dangerous conditions. If the records of causes of deaths in the West Granby sexton’s book are any indication, the long skirts of the era could easily catch fire while one leaned over a cooking pot. (Fear not—we do not intend to demonstrate, authentically, these elements of women’s work this summer.)
The Wilcox House will be open for tours, weaving demonstrations and open-hearth cooking from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on May 24, June 28 (no cooking this day) and July 26, and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sept. 6. Visit on a cooking day and maybe you’ll even get to be a taste tester!