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10 Year Anniverary & New Releases Winners: Carrie Fancett Pagels' Butterfly Cottage - Melanie B, Dogwood Plantation - Patty H R, Janet Grunst's winner is Connie S., Denise Weimer's Winner is Kay M., Naomi Musch's winner is Chappy Debbie, Angela Couch - Kathleen Maher, Pegg Thomas Beverly D. M. & Gracie Y., Christy Distler - Kailey B., Shannon McNear - Marilyn R.

Monday, August 31, 2015

The Original Fort Michilimackinac - Fort DeBuade in St. Ignace, Michigan, by Carrie Fancett Pagels




Above is a close up and enhanced image of the 1696 Coronelli Map of the Great Lakes, touted as being the most accurate map of the Great Lakes found in the 17th Century. Obviously, as we know today, it was sadly lacking in accuracy. One thing that is easy to see however, is that whoever controled the Straits of Mackinac wielded military might at that time. The straits are that close area between the Lower and Upper Peninsulas of Michigan. The French were the first colonial presence in this area.

The original Fort Michilimackinac, one of three forts bearing the name, was constructed by the French and built in St. Ignace, Michigan. The fort also went by the name Fort DeBuade. St. Ignace is located in Michigan's beautiful Upper Peninsula. Situated on land that juts out into the straits of Mackinac, St. Ignace is bordered by two bays and two of the Great Lakes - Lake Huron and Lake Michigan.  Located at a strategic juncture for the fur trade, the French built the fort centrally, with two tribes also encamped on either side.  We don't really know what Fort DeBuade looked like but it make have been a stockaded wooden fort such as one can find displayed in Mackinaw City at the Michigan State Parks Fort Michilimackinac. (Wiki gives several references, that look good, for their notes on Fort DeBuade.)

Native American life, around colonial forts, isn't always considered at many museum sites. The Fort DeBuade museum, in St. Ignace, houses many Ojibway artifacts and is located at the site of one of the villages that surrounded the fort. Native American goods and history are the focus.

The French had a different approach to interacting with the Native Americans than the British died when they came to the straits (their ill treatment later contributing to Pontiac's Rebellion.)

In my recent releases, Books 2 and 3 in the Christy Lumber Camps Series, The Lumberjacks' Ball and Lilacs for Juliana, the stories are set near St. Ignace, in the early 1890s. 

Although they are after Fort DeBuade's day, the residents of the area (I grew up not far from there) were no doubt affected by the history of the fort.  Having different tribes encamped on either side of a French fort had to have been an interesting situation--there was a balance to be had. Yet when the English came in, it is well documented that they failed to treat the tribes with respect and immediately began to engender their hostility.
The later built Fort Michilimackinac in Mackinaw City was ultimately dismantled and moved to Mackinac Island. Seated high on the bluff, the final fort built had an excellent vantage point!

In the time of my series, Fort Mackinac, as it is now called, was winding down. There was no longer a need for a fort in the straits of Mackinac.

Question: Does it seem strange to you that over time the main French fort moved three times in the Straits of Mackinac?

Bio: Former “Yooper” Carrie Fancett Pagels writes Christian historical romances about overcoming. She grew up in Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where many of her stories are set. Possessed with an overactive imagination, that wasn't "cured" by twenty-five years as a psychologist, she loves bringing characters to life. Carrie and her family reside in Virginia’s Historic Triangle, which is perfect for her fascination with history. Carrie enjoys reading, traveling, baking, and beading—but not all at the same time!  

Friday, August 28, 2015

Early American Music

Music came to this country with the Pilgrims. They sang from the Book of Psalms by Henry Ainsworth, 1612 edition. One of the hymns they sang was Old One Hundred, but it wasn't the Doxology we know today. 

Shout to Jehovah, all the earth.
Serve ye Jehovah with gladness;
before Him come with singing-merth.
Know, that Jehovah, He God is.
(Try it to the tune of the Doxology - it works!)

The Pilgrims also brought instruments with them. As did the Puritans. While the Puritans didn't allow instruments to be used in their church services, they placed great importance on singing. Cotton Mather wrote in his Direction for a Candidate of the Ministry "for I would not have a day pass without singing." He also did not discourage instruments in general, only in the church services. Instrumental music outside of the church was allowed and ... dare I speculate ... enjoyed!

