Sunday, August 5, 2007

1896 Fulton Cookbook

“The Favorite Cookery” is a cookbook published by the Ladies of Fulton, Illinois, in 1896. It was the second edition of the cookbook and was described as “revised and enlarged.” It is divided into sixteen headings, the final chapter entitled “Food for the Sick.”

Fever Drink
Pour cold water on wheat bran, let boil half an hour; strain and add lemon juice and sugar.
Another—Pour boiling water on flax seed: let stand until it is ropy: pour into hot lemonade.

Toast Water
Toast 2 slices of stale bread, on both sides, a rich brown: cut in pieces and pour on 1 pint boiling water. Wine or other stimulant may be added.

Indian Meal Gruel
Mix ½ cup of meal with a very little water, stir until perfectly smooth: to 3 cups boiling water, salted, add the meal, stirring it in slowly: let it boil ½ hour. It can be retained on the stomach when almost everything else is rejected.

Beef Extract
Chop lean beef very fine and put it in a wide mouthed bottle. Place the bottle in a sauce pan of cold water. Heat very slowly and keep near the boiling point 4 hours. Pour off the juice, pressing the meat to extract every particle of juice. Season slightly with salt.

Don Carlos Knight

Don Carlos Knight

Emma Hale Smith spent the winter of 1846-47 in Fulton, Illinois, and had traveled upriver from Nauvoo with the Wesley Knight and Lorin Walker families. I became particularly interested in the Knight family when Steve and Linda Stuart shared a letter with me written by Joseph Smith III to Emma Knight Wythe Puffer, the daughter of Wesley and Louisa Cowles Knight. Emma’s sister, Mary Knight, married Daniel Hollinshead.
The first census recorded for the City of Fulton lists a Don Carlos Knight. I knew that Emma Hale Smith had had a child in 1840-41 named Don Carlos Smith. He was named for the brother of her husband, Joseph. Could her close friends the Knights, have had a son they named Don Carlos after the child of Emma and Joseph?

Mystery solved by THE FULTON WEEKLY: April 18, 1873.
A Sad and Fatal Accident
“Don C. Knight, formerly of this city, and brother of Mrs. L.F. Puffer, was so severely injured at the corner of Seventh and Poplar streets in St. Louis, on Sunday evening, the 5th inst. by a freight train of the Pacific Railroad backing into the street car which he was driving, that he died on the Thursday following. This news will make many hearts sad in this city and vicinity, where he had so long lived and was so well known.
It seems that he was driving his cars along 7th street, going south, at the same time a freight train was being backed up Poplar street, going west. The watchman on the Pacific railroad was lounging in a saloon at the time, and consequently no warning was given him of the approach of the train. There was a blinding storm also raging at the time. The car had scarcely touched the track before it was struck by the rear car of the freight train, staving in the forward end of the car, and throwing it and the horses from the track. Mr. Knight was found horribly mutilated lying under the car. The wheels had passed over his legs, which were both broken, two fingers of his left hand were cut off, and he sustained other injuries about the head and face. He was taken to the Hospital immediately where he lingered until the 10th inst. That the Pacific Railroad Company are to blame for this sad occurrence was established beyond doubt by the evidence at the Coroner’s inquest. Indeed everything connected with the matter tends to show it.
Mrs. Knight, mother of the deceased went down to St. Louis, where she was kindly treated by Col. Madison, the President of the street railway Company, and everything done to assuage her grief. The body was taken charge of by Col. M. and properly buried in Bellefontaine Cemetery. Mr. Knight was born in Hancock county in the State and was 29 years of age at the time of his death. He came to this city with his parents at an early age, and remained here until about eight years ago when he started for Kansas. He endeared himself to all with whom he became acquainted, by his many good qualities of mind and heart.
Mr. Puffer visited St. Louis a day or two since, and brought Mrs. Knight back with him. He says the Pacific Railroad Co. refuse to pay her any damages, taking the ground that they are not responsible for the acts of the employees. If that is their only defence, it is a very flimsy one.”

