The Spencerian System of Penmanship, by Harold Spencer

Cousin Harold Spencer (Harold’s grandmother was Anna Carson Spencer, sister to our Emma Carson Taylor) writes to me:

Tim Kinsella’s story on ‘The Taylor Brothers Go to College’ mentions, in his section labeled ‘Other Funny Points That Were Made’, that one of the prerequisites for entering the Seminary was ‘Penmanship’.

http://taylorbakercousins.blogspot.com/2017/12/the-taylor-brothers-go-to-college-by_16.html

 

 Anna Carson Spencer

Emma Carson Taylor

The Seminary used the Spencerian System of penmanship. I was instructed, too, in the Spencerian style of cursive writing in the 2nd and 3rd grades. Here’s a little history of that method of penmanship published years ago in an edition of ‘le Despenser’, journal of the Spencer Historical & Genealogical Society Inc.

A young man named Platt Rogers Spencer developed the style which from 1850 through the 1920s was considered the American de facto writing style for business correspondence before the introduction of the typewriter.

Platt Rogers Spencer was born in November 1800 in East Fishkill, Dutchess County, New York. He died in 1854 in Geneva, Ashtabula County, Ohio and is buried there in Evergreen cemetery.

His father, Caleb, died in 1806 while Platt was still a small child and his mother moved the family to Jefferson, Ohio in 1810 where he was raised. He became intensely interested in handwriting, using birch tree bark, sand, even the fly-leafs of his mother’s Bible for practice. Sheet paper was extremely scarce then in what was a wilderness area.

By 1815 he was teaching a writing class and was a clerk and book keeper. Because he did not have a college degree, he relied upon teaching in the common schools and eventually founded the Spencer Seminary in Jericho, New York. He had considered entering the ministry, but because of his alcoholism he never finished ministerial studies. He overcame his addiction and went on to become a fervent abstainer and advocate for the remainder of his life.

He was elected to public office in Ohio to the office of County Treasurer for twelve years. He was instrumental in collecting documents of the early history of Ashtabula County, feeding his intense appetite for American history. He was an advocate for the Anti-Slavery movement.

Spencer was instrumental in founding business colleges in the United States and in promoting their growth and development. He continued as a teacher and with the promotion of penmanship for keeping business records. He was closely involved in the founding of Bryant and Stratton Business Colleges in over 50 cities by some of his students, and gave lectures in New York City and in other areas in the eastern United States. He even opened colleges in Geneva and Cleveland Ohio and Pittsburgh Pennsylvania.

His publication on penmanship styles appeared from 1848 through 1886, and he collaborated with a Victor Rice to publish Spencerian or Semi-Angular Penmanship. The New Spencerian Compendium was published in parts, and was completed in 1886.

His papers are located in the Newberry Library in Chicago, and in the Spencer Archival Room of the Geneva Ohio Branch of Ashtabula County Library System. It contains biographical records of Platt and his entire family. He died 16 May 1864 at age 63 in Geneva (OH). His father, Caleb Spencer, died in 1806 at Fishkill, Dutchess County, New York.

He who would be a writer, Fine. Must take a deal of pains. Must criticize his every line, and mix his ink with brains.  -----Platt Rogers Spencer

Picnic at Uncle Sam Spencer’s in Springville, NY  (1919)

Top Row--unknown, Charles Carson (son of Theo Carson, brother to our Emma), Harold Spencer (son of Anna Carson and Sam Spencer)

Middle Row—Ethel Baker Taylor, Lloyd Taylor, Clara Taylor, Anna Carson Spencer, Leon Taylor, Jane Livingston Carson, Sam Spencer, Jennie Ford Carson (wife of George Carson, brother to our Emma), Floyd Taylor and his wife Goldie

Front Row--Helen Spencer, Harriet Spencer, Ruth Taylor, B.W. Taylor

Spring Means Making Wine (Or at Least it Used to!) –Recipes by various Family Members

   

I have raided my mother’s recipe box and found five delicious sounding wine recipes. Some are from Mom’s side and some are from Dad’s side.

It’s been a long cold and wintry few months. At times, it was difficult to get the chill out of our bones and bodies. But, spring IS coming. And, that means buds and leaves on trees, flowers in our yards, green grass and yes, dandelions.

I share this blog post now as our three dandelion wine recipes specify to pick the dandelion flowers early.

Enjoy!!

We’ll begin with Lillian Baker Howland’s recipe for Dandelion Wine. Aunt Lil was born in Center Lisle in 1892 and died in 1984.

Dandelion Wine:

4 Qts. Yellow dandelion blows  (pick early)

Pour over them 4 qts. of boiling water

Let stand 3 days.

Add—

Yellow rind of 2 lemons

Yellow rind of 4 oranges

Boil 15 minutes and strain.

When lukewarm, add pulp of oranges and lemons, removing seeds and white membranes.

4 lbs. of granulated sugar

½ yeast cake

Let stand in warm place one week. Strain, let stand 3 weeks. Strain and bottle.

Mom remembers visiting at Aunt Lil’s house and playing with her favorite cousin Gladys when they were about 12 years old. For some reason, they went down into the basement of the house, which was unusual—it was a dark and scary place. Back in a black cobwebbed corner, the girls found a large vinegar jar. They found a small cup nearby and tried it. Hmmm, pretty good stuff, whatever it was. They each had a few sips and then ran upstairs and pranced and danced around the house. When Aunt Lil discovered that they had gotten into HER dandelion wine, she was beside herself and ‘scolded them like the dickens’. Mom paid attention; she never went into that basement again!