The Puritans set about to make their music better. The third publication of any kind printed in the colonies was the Bay Psalm Book in 1640. This book included the lyrics only, no music. In 1698 they put out Ninth Addition of the Bay Psalm Book and included music for two voices. In between the first and ninth printings, many revisions were made to make the music better and easier to sing. The Puritans very much cared about their music.

So the next time you read a story about our dour and grim colonial ancestors who never cracked a smile or sang a tune ... you'll know better.


Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Pirates! in...New York?

by Roseanna M. White

Captain Kidd in New York Harborpainting by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris, 1920


Who isn't a fan of a good pirate tale? But when we think of Colonial-era pirates, we usually imagine warm Caribbean waters and palm trees, white sand beaches with those ships looming in the harbor. We don't usually think of America's northeast--but we should. In the late 1600s, one of the most bustling pirate dens wasn't Port Royal or Tortuga. It was the City of New York.

Founded by the Dutch as New Amsterdam, New York was already different from most of the other colonies. This city was founded on business principles, pure and simple. Though it was, for the time, a bastion of tolerance, it was not for any noble reason that the authorities of the city and state allowed an influx of diversity--it was because they knew it was good for business. The same reason they issued letters of marque to privateers and welcomed their stolen goods into the port, whether they came from ships that were enemies of England of not.

You'd be hard pressed to find any other place in the world that ended up with such a diverse, rich market. There were exotic items seized from "enemy" vessels that traded with the Orient. There were colorful cloths and spices and scads of other goods eagerly welcomed and paid for by New York's business-minded elite.

An elite that also welcomed the pirates themselves into their drawings rooms.

Many pirates were welcomed as citizens and considered high society in New York, including the legendary Captain Kidd. Men like Kidd were looked upon as being of obviously sound worth, since they risked their lives and their own ships to hunt down enemy vessels. The New York government even paid him 150 pounds for his services!

But of course, this couldn't last forever. Eventually King William heard disturbing rumors from his allies in the Orient that pirates were attacking their ships and then finding refuge in New York...further, he learned that the governor had encouraged this and excepted bribes--"protection money"--from the pirates in return for turning a blind eye when a haul wasn't exactly covered by the letters of marque.

The king's answer was simple--he replaced the old governor with a new one whose primary focus was to rid New York of pirates. The new governor, Bellomont, put together a company of ships to send pirate hunting in the Indian Ocean...led by none other than Captain Kidd. He was expected to keep meticulous records of this service he was providing, and in return would get to keep 10% of whatever he seized.

But this was a pirate, after all. His records were...spotty, at best. Likely in part because he didn't just seize other pirate vessels. He took every ship he could find, spawning even more stories of innocents being plundered. Then made a move both bold an foolhardy--he returned to New York harbor. He thought he could bluff his way out of trouble by claiming all his "prizes" were under French protection and therefore enemy ships.

He was wrong. Bellomont sent him to London to be tried--and eventually hanged, his property seized by the Crown.

Unless, of course, King William missed some. Legends hold that Kidd had squirreled some of his treasure away, unbeknownst to the king...and that it's still hidden somewhere in New York.

Monday, August 24, 2015

Doctrine of Signatures - Early Medicine

Susan F. Craft

        The doctrine of signatures refers to the concept that “nature marks each growth according to its curative benefit.” In other words, herbs and plants that resemble various parts of the body can be used to treat ailments of those parts of the body.
        The concept was developed in the early 1500s by Paracelsus and was followed throughout centuries and around the world until the late 1700s when scholars realized that there was no scientific evidence that plant shapes and colors helped in the discovery of medical uses of plants.
        There was a theological justification for the doctrine, as stated by botanists like William Coles who lived until the late 1600s. He said that God would have wanted to show men what plants would be useful for them. He supposed that God had made “herbes for the use of men, and hath given them particular Signatures, whereby a man may read ... the use of them.” Coles's The Art of Simpling and Adam in Eden, stated that walnuts were good for curing head ailments because in his opinion, "they Have the perfect Signatures of the Head." He also wrote, "The little holes whereof the leaves of Saint Johns wort are full, do resemble all the pores of the skin and therefore it is profitable for all hurts and wounds that can happen thereunto."
        Many colonial women who created their own “medicine kits” to care for their families and friends brought the idea of the doctrine of signatures with them when they travelled from Europe to the colonies.
        The concept of signatures is reflected in the common names of some plants whose shapes and colors reminded herbalists of the parts of the body where they were thought to do good, as for instance:

Eyebright used for eye infections










Lungwort for pulmonary infections











Toothwort for dental problems










Carrots for the eyes










Mushrooms for the ears










Walnuts for the brain










Beans for the kidneys


       







        Lilyan, the main character in my The Xanthakos Family Trilogy, is not only a portrait and mural artist she is a healer who cares for her family and friends with medicines from her kit that she has assembled over the years.

