“To Dry in Summer,” Maria Van Rensselaer’s Receipt Book, c. 1760-1830

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Date

c. 1760-1830

Description

This page from Maria Van Rensselaer's receipt book shows directions for drying vegetables and fruit. Food and herbs were dried so they could be saved and used in the winter. Maria Van Rensselaer and her husband, Philip Van Rensselaer, had Cherry Hill built in 1787. Paid workers and people who were enslaved at Cherry Hill used these recipes to prepare meals for the household. Dinah Jackson was a cook who was enslaved. She worked and lived at Cherry Hill. Dinah became a free person on New York’s Emancipation Day, on July 4, 1827. She might have continued to work as a cook at Cherry Hill until the 1840s. More pages from the receipt book can be found here: https://nyheritage.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/CherryHill/id/973/rec/3. This item was added as part of the Diversity and Collaborative Knowledge Program funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).

Type

Written Document

Region

Capital District, New York State

Era

Colonial America

Topic

Communication

Repository

Historic Cherry Hill

Identifier

receiptbook1_msvr_1760

Source

Historic Cherry Hill

Rights

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