Beacon Street Diary

By the 1640s Massachusetts had already moved beyond paper ballots.

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Not that they had any voting machines; it was just that paper was too expensive. So in a cost-cutting move the government went to "Indian beanes" (kidney beans). Their voting law stipulated that in the annual election for Assistants (who comprised the fledgling upper house of the Commonwealth's General Court), "the white beanes manifest election, the black for blanks." (September 7, 1643)

Enter Mighill Smith. On May 26, 1647, the government voted to make Mr. Smith a freeman. That meant he had attained a coveted status in early New England. From the original handful of persons named in the Bay Company charter, the Puritan settlers quickly expanded the right to vote to include a much larger population, namely, all (male) church members. So Mr. Smith proudly joined the ranks of the freemen; and it appears he voted that very day in an election for the Colony's Assistants. It may have been the first time he ever voted in his entire life.

It isn't clear that Mr. Smith believed in voting early and often — but he did drop three beans into the receptacle. A poll watcher caught him. He was accused of violating the October, 1643 law against voting more than once. As a result, in what may have been the first case of voter fraud on these shores, a £10 fine was levied on Mighill Smith. That hefty sum could have amounted to almost half of his yearly income.

Justice was swift. In that same session of the Great and General Court, maybe even on the very next day, the Court reached a judicious and compassionate verdict. "For his puting in of three beanes at once for one mans election," says the record, "it being done in simplicity, & he being pore & of an harmles disposition," Mr. Smith's fine was suspended.

-David M. Powers

photograph of an early ballot box using ballottas courtesy of the National Museum of American History of the Smithsonian Institution, via Wikimedia Commons

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Hal was director of the Congregational Library for nearly three decades, from 1977 to 2003. Many will remember him as the authoritative source on all things Congregational, a wry and gentle man with a deep knowledge of the tradition and an endless store of anecdotes and stories. Researchers came to know Hal as a friend, always generous with his time and ready to answer any and all questions, no matter how obscure or remote the subject area. We are all deeply grateful for his years of careful stewardship of the library's collection, ensuring its survival in spite of limited staffing and financial resources.

A native of Brewer, Maine, Hal was ordained a Congregational minister in 1954, and served parishes in Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. Between 1963 and 1977, he taught at Wheaton College in Norton, where he was College Chaplain and Associate Professor of Religion.

Hal's deepest passion was for history. A graduate of Boston University and Harvard Divinity School, where he received his Ph.D. in 1970, he also did postgraduate work at Northwestern University and Simmons College.

Hal was, bar none, the world authority on New England church records. His Harvard doctoral thesis focused on deacons and ruling elders of the early Congregational churches of Massachusetts — but it was the appendix to the thesis (which he sometimes called a 700-page footnote) that became his legacy. Hal took upon himself the massive task of creating an inventory of all the Congregational church records in colonial Massachusetts, tracking them down in churches, historical societies, banks, attics, and basements in every corner of the state. Published in 1970, An Inventory of the Records of the Particular (Congregational) Churches of Massachusetts Gathered 1620-1805 lists by name every original record book, as well as the ministers and lay officers of each congregation. The Inventory became iconic among researchers of early New England history and religion, and remains so nearly a half century after its publication.

Hal's work is foundational to the one of the CLA's most important projects, New England's Hidden Histories. In many ways we are continuing the project he began so long ago, retracing his steps to the last known sites of old church records, and then making them available to researchers anywhere by digitizing, transcribing, and placing them online.

Dr. Worthley's love for Congregational history did not end when he retired in 2003. He and his wife Barbara set to work transcribing documents, beginning with the diaries of missionary Gideon Hawley. They became indispensable to the Hidden Histories project as well. Hal was still transcribing the records of the church in Barnstable, Massachusetts, in his hospital bed.