        For a chance to win a copy of Cassia, the third book in the trilogy, can you guess what the tomato was used for according to the doctrine of signatures? I will select a winner from among the people responding to this question.



Susan F. Craft is the author of the historical romantic suspense series, The Xanthakos Family Trilogy. Cassia, the last book in this series, will be released September 14, 2015.

Friday, August 21, 2015

How a Small Group of Moravian Missionaries Changed America




The Moravian Church is a small Christian denomination in the United States, but it had a major influence on the spiritual life of Colonial America. On August 13th, 1727, a revival broke out with a small sect of Christians in Germany called the Moravians. On that day, they started a 100 year round-the-clock prayer meeting that launched the missionary movement that is still going strong today.

A group of persecuted Moravians first landed in Pennsylvania and another group in Savannah, Georgia in 1735. The ship to Georgia also carried John and Charles Wesley, brothers who planned to preach in America. During the voyage a fierce storm caused havoc, but John Wesley noticed the Moravians, even the women and children, weren’t afraid. When he asked a Moravian pastor about it, the pastor said that his people were not afraid because they knew Jesus. Wesley admitted that, although he knew about God, he didn’t have a witness within him that he was saved. Wesley credited this conversation with his eventual salvation. The Moravian colony in Savannah didn’t last long. Within a few years, the Moravians fled Georgia because of pressure to serve in militia to defend Florida against Spanish raids.

Christian Henry Rauch started the first mission to convert native peoples in New York City. Mahican chiefs Tschoop and Shabash invited Rauch to visit their village and teach them. Two of the chiefs became Christians, and within two years, the first native Christ congregation was established.

Several missionaries and their families joined Rauch, including Gottlob Buettner and his daughter Anna, and more missions were established. Rumors were started that the Moravians were really Catholic Jesuits allied with the French, and in 1744, Governor Clinton expelled the missionaries from New York.

In Pennsylvania, Revivalist George Whitefield invited the Moravians to Pennsylvania to preach. There they established a colony in Nazareth, but when they had a falling out with Whitefield, they moved on to other colonies. Pennsylvania had religious freedom in its charter, so the Moravians did better there. They founded also established colonies in the towns of Bethlehem, Nazereth, Emmaus, and Lititz there. The Moravians also established colonists in Maryland and North Carolina.

Many of the Pennsylvania Moravians learned the language of the Lenape (Delaware) Indians and translated a Bible into a written language for them. When the Lenape were forced into Ohio, some of the Moravians moved with them and founded the first Ohio settlement (Schoenbrunn) and school in 1772. A year later, they founded another nearby settlement of Gnadenhutten. Converted Lenape populated much of the villages and sat on the councils for the towns.


Schoenbrunn Village
During the Revolutionary War, the leader of the Moravian villages in Ohio, David Zeisberger, was accused by the British of passing along information to the colonial army. Although the Moravians were pacifist and wanted to remain neutral, the accusations were probably true. The Moravian villages were forced to relocate in 1781. The following year, a band of Moravian Lenape went back to Gnadenhutten to harvest their crops and collect food and supplies they left there.

160 Pennsylvania militia led by Lieutenant Colonel David Williamson surprised the Christian Lenape, rounded them up, and accused them of raiding towns in Pennsylvania. Although the Lenape denied the charges, Williamson held a council that voted to kill them. Some of the militiamen left the area, outraged by the decision.



Gnadenhutten Massacre Memorial
The Lenape were informed and requested time to prepare themselves. They spent the night praying and singing hymns. The next morning, the militia brought the Lenape to two buildings called killing houses, the men in one and the women and children in another. The militia murdered and scalped 28 men, 29 women, and 39 children before piling their bodies in the mission buildings. Then they burned both Moravian villages to the ground. Two boys, on of who had been scalped, survived and lived to tell about it.

Reactions from the massacre were mixed. Some were appalled at the way Christian men, women, and children were treated. Others figured the Lenape were deserved no better because they were Indians. The Lenape of the area decided to fight with the British against the Americans causing further deterioration of Indian relations.

