Julia Grant was born on January 26, 1826. Wife of our 18th President, President Ulysses S Grant. She loved her role as First Lady and enjoyed entertaining at The White House. She once said, “My life in the White House was like a bright and beautiful dream.”

Julia Grant was the first First Lady to write an autobiography for publication (The portrait was done by Matthew Brady, famed Civil War photographer)

The battle of Fisher’s Hill was fought September 21-22, 1864 near the town of Strasburg, Virginia. It was part of the Valley Campaigns of 1864.

It was a gorgeous Sunday so we brought the boys to show them the landscape of the battlefield. It was incredibly peaceful and hard to realize the carnage that happened years ago.

Some interesting facts about the Battle of Fisher’s Hill:

• The battle took place between North Mountain and Massanutten Mountain in the Shenandoah Valley
• Union forces from New York and Confederate forces from Alabama were heavily represented
• This campaign was also known as “The Gibraltar of the Valley”
• The area was only 4 miles long and had nearly 4000 casualties
• The battle between both sides was very exhausting with the South losing confidence with General Jubal Early. At one point, General Early even threw rocks at his men’s heads to stop them from retreating.
• It ended as a victory for the North

Today in American history…President Benjamin Harrison was born in North Bend, Ohio, in 1833. Benjamin Harrison was the grandson of “Old Tippecanoe,” William Henry Harrison who was the ninth president of the United States. 

He would go on to become the 23rd President of the US when elected in 1888.

We had a wonderful visit to Meems Covered Bridge in Historic Mount Jackson, Virginia yesterday.

What have you done historic lately?

Betsy Ross was born on January 1, 1752 in Philadelphia and eventually become one of the most famous figures of the American Revolution. Did she make the very first US flag? There is still an ongoing debate as to whether she did (or didn’t) but we do know for a fact that she was a large part of Philadelphia society and had encountered many leaders of the American Revolution – especially General George Washington.

According to her grandson, Sometime in the Summer of 1776 or possibly 1777 Betsy Ross received a visit from General George Washington regarding the making of a flag for our new Nation.

Is Betsy Ross the one who finalized the design of our flag? Or was it another Philadelphia seamstress, perhaps Mary Pickersgill, who would sew the mammoth flag that was the inspiration for Francis Scott Key to write “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Some say it might have even have been a New Hampshire quilting bee that made the first flag.

Regardless, Betsy Ross was in the perfect time and setting in her life and it was a time in American History when we needed patriots and heroes. Who else better to be a patriot and hero but the quiet lady seamstress from Philadelphia who is credited with finalizing the design and sewing the first U.S. flag.

We have made some favorite historical recipes in honor of the upcoming Christmas holiday. We have on display this week at the bakery Martha Washington’s Great Cake and also Mary Todd Lincoln’s White Almond Cake. These cakes were made by the Washington and Lincoln families during the Christmas holidays 🎄☃️❄️

We made Mary Todd Lincoln’s cake today at the bakery.  It’s a very simple recipe to make (compared to something like Martha Washigton’s Great Cake!) and our customers really enjoy it. It’s so neat to be able to “taste history” and especially taste something that Abraham Lincoln enjoyed eating.

Here is the recipe:

Mary Todd Lincoln’s White Cake
(Recipe from Lincoln’s Table by Donna D. McCreary was adapted by Janice Cooke Newman)

1 cup blanched almonds, chopped in a food processor until they resemble a coarse flour
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
3 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup milk
6 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
confectionary sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a Bundt cake pan.

Cream butter and sugar. Sift flour and baking powder 3 times. Add to creamed butter and sugar, alternating with milk. Stir in almonds and beat well.

Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into the batter. Stir in vanilla extract.

Pour into prepared pan and bake for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Turn out on a wire rack and cool. When cool, sift confectionary sugar over top

A basic white frosting sprinkled with almonds was also popular.

Recipe and more information can be found here