Manuscript Location

University of Virginia Library, Special Collections

Place of Origin

United States ➔ Virginia

Date of Composition

1848

Description

This recipe book was written by Mary Ragland Stamps Rice, mistress of a plantation originally known as "South Isle" and now known "The Oaks," located in Charlotte County, Virginia. In addition to recipes for general cooking and baking, including the making of syrups and catsup, the book contains medical and household recipes. The book also covers various aspects of running the house, gardens, fields, and stables of the plantation.

The last few pages of the book contain records of plantation slaves, including sixty-five entries of slave births (and some deaths), noting the mother's and children's names and date. Three of the slaves listed, Lethe, Viny, and Aunt Chany, are mentioned in an 1845 letter that appears in My Day: Reminiscences of a Long Life, published in 1909 by Mary Rice's niece, Mrs. Roger A. Pryor.

Mary Ragland Stamps was born 1811 and married Dr. Izard Bacon Rice (1804-1865) in 1830. The couple had three sons, one of whom fought for the Confederacy.