Although Moravians continued to minister in America and established missions in Alaska and Canada, many missionaries from the Moravian Church decided to focus their efforts on Africa, but they influenced our nation's early days. They brought awareness of the treatment of Native Americans. They made a profound impact on preachers of the Great Awakening like the Wesleys and George Whitefield. The missionary movement they started moved through the United States which became the nation with the largest amount of missionaries throughout the world. The Moravian denomination continues today in 18 states with headquarters in Bethlehem and Winston-Salem.
 
In A Christmas Promise, you can read a fictional novella about the Moravian missionaries in Schoenbrunn.

Monday, August 17, 2015

Appearance of Creek Indians


by Denise Weimer
Creek Chief Ledagie wearing popular silver gorgot
While researching for the third novel in my Restoration trilogy, Witch: 1790, which will have a modern main story and a Colonial-period back story uncovered during the restoration of a log cabin, learning more about the Creek Indians who occupied my area of Middle Georgia fascinated me. Today’s article focuses on the physical appearance of these native peoples as described first hand by naturalist William Bartram and Indian agent Benjamin Hawkins.
 
Bartram was present at the 1773 Augusta, Georgia, land cessation meeting where Creek and Cherokee Indians ceded land to white settlers in repayment of debt. He also followed the surveying party through the wilderness. On this journey he described the Creek Indians as armed with guns in their left hand and tomahawks in their right, loud speakers, evening pipe smokers, and late sleepers. He later visited many of their villages, where he found them to welcome visitors and the men to be tender toward their women and children. Bartram said the Creek men were nearly as tall as the Cherokee, with fine features and aquiline noses. However, the women, with their large, high-arched brows, were sometimes little more than half the size of the men. The chests and muscular arms of the ancient chiefs (micos) were blue with puncture-based, lead or indigo paintings depicting the sun, moon and planets on the chest with scrolling or belts around the trunk, arms, thighs and legs. Sometimes sections were divided up for artwork of animals, landscapes and battle scenes. Settlers and soldiers under attack by Creek braves reported that the braves painted their faces half-and-half in black and red war paint.
 
In 1795, Benjamin Hawkins arrived in Crawford County, Central Georgia, as U.S. Indian Agent to the Creek Nation. His diaries provide even more details of how these people looked. He described the clothing of Cherokee women as possibly consisting of stillapica (moccasins) without stockings, a hoonau (short petticoat), iocoofcuttau (shift), and hutscotalcau (ear bobs).  Women did not cut their hair and wore it braided and bound, either clubbed with tucullowau (red binding) or, on ceremonial days, with silver broaches or silk ribbons hanging down to the ground. Men shaved their entire head or else left portions with strips to grow in tails which could be braided and decorated with feathers, beads, pendant silver quills, and leather. This strip was often a narrow crest beginning at the crown of the head and widening to the back. Copper, shells, gems and teeth were signs of leadership. For long trips, especially during the winter, they stuffed their tall deerskin moccasins, a single deerskin wrapped with throngs, with hair or dry leaves. For treaties and talks with white men, the Creek Indians were known to mix native traditional and European clothing. They loved military jackets with brass buttons and would pair them with blousy shirts and Indian leggings. For common activities on warm weather days, the men might wear only a loincloth.
 
Hawkins expanded on the face painting rituals by stating that chiefs would circle both eyes in red with two-inch bars of alternating blue and yellow. Deer hunters dabbed red ocher from the red root plant on their cheeks. No doubt the early white settlers greatly preferred that type of red to the half-red, half-black war paint, which many of them did indeed encounter during the hair-raising Oconee Wars, which I’ll address in my next post.
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Hannah Hull's Dowry

Her Weight in Gold by Jean Leon Jerome Ferris


There is a charming tale called The Pine-Tree Shilling told by 19th century author, Nathaniel Hawthorne, in The Whole History of Grandfather's Chair (1840). It tells the story of a colonial maiden and how her father ascertained the worth of her dowry.

Miss Hannah Hull was the only daughter of one of the wealthiest men in Boston, Mintmaster John Hull and his wife Judith. In 1652, due to the increase in trade in the Colony, uncertain conditions with England, and to prevent fraudulent money, John Hull, a silversmith, and Robert Sanderson were authorized to erect “a mint for coining shillings, sixpences and three-pences.” Hull guaranteed that each of the Pine-Tree Shillings contained 15 ounces of silver. Massachusetts was the only one of the thirteen colonies that had a mint before the Revolution and it's Pine-Tree shilling circulated up until that time. John Hull’s share in the profits of the mint was fifteen pence of every twenty shillings. He rapidly amassed a fortune.



