WLU heads to York and Portsmouth
On Wednesday, June 28, the antiques study group of the Woman’s Literary Union spent an enjoyable day, first at the Emerson-Wilcox House in York and then on to Portsmouth, N.H. for lunch at Wentworth by the Sea.
Attending were Ann Dox, chairman of the Antiques Study group, Virginia Hoy, Liz Johnson, Pat Kinkade, Bettie Leonard, Elizabeth Lones, Pat Shapazian, president of the WLU, Jean Siulinski, Barbara Washburn, trip leader, Winnifred F. York and Joyce Cray of Indiana, who was visiting her sister-in-law, Bettie Leonard.
The Old York Historical Society’s main museum, the Emerson-Wilcox House’s former owners were relatives of the author, Ralph Waldo Emerson. The house was built in the 1740s, and in 1761 the owners moved a house built int1710 to the property and attached it to the existing structure. A final addition in 1817 brought the total number of rooms in the house to 15.
This house is furnished with the finest examples of the museum’s collection of 17th, 18th, and 19th century regional furniture, many items of which are related to the town’s early families. An overwhelming majority of its holdings have been drawn from the community, and even today important additions continue to come to the collections from local families and individuals. Every room in the house is decorated as it would be if the home were being lived in today.
Our well-informed tour guide pointed out several articles of interest – of the beautiful blue and white ceramic chamber pots in one of the bedrooms, he said, “almost too pretty to use.” On a card table with a checkerboard and other games, he pointed out the ivory chess set.
Other items in the collection are the Pepperell family’s black walnut drop leaf dining table and cabriole-leg wing chair and a rare 18th century brass-faced tall clock by Thomas Jackson of Kittery. In the 1970s, Old York acquired a walnut high chest originally owned by Dr. Job Lyman, the town’s physician during the Revolutionary period. The museum already owned the doctor’s medical instruments, silhouettes and needlework of his children as well as a portion of his brother’s library.
Among the silver in the museum is a tankard made by a Boston silversmith, Benjamin Burt, for Jonathan Sayward in 1760. Sayward was York’s most prominent citizen and its leading Tory during the Revolution. They include examples of virtually every major European export ware for the period 1700-1840, from Wincanton tin glazed earthenware to historical Staffordshire dinner services as well as oriental ceramics.
The society’s prize possession is a four-poster bed displaying the Bulman bed hangings, circa 1745, the only complete set of 18th century crewel bed hangings in existence.
An interesting article about these hangings tells of the gift. “Several years after the museum opened, two elderly women arrived in town with rather cumbersome suitcases and were directed to Sophia Turner, the Old Gaol’s curator. They informed her that their ancestor, Mary Bulman Prentice, had owned the house across from the Emerson-Wilcox House, and they wanted to return a set of crewel embroidered bed hangings she had worked, which they produced from the suitcases and presented to the museum. Like so many of the museum’s early acquisitions, the Bulman bed hangings entered the collection because of their association with a famous local resident, Dr. Alexander Bulman, the surgeon for Sir William Pepperell’s Louisburg campaign. The Bulman hangings are the only American crewelwork set to have survived from the 18th century. Textile scholars consider them to be the most important extant examples of 18th century American needlework. Because of these distinctions, as well as their vibrant color and remarkable state of preservation, they have always been the jewels of Old York’s collection.”
Our group felt privileged to see them. We read, in a York Weekly review, this interesting statement by a famous couple. “During a visit last summer, Leigh and Leslie Keno, best known for their appearance on “Antiques Roadshow” (a Monday night TV show many of us enjoy) declared, you could visit a thousand museums and not see things like this.”
How’s that for a real compliment about the Emerson-Wilcox House?
After our excellent tour in York, we drove to Portsmouth, N.H. for lunch at Wentworth by the Sea. In the dining room, we all sat at one long table, overlooking the ocean (a nice view, even though it was becoming foggy in the afternoon). This is a lovely setting for the inn. In the magazine, “Experience,” we read an article about this inn, with pictures in color.
“Wentworth by the Sea, the grande dame of the Seacoast, has crowned the New Castle shore, overlooking the Atlantic, since 1874. When the hotel closed in 1982 and fell into disrepair, the Friends of Wentworth rallied to save her, securing recognition as a National Trust for Historic Preservation ‘Most Endangered Site.’ Following a $30 million restoration, Wentworth reopened in May 2003 as a preservation success story. While rebuilding the dramatic Victorian architecture and saving as much of the original three-towered structure as possible, owners of Ocean Properties Ltd. also salvaged the stories, preserving the memory of the film stars, presidents, princes and partygoers who have put Wentworth on the map since the beginning.”
Our menu listed tempting choices; among them were classic New England clam chowder. Wentworth burger, grilled Tuscan chicken sandwich, Wentworth fish and chips and baked stuffed filet of sole.
Among us, I think everything on the menu was chosen. The dessert courses were raspberry clafonti, graham cracker ice cream smashed raspberries and crisp coconut cookie, manjari chocolate cheesecake and banana sorbet.
Only three of us ordered dessert, which looked very tempting. But the main course selections, plus the house-baked breads, were very good and filling, too.
The waitress filled us in on any foreign words we weren’t familiar with.
It was a grand finale to a well-planned trip, and we were very impressed with the beautifully restored inn.
Blowing off the bark
The July 6 Bridgton News had a picture of a tall ash tree, still standing, but with no bark left on the trunk. The headline read “Barkless due to lightning.” The explanation was that a bolt of lightning literally caused the bark of the ash tree to explode and fly off in several directions in one of last week’s sudden severe thunderstorms.
The picture, with a small white house in the background, showed a lady pointing out the damaged tree to her young daughter. They were from New York City, and were visiting in Bridgton.
It was a fascinating picture and story.
RECIPE
Today’s recipe is an easy one to prepare. I have a newspaper copy of this salmon loaf, but I can only attribute it to Mrs. Harry C. Denver of Oakland, Calif., whose name is printed below the recipe.
SALMON LOAF SPECIAL
1 cup soft bread crumbs
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs
2 tbls. melted butter
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 cup minced onion
1/2 tsp. grated lemon rind
3 tbls. lemon juice
3 tbls. chopped sweet pickle
1 lb. can (2 cups) of salmon
Combine bread crumbs, milk, eggs and butter. Let stand 10 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Turn into a greased loaf pan (8-1/2 by 4-1/2 by 2-1/2 inches) and cover with aluminum foil. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake 10 minutes longer. Serves 6.
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