52Ancestors52Weeks Week 49 Homemade...............The Cornish Pasty Recipe

 

  My Great Grandmother Emma Lavinia King Hayes Van Duzer came from Cornwall  to San Francisco in 1894.  Nana eventually settled in Grass Valley, California  where she was a prominent member of the Grass Valley United Methodist Church.  One of the Cornish traditions that she carried with her from Cornwall was the baking of Cornish pasties.  Auntie Dot  (her oldest daughter) also carried on the tradition, and  they made pasties by hand for many years.  Eventually, the Methodist Church of Grass Valley used pasty bakes as fundraisers and you could buy a nice quantity of pasties to put in your freezer and bake later, without all the work!  They still make around 1,000 pasties a month with the help of volunteers. I am sharing the official recipe of the Grass Valley Methodist Church, which is probably very close to Nana's pasty recipe.    If you choose to make them at home, you will need to find a Youtube video on how to correctly crimp the edges, which is the hardest part.  Last year,  my husband Geoff and I made several batches from scratch.  Geoff used to work with the youth group in the kitchen at the church to make pasties when he was in high school, so this was a fun project for him!  The church recipe does not add the traditional ingredient of  swede (yellow turnip or rutabaga) and adds parsley which is not a traditional ingredient,  but this recipe will get you a pretty authentic result. 

  The pasties we made at home smelled and tasted heavenly and brought back wonderful memories of Sunday dinners with family.  They are best served with very strong and dark hot tea.  Nana preferred Red Rose. 

Crimping the edges....it takes practice! 

  "The Cornish pasty originates in Cornwall and can be traced back as far as the 1200's. Mining was once a thriving industry in Cornwall and at that time pasties were baked by the wives and mothers of the tin miners.  Pasties were made with a thick crimped edge along one side so the miners could use the crimp as a handle to hold on while eating. The miners hand would often be covered with arsenic from the mine, so the miners would discard the handle when they were done. The crusts were never wasted though, as many miners believed that ghosts, or 'knockers', inhabited the mines, and the leftover crusts would keep these ghosts content. Traditionally, pasties were made with different fillings at each end. One end contained meat and vegetables, and one end with a sweet filling.  The sweet end would be marked with an initial so the miners knew what side to eat first.  Today, Cornish pasties are filled with steak, potatoes, swede (rutabaga) and onions."  gv-umc.org/ministries/ 

A traditional Cornish Pasty

  Pasties went down into many mines all over the world in Cornish miners' tin pails.   This simple,  portable meal  connects Grass Valley history and my family history to the global history of the Cornish diaspora (the dispersion of the Cornish people and their culture).  Cornish people could be found in America, Canada, Australia, Argentina, New Zealand, Mexico, Panama, South Africa, the Samoas and Brazil.   The saying was..."If there is a hole anywhere on earth, you're sure to find a Cornishman at the bottom of it."   Grass Valley was a fast growing gold rush town after 1849 that attracted a large population of Methodist Cornish miners and their families.  They brought with them many traditions from the British Ilse.  This is one of my favorites! 

  

Dorothy Ross Hayes and Emma Lavinia King Hayes Van Duzer.  Photograph taken on July 2, 1939 when my grandparents Margaret Elizabeth Hayes and Harold Lloyd Hansen were married in Grass Valley, California.  

Relationship Reference:  Me->Margaret Hansen Boothby->Margaret Elizabeth Hayes Hansen->Emma King Hayes Van Duzer.  Emma and Lester Hayes had three daughters: Dorothy, Francis and Margaret (Betty).

52Ancestors52Weeks Week 51 Theme: Holidays......The Hansen Family Postcard Album: Holiday Greetings and Wishes From Near and Far

 

 A 1916 postcard written to my Grandfather Harold Hansen from Myra.  From the Hansen Family Postcard Album.  Grandpa was 6 years old in 1916. I am still working on identifying Myra.  She may have been a family friend from the Bay Area. 