Helen Wythe

Helen Wythe

Helen Wythe, daughter of Frank and Nellie Daley Wythe, sister of Leroy Wythe was connected to Fulton for nearly 100 years. She was born August 10, 1893, and died in March 1993. Her obituary says she was born in Clinton, but a photo inscription says “The house I was born in. Fulton. Helen Wythe.”
Helen completed her formal education at FHS in 1910, 2 years after Roy had finished. The class was comprised of four females, Priscilla Lockhart, Hilda Opheim, Helen Perry and Helen Wythe, and one male, Bert Sterenberg. The commencement exercises were held in the Opera House on June 10, 1910. The speaker was Dr. William A. Colledge, for many years a scientific instructor in the Armour Institute of Chicago. His 50 minute speech was entitled “Second Fiddles” The Fulton Journal reporter lamented that the members of the class had no part in the program as a separate class day had been set aside for the class will or prophecy and for a speech by the valedictorian. The reporter said, “Good lectures are invaluable for instruction and as an aid to an up-lift in life educationally and otherwise, but they do not as a rule reach the common people and the schools are for all the people and the closing exercises offers a great opportunity for arousing and maintaining interest in our public schools and fostering a proper pride in them.”
The two Wythe children Roy and Helen had successfully completed high school, one in 1908, the other in 1910. Obviously, formal education was a family value.
In 1917 at age 24 when her mother Nellie Daley died, Helen lived at home. Frank remarried two years later and when Frances Wythe died in 1934, Mrs. Helen Wythe Pope had come from her home in Los Angeles to assist in the home. (Roy was also living in LA at that time.)
Between 1934 and 1947 Helen divorced, resumed the name of Wythe and returned to Fulton. Her father, Frank, was ill and confined to his bed for nearly five years and Helen cared for him.
Helen was a bookkeeper for Noble Garage and Baker Ford. She was a member of the Fulton Presbyterian Church and a 75 year member of Eastern Star. One Fultonian also remembers her as a waitress at Bush’s restaurant. Another says she was outgoing, friendly, and fun.
Helen (Barney) Sikkema cared for Helen in the years preceding her nursing home stay and the Sikkemas bought the Wythe house on 13th Avenue and tore it down.
From 1947 until she died in 1993, Helen built her family around people other than immediate relatives for Roy was in California, her parents were dead, and she was divorced. Cousins, friends, co-workers, and neighbors became her family as she shaped her life and life shaped her in Fulton, Illinois.

Roy Wythe

Roy Wythe

Carpenters tearing into the plaster at 1107 4th Street discovered a letter dated 1909 written by Frank Wythe to his son Roy.
Roy A. Wythe, was president of his 1908 Fulton High School class. The commencement exercises were detailed in the Fulton Journal in May/June of 1908. The junior class gave a reception for the senior class in the Odd Fellows’ hall (500 block of 12th Avenue ?) on Thursday evening. On Sunday evening, May 31, the baccalaureate sermon was delivered by Rev. Armin H. Ziemer in the Presbyterian Church. Class day was observed on Thursday evening, June 4, in the Fulton Opera house (This was located where the Fulton City Hall/Police Station now stands.) At that time Roy A. Wythe presented the class will. Peter M. Starck was the valedictorian. The commencement lecture was by John W. Cook, president of the Northern Illinois State Normal school in DeKalb, whose speech was entitled “Tendencies of Modern Education.” The motto of the class was “Out of School’s Life into Life’s School.” Six people were in the class of 1908: Roy A. Wythe, Irene L. Mathers, Zella Rathgeber, Joseph W. Ferry, Peter M. Starck, and William J. Rice.
In 1917, eight years after the “letter in the wall” was written, Roy’s mother, Nellie Daley, age 55, died. Roy is listed as a survivor living in Dixon.
In 1934, Roy’s stepmother, Frances, died and both Roy and his sister, Helen, were living in Los Angeles.
When Frank Wythe died in 1947, the obituary read, “Mr. Wythe’s son, Roy Wythe, of Altadina, California., was unable to be present.” Roy of Altadina, California, was listed as a survivor along with a granddaughter of Sherman Oaks, California. Since Helen Wythe had no children, it is assumed that Phyrne Wythe was the daughter of Roy.
Roy lived to be 88 years old. A tombstone in the Fulton Cemetery in the Wythe plot has a stone for Leroy A. Wythe 1889-1977. An examination of all of the Fulton Journals for 1977 yielded no obituary and a relative of Roy’s said that he thought Roy was buried in California. It is likely that his sister Helen had the Fulton stone inscribed with the year of his death.
If there were only more letters…

