Bake oven is ready!

On Saturday, May 18th, together with Nantucket Preservation Trust, the Mitchell House hosted a fireplace and bake oven talk and demonstration in the late afternoon. Pen Austin, conservation mason, used the Mitchell House’s 1790 chimney and Sitting Room firebox and hearth to discuss the historic building of chimneys, lime mortar and slaking lime, and how to conserve or restore your historic chimney properly. Pen has worked on the Mitchell House chimney and root cellar.  This workshop was in celebration of Preservation Month and was free to the public.

Nathan readies the bread for the oven.

The door goes on the oven for bread baking.

The group then walked over to a home that was built in 1809. In the cellar of this home stands the original bake oven which Pen restored (for about 70 years the chimney and hearth in the cellar hosted the heating system for the house) for the homeowner who now cooks in it! We were treated to a demonstration and explanation of bake oven cooking. The homeowner added a 21st century spin by baking pizzas in the oven but also prepared five loaves of bread which she cooked in Dutch ovens – delicious! I have included some images for you to see. We wish to thank the homeowner, Michelle; Pen; and of course the sous chef and Michelle’s kitchen aide, Nathan Killeen - he is not just a restoration carpenter it seems! Thank you all and to the great group who attended.

Bread just out of the bake oven.

JNLF

Michelle talks about how long it takes the oven to get to temperature.

Michelle talks about how to bak in the oven.

Maria Mitchell, ca. 1865

May 7 {1858}. I think I am not well because I perceived myself to be spiteful and cross and do not rejoice in the good fortune of others. I hope I may not become envious as I become old; and envious old maid is more than an old maid simply . . . .

In May of 1858, Maria Mitchell was close to completing her year abroad in Europe. She would arrive back home on Nantucket in June 1858 to a mixture of emotions – joy for being back with her family but likely sadness that her time of travel had come to an end and she was returning to a bit of unknown. Her position at the Nantucket Atheneum she had resigned a year or so before her trip – in large part to care for her ailing mother. She returned to her work for the Nautical Almanac and caring for her mother, living at the family home above the Pacific Bank.

JNLF

A few weeks ago I wrote about the re-shingling work at Mitchell House and what the removal of the shingles revealed – carpenter’s marks, sawyer’s marks, and coils upon coils of wood shavings circa 1790.

Well, here is a sample of what was uncovered and what I saved to become part of the Mitchell House collection. The shavings had not seen the light of day since 1790 when the House was built. These fell down between the sheathing boards and the interior walls. As the carpenters worked – Hezekiah Swain and others – the shavings fell down between and were not removed – it is just wood shavings after all. Many were in pristine condition, some a little dirty from dirt slowly working its way under the baseboards and down through the space between the outside and inside walls. That white curl is plaster that squished through the lathe and the rusted iron piece is part of a very long nail used in the main timbers of the House. The sheathing board which hid these treasures had not been removed since the House was built and since we had to cut out two small areas of rotten sheathing, these treasures were revealed.

JNLF

JNLF

Maria Mitchell, ca. 1865

Charleston April 23. This place has a look of a city somewhat like Boston in its narrow streets but unlike Boston in being quiet as is all the south . . . . We left Savannah at about 6 p.m. and in nine hours were at the wharf of Charleston . . . .

The reading” matter of different parts of the country differs widely. Peculiarities force themselves upon you. At the west, maps of Kansas and Nebraska thrust before your eyes everywhere. At the South Miss Murrays letters are in every book store, tho’ you may ask in vain for Mrs. Browning’s poems. But everywhere Boston and New York are the standards of excellence. Boston seems to me more talked of at the South than New York. It was evidently the admiration of the South for its education and the horror for its irreligion . . . .

April 28. Charleston. Nothing can exceed the hospitality shown to us. We have several invitations each day and calls without much limit . . . .

April 29 . . . . Charleston is full of ante-revolution houses and they please me. They were built when there was no hurry. They were built to last. They have lasted and they will last yet for the children if their present possessors . . .

Maria Mitchell traveled into the American South and West in 1857 as a young woman’s chaperone and governess. Prudence Smith was her charge and they also travelled to Europe in 1857 and 1858 – the American tour being the first leg of their two year plan. I include this snippet from Maria’s journals in part because of her mention of the homes in Charleston. It coincides nicely with the fact that we just completed re-shingling the southern façade of Mitchell house on April 12th. And, I like her comments about Boston and New York and her quest for Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poetry. While these are light, she would later make more strongly worded negative comments about the South.