    This postcard is from a postcard album put together by my Great Grandmother Vere Burrows.  It contains postcards from around 1910 all the way up to the early 1930's.  Each postcard gives a small glimpse into how the Hansen, Hurd and Burrows families kept in touch during the holidays.  

The Hansen Family Postcard Album cover.  The ship illustration is fitting as John Hansen came to America from Norway on the clipper ship Seminole......the cover design is Art Nouveau in style.   I am sharing just a small selection of Christmas and New Year Greetings and Wishes from the album.  

This postcard was sent to my Uncle Jack, date unreadable, from the Curtis Boys (Elbert, Melvin and Allan Curtis: sons of Winnie (Hurd) and Morrill Curtis from Reno, Nevada).  Jack was staying in Oakland at the time with his younger brother Bob.  Jack would have been 4 years old in 1910. 

This postcard was sent to my Uncle Bob in 1917 from Jane Hurd Burrows, his "Grand-Ma".  The first sentence is difficult to read, but ends with "Hope you have a fun Xmas".  Even with the sparse address, it made it to its destination! Robley (Bob) was 8 years old in 1917. 

 Uncle Bob got a special postcard just from Allan (Curtis) in Reno, Nevada.  I am sure his mother wrote and addressed this one which was postmarked in 1910.  My grandfather was born in October of 1910 in Grass Valley, so Jack and Bob may have been staying at Jane Burrow's home in Oakland, California around the holidays. 

Jane Burrows added the actual address as an afterthought as she sent her Christmas wishes to her daughter Vere Hansen in Grass Valley in 1915. Her writing is very faded and difficult to read,  but she signed off with "Mother". 

A postcard sent to Jack Hansen from Don and Lillian Burrows and the "little Bees" (Marjorie, Evelyn and Don) in 1915 from San Francisco, California.  The Don Burrows family had quite the sense of humor!

A wish for a Merry Xmas and A Bright and Happy New Year to Vere (Burrows) Hansen "from all in Reno", sent in 1914.  The handwriting looks like Winnie (Hurd) Curtis' handwriting.  

Vere Burrows with her boys Jack (left), Robley (bottom right) and Harold (top) around 1911.  

  This is just a small selection from this remarkable album.  I will continue sharing more postcards in the New Year!  I am sending wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year to all my family near and far......

52Ancestors52Weeks Week 50 Theme: Lines.....The Story Behind Bob and Skip Hansen's Big Catch on a 4 Pound Test Line

 

Robley (Uncle Bob) Hansen proudly displaying his "Big Catch" as captioned by Alma Hansen around 1951-2.  From the Bob Hansen Family Album.  Reno, Nevada. 

Bob and Skip Hansen holding their German Brown caught in the Truckee River, Reno, Nevada (from the Bob Hansen Family Album). 

 "The Big Catch"

  The theme for this week is Lines.......Family lines? Telephone lines? Railway lines? Fishing lines?.....This story had been floating around in my mind all summer waiting for its turn to be written down.   The theme for this week's writing challenge was the perfect opportunity to finally  get it down on paper.  Or in this case, on the blog... My husband and I had been helping Cousin Skip clean out his garage this last summer.  One of the first things we came across was "The Fish".  I also came across Uncle Bob's family album which Skip shared with me.  In the album were the pictures that were taken by Aunt Alma after the big event.  There were no dates written on the photos, but they were taken after Skip finished Junior High which was either in 1951 or 52.  Skip also pulled out the newspaper article from his wallet, where he has kept it all these years, and shared with me also.   Here is Skip and his Dad's Fish Story!  

