I canned some garlic dill pickle slices
today and I couldn't help thinking that some of my female ancestors
likely did the same. Many of “my people” lived on farms so I
think it's not too much of a stretch to suspect they preserved some
of their harvests once home canning techniques were developed.
I know for sure that at least one
relative did some canning because it actually turned up in her
divorce papers. Cora (Taylor) Saward Arnold Shellfish and her
soon-to-be ex-husband were slinging accusations at one another in the
divorce papers. He described some items that Cora took with her.
She admitted that, among other things, she took “a small quantity
of canned fruit which [she] had done up herself and which she thought
she was justly entitled to.” [1]
You might find it kind of odd that
canning products earned a mention in a divorce proceeding, but if
you've ever done any canning you how much time and effort it takes.
1.
Kalamazoo County, Michigan, Circuit Court in Chancery, divorce case
no. 614, docket 17 (1919), Cora B. Arnold vs. Frank Arnold, Testimony
of Cora Arnold (answer to the crossbill, p. 2), filed 2 Jun 1919,
Circuit Clerk's Office, Kalamazoo.
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