Hal leaves his wife of 61 years, Barbara L. (Bent) Worthley, and his children: Susan L. Field of Cape Porpoise, ME; Laura M. Worthley and her husband, Andrew Lavash, of New Braunfels, TX; and David B. Worthley and his wife, Stephanie A. Worthley, of Norton, MA. He leaves five grandchildren: Jesse D. Field, Marshall D. Lavash, Morgan C. Lavash, Leah D. Worthley, and Nina B. Worthley. He was the brother of the late Bruce E. Worthley.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, November 5 at 2:00 PM, at the Trinitarian Congregational Church in Norton, MA. In lieu of flowers, Hal has requested that memorial gifts be sent to the Congregational Library & Archives, with a note that the gift supports New England's Hidden Histories.

As we continue to feature the CLA's food-related collections for Archives Month, it feels like a perfect opportunity to share some of our favorite recipes, advertisements, and food related stories highlighted from our collections between the 17th and 20th centuries.

We have a recipe for samp, which is a version of a Native American recipe adapted by English colonists. I made the recipe, which is a porridge, adding a little maple syrup and berries for good measure. It made for a hearty breakfast, and tastes like a precursor to Johnny Cakes and pancakes. Also from the Colonial Era, there are multiple mentions of food and foodstuffs in the CLA's New England's Hidden Histories collections including cider from Northbridge, MA; cranberries from Wrentham, MA; and lists of gifts to ministers as payment including chocolate, pigs, and wine from Stoneham, MA and Haverhill, MA.

In the 19th century, we noted a lot of recipes for steamed puddings and baked goods including ingredients such as saleratus, a precursor to baking soda. Making some of these recipes proved harder than expected, as there was no standardization to ovens or thermometer gauges in the 19th century so we had to do a little guess work on recipes. Note that there's no salt, fat, or baking instructions to the Maple Molasses Cookies recipe at all!

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Maple Molasses Cookies recipe – Winnowed Gems Cookbook (1899) by The Woman's Missionary Society of the Congregational Church, Summer Hill, NY.		Laconia Cake – Mary Whitcher's Shaker House-keeper (1882)

Additionally, in the 19th century, it is easy to see the development of a mass consumer culture through the rise of advertisements for food and cooking related equipment. Here are some examples:

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Shakers’ Sarsaparilla ­­advertisement – Mary Whitcher's Shaker House-keeper (1882)		Marvel Flour advertisement – Winnowed Gems Cookbook (1899) by The Woman's Missionary Society of the Congregational Church, Summer Hill, NY.
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Beardsley’s Shredded Codfish advetisement – Tried and True Cook Book (1898) by The Ladies League of Emmanuel Church, Springfield, MA		Rising Sun Stove Polish advertisement – The Boston Almanac and Directory (1891)
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Glenwood Range advertisement – Tried and True Cook Book (1898) by The Ladies League of Emmanuel Church, Springfield, MA

Some of the staff's favorite recipes have, without doubt, come from 20th century church cookbooks. These recipes are nostalgic for some, amusing for others, and generally beloved for their usage and creative pairing of ingredients. Here are a few favorites, all from the 1978 Kettle n' Kirke Cookbook, a 175th anniversary historical cookbook from the First Congregational Church, UCC in Littleton, New Hampshire.

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Mom's Perfection Salad recipe		Six Can Casserole recipe
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Gum Drop Cookies recipe

It's been great fun celebrating Archives Month through food, but it also highlights a more serious message. Archival collections may be used for a myriad of purposes, far beyond their obvious subject matters. All of these materials shed insight into times gone by from, socio-economic, cultural, gendered and geographical perspectives. We hope you've enjoyed learning about the CLA's food related collections as much as we have enjoyed sharing them. Cheers!

P.S. Have a Potato Chip cookie

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Monday, October 17th
12:00 - 1:00 pm

Boston Athenaeum
Bayard Henry Long Room
10 Beacon Street, Boston

Free.
No registration required.

image of "Jan Tzatzoe, Andries Stoffles, the Rev. Dr. Philip & Rev. Messrs. Read Senr & Junr, giving evidence before the Committe of the House of Commons" painted by H. Room and engraved by R. Woodman courtesy of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, via Wikimedia Commons