JNLF

With the tremendous support of grants, the Mitchell House’s southern façade is currently being re-shingled. The shingles we are all used to seeing – the dark almost black shingles of many decades – are no longer sufficient to protect the Mitchell House from weather. They have shrunk, curled, and left significant gaps between one another courtesy of sun, rain, and age. This can allow water to penetrate to the sheathing and thus cause rot and those dreaded leaks.

Nathan Killeen of Nathan Killen Old House Restoration is up to the task. Nathan has worked on the Mitchell House for many years with Sanford Kendall who is now retiring and passing the torch. Nathan is very “in-tune” with historic properties and only works on historic structures. He is incredibly knowledgeable. With carpenter Matt Anderson, they have been getting the job done carefully and respectfully – both of the historic house and the carpenters who came before them – mainly in 1790 when the House was built!

Nathan’s work has uncovered some things we knew about and some new things such as sheathing rot. He carefully cut out just the rotted areas and placed in old wood, trying to re-use what he could of the original sheathing – no plywood or pressure treated anything here and not full replacement! Removal of these two small sheathing areas also revealed what we knew already existed, sill rot. So, he carefully dug out the rot – LEAVING the existing sill – and sistered in a “new” piece of wood – nothing new or pressure treated – he used an old piece of lumber. This way the original sill stays and we have strengthened it with this piece that is now attached. That is the right way to do it. Nathan, Matt, and I also signed and dated the back of the new sister piece. Hopefully, it will last another 200 years or so.

We think based on nail holes, that this is only the third time the façade of Mitchell House has ever been re-shingled. The last time was in the 1950s or 1960s and they covered the sheathing with tar paper – something that did not exist in 1790. Tar paper may stop leaks but it also stops moisture from leaving the structure – it acts as a vapor barrier and the Mitchell House cannot breathe. Leaks get trapped and the tar paper and sheathing get wet and then you get – rot and a house full of moisture that cannot escape. So, tar paper is being removed and none is being put back in – just the sheathing and then shingles. What IS being replaced are the splines around the windows, front door, and corner boards. These pieces of cedar – one long piece – stop water from getting behind the framing of the windows and doors and getting to the sheathing. These were once on the House but for some reason when it was re-shingled, they thought tar paper was a better option and did not take into account the age of the House. It NEEDS its splines.

We have also found carpenters’ marks – roman numerals where pieces are to meet    up – sawyer’s marks from when the wood was cut, and even better – shavings from the carpenters when they built the house in 1790! These were stuck between the sheathing and the interior wall in the space or pocket that exists. I recently just found these at another house of about the same vintage that is being worked on in the neighborhood – very, very exciting!

And we owe a BIG thank you to Nathan – and Matt!

Take a look at a few photographs documenting the journey of the “chemical-peel.”

JNLF

The book is A History of the Earth and Animated Nature by Oliver Goldsmith. We have Volumes I and II published in 1857 and then Volume III published in 1856 but with simpler, black and white engravings.

The images are simply beautiful.

JNLF

These are pottery shards of various ages. Looking at them closely, they are mid to late nineteenth century (the blue and white pieces – in particular the lighter blue pieces) and possibly all the way up to the 1930s or so with the largest piece on the bottom right having a floral and bamboo/basket decoration that reminds me of McCoy ware. I will have to see if I can find any such pattern with them – it could very likely be another pottery maker, from the early to mid- twentieth century but maybe even the late nineteenth century!

But in any case, it tells a story of what Nantucketers used in their homes. Each time we have a hard rain, shards will appear in the yard of the Mitchell House where the family tossed out some of its trash that slowly became a part of the landscape and the earth. When a sewer pipe was re-done the plumber left the shards that he had found for me – I think he knows me too well! (The family has worked on MMA plumbing since the MMA had running water – early 1900s.)

One piece reminds me of mochaware but I think it might be a much later copy though I do hope I am just being cautious and this really is a 19th century shard of mochaware. That too I will have to investigate. Mochaware was started in the late 1700s in England and was just about the cheapest pottery one could get then and into the nineteenth century. Maybe akin to Fiestaware which while many collect it today used to be given out at the grocery store and the movies!

In any event, take a look around you. Look down and up – observe! (“We see most when we are most determined to see,” according to Maria – how right she was!) You never know what your feet are treading over and you never know what you might find – it might whisper something about those who once lived in the houses and neighborhoods we now inhabit.