When twenty-four year old Samuel Sewell came courting and wished to marry Hannah, eighteen, the matter of her dowry came into the picture.


"She saw me when I took my degree and set her affection on me,
though I knew nothing of it until after our marriage, which was Feb 28th. 1675/76."

~ From The Diary of Samuel Sewell

Tradition says that John Hull placed his daughter in one of the scales and heaped in the other with silver, filling it with Pine-Tree shillings until the scales balanced. The wedding present amounted to a dowry of £500. The weight of this amount being 125 pounds may very well have approximated the bride's weight, giving credence to Hawthorne's tale. Samuel received a portion of the dowry seventeen days prior to the marriage nuptials and the remained a fortnight after the wedding. Hannah's marriage to Samuel gave him early wealth, an established merchant business, and a start to his illustrious career in public office. Yet biographers have attested that the marriage was built on mutual happiness and shared love and faith.



"Then the great scales were brought, amid laughter and jest,
And Betsy was called to step in and be weighed;
But a silence fell over each wondering guest
When the mint-master opened a ponderous chest
And a fortune of shillings displayed.
"By handfuls the silver was poured in one side
Till it weighed from the floor blushing Betsy, the bride;
And the mint-master called: 'Prithee, Sewell, my son,
The horses are saddled, the wedding is done;
Behold the bride's portion; and know all your days
Your wife is well worth every shilling she weighs.'"
 ~ Poem by Florence Royce Davis,
Historic Shrines of America, John T. Farris




You may read about the marriage of Hannah Hull and Samuel Sewall online in Puritan Family Life: The Diary of Samuel Sewall by Judith S. Graham.

Friday, August 7, 2015

Off the Beaten Path - Halifax, NC, by Carrie Fancett Pagels


During a recent trip to North Carolina, we saw signage along the interstate, for Historic Halifax. We determined to stop and pay a visit to this site.  If you are a University of North Carolina alumnus, then you may know that William R. Davie, the founder of the University had a beautiful home here in this busy colonial and early American town. 




As the pointed out in on the sign, left, William R. Davie was a Revolutionary War hero and more! He was also the tenth governor of North Carolina.



Keep in mind, as you look at recent photographs of colonial and early American buildings, that they may well have been altered. For instance, a plaque in front of the Davies' home (which is much more impressive in person than in my photograph) states that the external chimneys (seen in my second picture, in the background) were originally interior chimneys. We had once heard that only the wealthy could afford chimneys within their homes as it meant they could afford to rebuild if they had a fire. Don't know if that is the reason. Maybe our readers will share?


Owens House, Halifax, NC Circa 1760
The 1760 era Owens House was the home of a prosperous merchant. There is a river that runs nearby that surely has its own tale to tell of the many early colonists who traveled along it to towns in North Carolina! 

Visiting this town brought to mind President Jimmy Carter's American Revolutionary War book, one of my favorites.

Don't forget to stop at the Visitors' Center, if you decide like we did, to go off the beaten path!  In their literature, they describe Halifax as, "An important political, social, and commercial center of Revolutionary and post-Revolutionary northeastern North Carolina." With its strategic location, I imagine this was a hopping place.



The Eagle Tavern may have been a place of much celebration, especially when the Marquise de Lafayette came to town! I am still wondering about the design. I have a theory, which may not be correct, but I wonder if one door was for the women to come into. If like other taverns of its time, food was the primary substance served, then perhaps. I conjecture because in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, there is an old tavern that likewise had two separate entrances--male and female. Not sure for the Eagle Tavern.

If you were looking for ale, you'd head to that brown barn like structure you see in the background of the picture, above.


I think this might have been a very "cozy" place! I can imagine the towns' men gathering here, elbow to elbow, fomenting the notion of liberty.  This Tap Room in Halifax dates from 1760. The residents in the area were reported to be staunch Patriots (or Rebels, if you were British occupier!)  The entire town is reported to have served as a supply depot for the Colonials. And they were punished for it by the English, when they took over.  


And if you were in town during that time, you daren't think of stealing a horse, for the punishments you'd face. According to the sign, above, one man had his ears nailed to the pillory, both ears cut off, was branded with H on right cheek and S on left.  Then he took 29 lashes "well laid on".  Yikes!  (But if he'd been in Virginia, he may have been hung - especially if this had been a second offense.)

Question: When you travel, do you try to visit historic sites? Do you go off the beaten path? Do you regret it or savor the journey? 

Giveaway: A copy of Christmas Traditions eight-in-one ebook, just released!