One very strong memory of Aunt Lil that I have was when she was up at our cottage on Otty Lake in Ontario, Canada. She was very old, and we kids were not sure how ‘with it’ she was. We really wondered when she walked around our yard and pulled some catnip out of our garden. She popped it in her mouth before my brother Tom or I could say anything, and slowly and happily began to chew it. I can still hear his hesitant soft question to her, the panic in his voice, and the look of wonder on Tom’s face: “Aunt Lil, can you EAT catnip?” “Oh yes, I enjoy it!” Aunt Lil will always be a character in our memories!

This next recipe for Dandelion Wine is from Aunt Lil’s grandmother, Nancy Cornelia Borthwick Baker. She was born in Freetown, NY in 1838 and died in 1916.

Dandelion Wine:

4 qts. dandelion blows

7 qts. water and boil it to 4 qts. Strain

Add 4 lbs. Sugar

2 sliced lemons

Put in a jar with a slice of toast on top. On top of the toast, put a dry yeast cake and tie a cloth over the top of the jar. Leave in a warm place for 6 weeks.

Mom, aka Aunt CB, also made dandelion wine once when we lived at 2846. There could still be found a large field where no chemicals were sprayed, and that was where she picked the dandelion ‘blows’. She only made the wine once, but it lasted for years as no one had much of it at a time (actually, if I am remembering correctly, it was when many of us were able to drink, so we kept to our store-bought beers or wines instead of the more herbal dandelion wine she made. But, an experience to drink!)

Our third rendition of Dandelion Wine comes from Aunt Mary Daily Kinsella, on my Dad’s side. Aunt Mary was born in Homer, NY in 1935 and died in 2013.

Dandelion Wine:

4 qts. blossoms—add to hot barley water

4 qts. barley water—(to make barley water, add in 8 T. barley, cook in double boiler for 2 hours)

Let stand overnight, strain and add:

3 lbs. Sugar ( 1 lb, equals 2 C.)

1 lb. raisins

1 yeast cake (or powdered)

3 oranges

1 lemon

Let stand in warm place one week then strain and put in cool place 3 weeks. Strain and bottle.

My cousin Kathy, Aunt Mary’s daughter, writes:

“My mom made dandelion wine every year! She and my dad loved it. Mom used to send us over to the elementary school to pick dandelions and it would take hours to get enough. And all for something we couldn’t partake in! But we did as we were asked. I’ll have to try the recipe sometime. But who’s going to pick the dandelions?!”

Next up, two versions of Rhubarb Wine, although Mom does not know whose they are.

Rhubarb Wine:

5 lbs. rhubarb pulp (fresh rhubarb that has been bruised, crushed or ground)

1 gal. cold water

3 lbs. sugar

1 lemon, sliced thin

Pour cold water over rhubarb and let stand three days, stirring daily. On the 4^th day, pour mixture through a sieve. Pour liquid into a crock and add sugar and lemon. Cover with cloth and let stand 4 to 6 weeks to ferment. When fermenting subsides, skim and bottle.

Rhubarb Wine:

Put a gallon of slushy rhubarb sauce into a crock with 2 qts. warm water, 4 lbs. of sugar, and one package of dissolved yeast. Ferment mix for 10 days, add one box raisins and allow to ferment 2 weeks more. Strain through cloth, bottle in sterilized jars, cork lightly and when fermentation stops, seal. Makes an excellent dry pink wine.

Arnon Taylor

Our last wine recipe is Uncle Arnon’s elderberry wine. 

Elderberry Wine:

Put only enough water with berries to keep them from burning and cook but a few minutes, just long enough to scald thoroughly. Strain through cheesecloth, add 8 C. sugar to 10 C. berries juice. Set in cool place to ferment and skim daily until clear. When bubbles cease to rise to top of liquid, it is ready to bottle.

Our last recipe DOES concern wine, and I could make a crack about Lochners loving their desserts, but drinking wine IS better with cookies, so thank you to Julie Lochner Riber for suggesting Aunt Lil’s Wine Drops be added to this assortment of spring recipes!

Wine Drops                                                    From Lilypickle

½ C. molasses                                    1 C. Sugar

½ C. melted butter                             ½ C. raisins

½ C. hot water                                   3 C. flour

1 t. soda                                             1 t. cinnamon

1 egg                                                 ½ t. cloves

1 t. salt                                     Bake at 350 degrees.

Julie writes: “It's a yummy chewy, molasses cookie recipe that I first had when your mother, Susan and I visited Wendell's wife Joyce a few years back and also spent a couple nights with Dorothy and first toured Jon Maney's Hyde Hall.  It originally came from Aunt Lil.”

Other memories from cousins:

Harold and Barb Taylor

From Judy Taylor Alberts:

 “Pops tried beer once in the cellar. I remember it burst and Mom yelled "Harold". Memories...

From Evelyn Laufer Taylor:

Bryant and Evie Taylor

"Bryant and I “dabbled” in a couple of wines.  The first was dandelion wine as we had a yellow sea of dandelions on our property. My daughter Pam and a friend of hers picked the blossoms for us, and we took it from there, but did not use just the petals ( I checked on line recipe today).  We should not have used the green sepals which are the small leaves under the flower. It made the wine BITTER just as the article online said it would.

As we were beekeepers, we had to make honey wine or mead.  It is the oldest of wines, and we were successful with it.  

Once we tried making a liqueur.  We drilled a hole in a fresh coconut, filled it with gin, sealed the opening, and buried it for 3 months.  Wheeee!!!!!"

Thanks to all for these memories! And, yes, I do see quite a few yellow dandelions in my side yard just waiting to be picked.