Dad and I were perusing a few of his many notebook collections of family history, and one in particular pertaining to my 5th great grandfather Martin Mason, born 1742. He was the grandfather of Martin Hester whose remarkable passing is told in my last bog post here: http://firstlightofdawn.blogspot.com/2014/01/january-31-1870.html
There’s a story of Martin Mason constructing a mill to grind
grain, not far from where I grew up. The mill was capable of grinding sixty
bushels of corn a day. Reflecting on that, Dad recollected that his own father
had a used a hammer mill to grind corn, powered with a belt attached to his
tractor.
That recollection led to another, that of his mother making
corn meal mush on the stove top with leftovers going into a bread pan and
refrigerated. The next day it could be sliced and served with maple syrup.
Dad noted that before the availability of cane sugar, maple
sap was the primary source of sweetner. North American colonists had
the Indians to thank for showing them how to harvest the sap from maple trees.
Then Dad asked if I wanted some maple syrup. I was thinking
that maybe in a month or two the season for making syrup would begin and we’d
go scouting for some nearby. But then I recalled that gallon jug stashed away
in the basement storage cupboard.
So we started out with our imaginations taking us to gristmill
situated on a river in Ashland County and ended up with this golden jar stashed in my frig:
