Denison Homestead Museum
Mystic, CT

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Dear Rangers,

For those of you who missed the sunny weekend at the beautiful Denison Homestead Museum, here is a report and some pictures. You may recall that when our friend Craig Floyd, a longtime reenactar par excellence, asked Rogers Rangers to participate in a Farm Frolic day at the Denison Homestead, of course we said YES. Craig, aka Nehemiah, is a descendant of the Denison family who have owned that land at the homestead since the 1650s. Craig is also President of the Denison Society, whose mission is to preserve the Denison Homestead Museum and surrounding acreage. The Denison Society was hosting the Farm Frolic to attract visitors and draw attention to the place. The Farm Frolic included several craftsmen, a few other reenactors, and us, to give it a colonial flavor.

Saturday morning, Paul and Diane Stevens, Dave Shaw, Craig Villeneuve, Wade Stoner, and I arrived at the site and started to unload. Wade, Dave, and Craig already had tents up—including one for me—by the time I got there. I love it when that happens! We were camping and cooking up on a flat area above and behind the house, and so we had to schlep all the kitchen stuff and all our personal stuff uphill, which took awhile.

When we went back that afternoon, things were well underway for a party that night for Paul's 50th birthday. A lot of Paul and Diane's friends and family were there, as was plenty beer and wine. Nehemiah had set up an enormous cauldron hanging from a tripod and he had a good fire going underneath to heat water for lobsters. Diane was cooking a huge ribeye roast that Nehemiah had also donated for us all to enjoy. Nancy Bartley, Major Mike, and Jay Fiedler were there as well. Alec Asten had sent his regards and a case of Ping! A few of us put on our good reenacting clothes (even Wade put on his gentleman's clothes!), but most of the people stayed in modern clothes. Three who came fully dressed for the 18th century were Paul and Becky Hendricks (of Delancey's Brigade 1st Bttn., who we had met recently at Newtown, CT), and their young son. For his birthday, I gave Paul a signed copy of Bob Bearor's new book, Leading by Example, Vol. 2, which has a picture of Paul in it.

Nehemiah gave a personal tour of the house (free of charge) and that was really interesting. It is full of antiques and historical items from various time periods, all owned by the Denisons and original to the house. Each room is interpreted in a different time period, from Colonial to WWII. The homestead itself is from 1717 and is really wonderful. Especially the original colonial kitchen with its huge hearth and oven. The Floyds must really enjoy the chance to cook there.

Jay had to go back home that evening, so it was really great of him to make the drive for Paul's birthday. The visitors left fairly early Saturday evening, as it got COLD when the sun went down. In fact, it was supposed to get down to about 34 degrees Saturday night! You know me and the cold. I need LOTS of blankets. Wade was just camping out under the stars, but I know he is a walking furnace and doesn't get cold. He lent me a spare blanket.

Craig Villeneuve plucking a turkey behind the Denison Homestead Museum. That is the cauldron in which Nehemiah Floyd cooked a couple dozen lobsters the night before.

Sunday morning was beautiful. A bit cool at first, but we knew we were going to have a warm and sunny day. We made up a ton of eggs, bacon, and sausage. Nancy made a huge fruit salad. And we had mimosas. At least one of our Rangers had his first mimosa ever. And these were special Ranger mimosas, as they included a dash of Ping!

Craig V., meanwhile, prepared the big bird, a wild turkey that Paul (or a friend of his) had shot a couple of weeks before and had had in the freezer. Craig lit the fire under the big cauldron and heated the water, cut off the wings and tail, then dipped the turkey into the water (gross! the lobster water from the night before!) to scald it, which, he told me, makes the feathers come off more easily. I've never seen a bird being plucked before. The feathers came off much more easily than I expected.

After Craig cut off the neck and head, Diane put the turkey on a spit over the fire pit and coated it with bacon. It would need at least 7 hours to cook. 

The craftspeople arrived and set up in time for a 10:00 opening. These included Erich Steinhagen Pottery (who we had met at the Lebanon, CT, encampment two years ago), Michael Burrey of Chiltonville Pottery (he does great slipware—I met him at the Wilton Crafts Festival in '02 and bought one of his plates), a woman spinning wool thread, a man making brooms, a blacksmith, and Tom Brown (of Westminster Forge) with a small sampling of his considerable collection of flintlocks (rather than his copper wares). The organizers (the Denison Society folks) also set up a large box as a sandpit with square areas marked off with string, and they buried artifacts in the sand for kids to find for their own little archeological dig.

Fred Nellums and his wife arrived in the morning. A few other reenactors also showed up. One was Weasel (Steve Topliff), who I know from the Lake George Tactical. He is a longtime friend of Nehemiah's and Wade's through the Quoketaug Rangers, the unit they have all been in for many years. Nehemiah's wife Cheryl also was there.

And then a flurry of cooking activity got started. Diane and Nancy were going to make two huge onion pies, Nancy was doing a lamb roast, I was going to do a carrot pudding and I was spinning a chicken. It takes 4 hours to cook the chicken this way (I enjoy doing it at my cooking demonstrations, as the people are fascinated by the idea of cooking that way). Diane and Nancy were also making a turnip compote, bag pudding, cod chowder, and some peas.

The onion pies were a multi-step process: they had to cook the onions first, and make the pastry dough, then put it all together as pies, and cook them in the bake kettles. Actually, the hard part was getting them in and out of the bake kettles! We were introduced to onion pies at Newtown, and I'm glad Diane got a copy of the recipe, which I believe came from Becky Hendricks. When the onion pies were fully cooked, I used the two bake kettles for my carrot pudding (which is actually a dessert). The bag pudding is essentially the “stuffing” for the turkey (bread, meat, herbs and spices, and I don't know what else!) put into a bag and then boiled. They decided to boil it in the big cauldron but thankfully changed the water first.

I managed to break away from the cooking several times to visit the craftspeople. Michael Burrey was demonstrating how slip is applied to redware. Erich Steinhagen was demonstrating how to throw pottery on his authentic spinning wheel. He had bowls, plates, mugs, jugs, and other specialty items for sale. I was hoping he would have some containers/jars but he didn't, and didn't make them. So I showed him the redware jar I have with the leather lid I made for it, and he threw a small jar for me right there on the wheel. I think he might have a new product line! I hope so. His wife was there with a spinning wheel, so there were two people spinning thread. Tom Brown (of Westminster Forge) was joined by long-time reenactor Everett Spear (N.B.: Everett passed way early in 2005), and demonstrated different aspects of different types of flintlocks.

Nehemiah had brought out his two swivel guns, and Craig V. brought his, and they put them on a log overlooking a steep bank of the hill we were on. Every now and then, the gentlemen would get the urge to go BOOM BOOM and would load and fire the three swivels and a musket or two. It was good fun. Fred moved the huge caldron and got the fire going to make led balls. Not sure how successful that was, as it can be tricky to do in the field like that.

Every now and then, Wade demonstrated how to throw a tomahawk. Nehemiah had set up a “tomahawk butt” (a horizontal slice of a log set up on a tripod for use as a target). It was a little too much out of the way for people to see it and take interest. Wade tried to show me how it was done, but I didn't try, figuring I would send the thing backwards and brain someone.

Finally, the feast was ready, and good timing it was. The people were leaving as the event was over, and we hadn't eaten since breakfast. We fed the reenactors and craftspeople as well, but we had more than enough food. I didn't even need to bring out my chicken. And that was that. We packed up and headed home.

It was a great time, we really enjoyed being at the Denison Homestead and were glad to help out. We are supposed to be back again in the autumn and I am looking forward to that. Nehemiah and the Denison Society are going to repeat this event next year with a lot of changes, as the day had been a learning experience for them (and us). I hope the weather is as nice!

YHOS,

Sarah

Our host, Craig “Nehemiah” Floyd.	Mike Fitzgerald as Capt. Asariah Pritchard, King's Rangers, with a whole turkey leg.

Many thanks to the following from the Denison Society, for making the day and our visit a success: Helen Keith, Museum Director; Kitty Von Rump, Education Director; Jane Preston, Secretary and Family Historian (she was selling cookies); Fred Burdick, Assistant Treasurer (he was parking cars and taking pictures); Kevin Hauser, the web master; Nancy Hauser, the genelogisist; Nora Floyd (helping with childrens digs); Joan Butler (churning butter); Tina Guido Kelsey (helping with childrens games); Bill Denison (helping with parking); Carolyn Denison (helping with childrens games); and Helen Giordano (helping with interpretation of the Museum).

N. B.: You can also find Craig Floyd at Footsteps Farm.