JNLF

Maria Mitchell, ca. 1865

March 15, 1858. Today an eclipse of the sun was to come off, and with Mr. B and the Westons I went to the Observatory of the Capitol to look at the phenomenon . . . . The old gent speaks no English, but the bad French of both of us made a language. He had placed three telescopes of ordinary mounting in a terrace which overlooks the Forum, and as it was very cloudy, we looked at the magnificent views of the Alban and Sabine Mts. instead of looking at the Eclipse . . . . A dozen young men suddenly formed into a line and Prof. Calandrelli presented his pupils, who gracefully lifted their caps. They were fine looking fellows of about 16 and they all smiled as they greeted me and were evidently pleased at being noticed . . . .

Maria Mitchell was in Rome in 1858, a part of her European trip that started with her serving as a young woman’s chaperone. When the young woman, Prudence Swift, was called home due to her father’s bankruptcy (thus no more funds for the trip), Maria Mitchell remained and continued to travel. She was the first woman to gain entry to the Vatican Observatory – not even one of her heroines, Mary Somerville, ever gained entry.

JNLF

I like to . . .

. . . collect.

Not so surprising for a historic house museum curator. My “addiction” encompasses several specific areas. I am not a hoarder, I do not collect junk in my backyard and the basement is not filled with “things.” Some people might find what I collect useless, but sometimes the simple everyday item, from a nail to an old railroad spike, intrigues me for its simplicity and its beauty.

If you know me, or if you have read the “Portrait of the Curator as Darth Vader” entry for this blog, then you realize that I don’t preen in front of the mirror. Given the fact that mostly just the books and archives see me all winter, my hair typically looks like it needs a good combing (since I am pulling goggles and respirator on and off all day) unless I have a meeting or I am out in public. But I do have a thing for a good “kitchen” mirror. Typically a mirror of the mid to late 19th century, it is rectangular in shape with rounded corners and hopefully some nice grain painting on the wood frame. Oftentimes, you will find crazing in the glass and black marks or missing “mirrored” areas caused by the loss of the silver painted onto the back of the glass. I like these mirrors for the simpler time they speak of and for the simplicity of their style, but also for their patina of time. In the Mitchell House, we have a mirror of a similar age and shape used by Peleg Mitchell Jr. for shaving.

Enamel is another fascination of mine. Enamelware could be found throughout kitchens in many parts of the world. Enamelware took off in popularity in the United States in the latter half of the nineteenth century – all shapes and sizes, all sorts of domestic uses from slotted spoons to cups, pitchers, strainers, plates, or basins. Think of it as 19th century Tupperware and the child of tinware. You might even be familiar with the enamel numbers for homes or streets. Enamelware can be plain, mottled, or marbled – the marbled being much harder to find and thus more prized. In my collection, I have one cup that was once part of a four piece set that belonged to my grandmother’s family. They used it when they went camping. I guess when family camping stopped, the cups got used for other purposes until only one was left. This one had become a birdseed scoop until it was given to me by my Mother who knows of my enamelware fetish. But even as a scoop, it was still being used and thus memories of family camping persisted and memories of those who used it were an everyday thought. Now on the top of an old jelly cupboard, it is still a daily memory of my grandmother, her parents, and her brother as I see it each day in the kitchen.

Depression-era glass (Depression Glass), 18th and 19th century pottery shards – yes, I have been known to dig in dirt piles – old bottles that I have unearthed in same named piles or at the ̓Sconset dump, seaglass, and historic postcards specifically of the Mitchell House are also some things I collect. (When my husband found out the price I paid for a vintage postcard of Mitchell House on eBay, I thought he would faint.) I also collect other images of Mitchell House, such as paintings and old photographs – I myself am a photographer of historic architecture with a focus on forgotten buildings especially those facing demolition by neglect – and McCoy wear. Since I am also a gardener, one can never have too many pots for plants and McCoy made many styles of pots including those with attached saucers! And then, I also love a good mid to late 19th century simple wood chair . . .

All of these items are used in a myriad of ways and continue to function as they were meant to be used or in new ways. Each item has some personal memory for me or my family depending on whether it was something I found while on a walk along the beach, digging in the dump, or a shop in New Orleans or something that belonged to my grandmother, great-grandmother, or a great-great aunt. These pieces connect us to the past and connect us to family members who may not be with us any more – but they are with us each time you use that cup or look into that mirror, they are there and you think of them. The past and the people of the past continue to live on.

JNLF