Bio: Carrie Fancett Pagels is the author of The Fruitcake Challenge, a Selah Finalist, which is  now part of the newly released Christmas Traditions Eight in One Collection. 

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Baking in a Beehive Oven by Cynthia Howerter


During a visit to Colonial Williamsburg, the enticing scent of burning firewood led me to colonial baker William Parker's outdoor beehive oven. One of the commercial baker's employees graciously explained the oven's construction and use while he waited for it to heat.

A colonial baker explains beehive oven baking


Commercial bakers in colonial villages and towns needed a sizeable oven in order to produce quantities of baked goods to sell in their shops. Because a large wood-fired oven throws off an excessive amount of heat, bakers often built outdoor beehive ovens, so named because the shape resembled beehives that were in use at the time.

How to build an outdoor beehive oven

After choosing a spot about 30-45 feet behind his building, Mr. Parker constructed a shelter to protect the oven and its baking operation from rain and snow. We can see from the shelter's scorched ceiling why Mr. Parker put distance between the oven and his shop.

A shelter protects the beehive oven from weather


Next, a raised wood platform was built under the shelter. Once the beehive oven is built on top of this sturdy base, the oven's opening will be about waist-high in order to make the oven easier to use and to spare the baker's back while he attends the oven for long hours.  

Two layers of bricks were placed on top of the wood foundation. The bricks help contain the oven's heat, with the top layer providing the oven's floor. 

To form the perimeter of the circular oven's base, one row of bricks was set in a circle on top of the oven floor and mortared into place. A single opening was left to provide access to the oven's interior.

Beehive oven set on a raised platform


How is the oven's domed roof constructed?

With the round oven base in place, several rows of bricks were laid on top, forming a vertical wall about one foot high. Once the mortar of this wall hardened, sand was heaped inside the circle and shaped into a rounded mound. The height of the sand determined the interior height of the oven.   

Next, bricks were laid on top of the existing brick wall and mortared, row by row, against the sloped sand, taking on the curved beehive shape until the sand was completely encased in brick. Mortar consisting of clay, sand, and straw was spread over the brick exterior and allowed to dry for several days. With the bricks in place and the mortar dried and set, all of the sand inside the dome was removed through the opening.

Time to use the oven

It's time to preheat the oven and start baking! Sticks of hardwood, such as oak, are laid in the center of the oven and set on fire. As a rule of thumb, the length of pre-heating is one-half the time of baking. So two hours of pre-heating are needed for four hours of baking and six hours of baking requires three hours of pre-heating.

Pre-heating the beehive oven


Waste not, want not

When the wood has burned into charred embers and ash, the interior heat of the beehive oven is about 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit. The baker removes the chunks of wood and sweeps the oven floor clean of the ash. Because nothing was wasted, the hot embers and ash were often taken into the kitchen and banked inside the cooking fireplace to keep a pot of food warm. The embers and ash could also be cooled and saved to be made into lye soap.

Burned embers


The oven will have to cool a bit before food can be inserted without being burned. An experienced baker can insert their bare arm inside the oven and tell by the feel of the heat on his skin if the correct baking temperature has been achieved. Another way to ascertain oven temperature is to place small pieces of dough inside the oven and watch whether they bake or burn. Additionally, some bakers toss flour on the oven's floor. If the flour doesn't burn, it's time to bake.

While the oven heats and cools, the baker prepares the foods, starting with baked goods that require the hottest temperature and ending with things that need the coolest. 

A trencher filled with risen dough

Hand-shaped dinner rolls placed on a floured pan


After inserting pans and trays of baked goods into the oven, the baker had to watch the progress of the baking through the oven's small opening and remove items when finished. Although this baker used pans, some bakers set the food directly on the hot brick oven floor.

I hope you enjoyed learning about beehive ovens. My husband will be happy to learn that I will never again complain about the eight minutes it takes my electric oven to preheat. What about you?



Award-winning author Cynthia Howerter is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). Her colonial-era novel-in-progress was recently awarded first place in historical fiction at the 2015 Florida Christian Writers Conference. Her first book, a non-fiction anthology titled God's Provision in Tough Times co-authored by La-Tan Roland Murphy, was a Selah Award finalist at the 2014 Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writers Conference and has been in the top 100 paid Kindle e-books at Amazon.com. It can be purchased from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Christianbook.com.

Visit Cynthia's Website: Cynthia Howerter - all things historical

Photographs ©2015 Cynthia Howerter