Frank Wythe

Frank Wythe

The 1909 letter which appeared in last week’s Fulton Journal was found on the plaster lath at 1107 4th Street. It was written by “Dad” or Frank Wythe. Frank, born on the 4th of July, was a lifelong resident of Fulton who resided here from 1859-1947.
Frank had some interesting relatives preceding him. George Wythe, one of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence, is part of Frank’s family tree. Also, Frank’s mother was Emma Knight Wythe who traveled to Fulton with Emma Hale Smith and her children in 1846. Frank’s relatives have an 1855 letter from Joseph Smith III to Emma Wythe. Joseph Smith III later became the President of the Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints. Emma Knight’s sister, Mary, married Daniel Hollinshead an early pioneer to this area.
Frank had two marriages. On December 17, 1885, at the age of 26, he married Nellie Daley who was 22 years old. They had two children who survived infancy, Roy (1889-1977) and Helen (1893-1993). Nellie died in 1917. Several years later, Frank married Frances Bank of Chicago. They had no children and she died in 1934.
In the 1913 Fulton phone book, Frank is listed as proprietor of a pool hall at 1109 4th Street. Frank was postmaster when the post office was at 1009
4th Street. Later, he had a paper and paint business on 4th Street. He served as Town Clerk and held offices in the Order of the Odd Fellows. He was actively involved in the business life of Fulton. The Wythe home was at 1016 13th Avenue.
Frank lived to be 88 years old. He was survived by his daughter, Helen, at home, his son, Roy of Altadina, California, and a granddaughter, Fyrne Wythe of Sherman Oaks, California. Frank had one sister, Miss Eva Wythe.
What happened that the letter returned to Fulton? The envelope contains no return address. Did it ever reach Roy? Did he, at age 19, return briefly carrying the letter with him? Did the post office return an undeliverable letter to the Fulton post office and subsequently put it back in Frank’s hands?
“The palest ink is better than the best memory” for the letter in the wall breathes life into Frank Wythe who chose Fulton as his place to live.

Obit: Emma Knight

Emma Knight

When the Retail Development Group purchased two buildings in the 1100 block of 4th Street, research began on the buildings and owners. At that time wonderful stories emerged about the Wythe family, the Stuarts, and the Knights. A letter was found from Joseph Smith III to Emma Knight, but the connection to the Wythes was not perfectly clear. Last week’s discovery of an obituary for Emma Puffer explained the relationship.
Emma Knight with her parents and siblings were on the steamer Uncle Toby when Emma Hale Smith and her family came to Fulton in 1846-47.
Fulton Journal: January 8, 1895:
Friday afternoon Mrs. L.F. Puffer died at her home in this city, after an illness of but ten days. The cause of her death was an abscess in the right lung. Her maiden name was Emma E. Knight. She was born in Charleston, Illinois, January 24, 1839, being fifty-five years, eleven months and ten days of age at the time of her death. She was one of the old residents of Fulton, having come to this city with her parents in 1847, and resided here since, excepting a short time spent in Colorado. She was married to Monroe C. Wythe, in Sterling, in 1856. To this marriage two children were born, Frank A. who resides in this city and Eva who died in infancy. Her married life was not a happy one and in 1866 she obtained a divorce from Mr. Wythe. At Black Hawk, Colorado, November 25, 1868, she was married to L.F. Puffer and soon after Mr. and Mrs. Puffer returned to Fulton. To this marriage two daughters were born, Nettie, now Mrs. Martin H. McGrath, of this city, and Daisy, now Mrs. Clayton Snodgrass, of Iron Hill, Iowa. About twelve years ago her sight failed and she had been practically blind since, but through it all she was ever patient and uncomplaining, thinking more of others than herself and cheering those about her with words of encouragement, sympathy and love. When quite young she became deeply interested in the teachings and philosophy of modern Spiritualism and soon became not only satisfied in her own mind that its claims were true but became herself a medium and through all her life her faith in, or as she claimed her knowledge of, the truth of continued life and inter-communion of friends here and hereafter was a source of great comfort to her and that faith sustained her in the closing hours of her life. She was fully conscious throughout her final illness, but could speak only with great difficulty. The funeral services were at the house Sunday held at 2 o’clock p.m. Rev. Frank S. Arnold officiating, and the remains were buried in Fulton cemetery. Thus another old resident of Fulton sleeps in the silent city of the dead. Mr. Puffer will reside for the present with his daughter, Mrs. McGrath, in this city.

Clairvoyant

Emma Knight Wythe Puffer, Clairvoyant

Fulton Journal: March 27, 1876

“Editor of the Journal:
A little more than two months ago our community was shocked by the sad loss which one of our most respected citizens suffered in the sudden death of his only son. The whole community, as one person, was stirred by the keenest sympathy with the bereaved parents, and one and all, expected to aid in the recovery of the body of George Hall. I, acting under the same impulse which led others to search for the body, tried what I could do with my one talent, clairvoyance toward directing others where to search. In the presence of John Wilde and his wife, and Mrs.Wetzell, and Mr. Puffer, I laid my hand on a coat that George had worn, and from the clue given by the magnetism in the coat (as I understand it) I saw George leave his father’s house, put on his skates at the bank of the river and skate up above Smith & Culbertson’s mill, and described the place he disappeared from view. Told them what I saw, and told them that I could not see that he came back down the river, either on ice or land. This was about nine o’clock Saturday evening. They all went out and left me alone, and while I was alone I saw clearer that George’s body was under the ice.
About ten o’clock Billy Stuart came to the door as representive (sic) for a party of men that started to examine the ice in the vicinity of the Elevator. Stuart said, “Mrs. Puffer, we have about made up our minds that George is not drowned at all, that he has gone off somewhere because he was seen at five o’clock near home with a bundle under his arm, now what do you think about it.” I answered, “Billy, George Hall is dead, is under the ice up above here. You need not go near the Elevator.” There was one other person near the door, so I think he heard what I said, but in the darkness I did not see who it was.
There were others that I told about it before he was found, but this should be sufficient and my story is getting lengthy. Now, this would all be worth my time in writing it, but for the fact that for that act of kindly impulse on my part, there is an effort on the part of some person or persons to call my name in question. Last week the word came to me indirectly from Lyons that it was said there that “a clairvoyant pretended she had traced George Hall, after he was found,’ and this morning a gentleman came and introduced himself, and asked me if I was Mrs. Puffer. I assented. He then asked me if I could give the names of any persons not spiritualists as references to prove that I saw where the body of George Hall was before he was found, saying he had heard in Lyons that I did, and then it was contradicted by those who should know something of it, who said I pretended to have seen it after he was found. Now, right here I am going to let the human in me find expression. I will say to the magnanimous public that has made such a charge against me that I have never, as a clairvoyant, asked them for one cent’s worth of patronage in any manner. I have depended upon the wages of honest work for support, my husband being a well known mechanic in this community. I have never in any way or at any time thrust either my services as clairvoyant, or my religious opinions, unasked, upon any person or persons, and now I want to know what evil influences are at work in our community, that makes it necessary for me to defend myself, or rest under the accusation of being an imposter? Who will benefit to misrepresent me, and the facts of the case? My opinions are my own. My gift as clairvoyant is my own, and never has been made the property of the public by advertisement or otherwise, and although I am a woman, I claim the rights of citizenship enough to defend myself when there have been false accusations made, and for the use of your columns through which to do so, you have my thanks. EMMA E. PUFFER

As a simple act of justice, we certify that Mrs. Puffer’s statement, to the effect that she traced George Hall clairvoyantly to the locality where he was afterward found, Saturday evening before he was found, our presence is true and correct.
Mrs.J.V. Wilde,
Jno. V. Wilde,
Mrs. W.Y. Wetzell
I certify that the conversation related by Mrs. Puffer in the foregoing article is correct, both as to the time (Saturday night before George was found,) and the words used.
William Stuart”

(Emma Knight Wythe Puffer was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Wesley Knight and a member of the party of Mormons, including Emma Hale Smith and children, who took the steamer Uncle Toby from Nauvoo to Fulton in 1846. Her sister, Mary, married Daniel Hollinshead.)