The Fish

 Skip wrote....."Many years ago, when I was finishing up my Junior High schooling, Dad and I went to our usual fishing spot up the Truckee (River) a bit.  Dad had a nice bamboo fly rod, 4 lbs test line and 2 lbs test nylon leader.  He hooked a beautiful brown that he didn't want to loose.  Dad kept pressure on the line to hopefully keep the eagle hook from getting tossed off by the fish.  He fought for a little over an hour.  He finally got it close enough and tired enough so that I could net it.  It was too big for the net.  It started to flip back into the river.  Dad leapt down off the higher embankment cranking his Shakespeare reel madly.  We got the fish!  He entered it into the Sportman Contest; it weighed about 10 lbs, I think more, but that's close enough.  Another fisherman weighed in a catch at a lb. more.  Dad's dried out a bit while we continued to fish.  No bites!  I think the struggle scared the rest away.  Dad's would have outweighed the other had we stopped fishing immediately and taken it in to weigh and register. I was rewarded by getting to clean it after we weighed in at Crystal Springs.  Dad did the taxidermy.  It hung on the wall at the Sportman for several years.  When they closed we had a bit of a problem retrieving it.  Good memory!" 

  It now proudly resides in the garage, mounted on a piece of driftwood.  

  Here is the newspaper article from the Reno Gazette Journal (date unknown) that Skip kept in his wallet.  As you can see, some details are a little different, but it is,  after all, a fish story! 

   

  The Sportman store was located at the corner of 4th and Vine for many years and was owned by the Piazzo brothers Chet and Link.  They opened the original store in 1938.  The brothers sold their interest in the store in 2000 and it is no longer in business.  (Reno Gazette Journal April 12, 2000).  I remember shopping there a few times in the 90's; Uncle Bob's prize fish was up on the wall somewhere!

Chet and Link Piazzo, Reno Gazette Journal

 

The beautiful Truckee River in the summer,  courtesy of the Water Education Foundation.

52Ancestors52Weeks Week 48 Theme: Strength......The Man with the Hands of Iron: More Photographs Discovered of John H. Hansen

      

" Hansen....The Terrible Viking....The man with the HANDS OF IRON....A Raw Potatoe--Crushed to a Pulp...Meets all Comers in Feats of Strength".....pen and ink drawing on cardboard from the Hansen Family Collection, date probably around 1912-13.  John was working as a mine supervisor in San Salvador in Central America at that time.   It is easy to imagine my Great Grandfather participating in such contests.  I would love to know more about this particular picture and how it came to be!

  The theme for this week is Strength...strength comes in many forms; either physical, emotional or spiritual.  What ancestor demonstrated a particular strength?  My Great Grandfather was extremely proud of his physical strength throughout his life.  I recently discovered even more pictures of John H. Hansen at a Hansen cousin's house this past summer.  As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words!  John Hartwig Hansen was indeed a very strong person, not only physically, but he also had a particularly strong personality.  I find myself coming back to his life story over and over.   These new pictures add even more depth to his life.  I am so glad they still exist! 

  This picture was taken in 1898 in Grass Valley, California.  John Hansen arrived in Grass Valley after gaining his citizenship in Colusa County, California in 1894.  He was born in Christiana Norway on February 2, 1865, worked on sailing ships out of Norway from a young age and jumped ship in either San Francisco or Eureka before he made his way to Colusa to work as a laborer on a farm. In Grass Valley he worked in a mine as a ropeman, using the skills he learned working aboard ships.  

  While he was in Grass Valley, John joined up to participate in the Spanish American War, at the age of 33 years. I also discovered this photograph that my Great Grandmother Vere Hansen had saved.  He served in the Navy, where  he continued to use his skills as a rope splicer.  See my previous post of May 9, 2020 John Hartwig Hansen Larger Than Life for more details on his participation in the flag raising in Hawaii during the war...

  John Hartwig Hansen Spanish American War, Navy.  1898.  See my previous post of May 31, 2020   Documents for John Hansen; Birth, Citizenship, The Spanish American War and the Laundry Business Explained for more in depth information on his life and participation in the war. 

  This one is dated 1899 and was taken in San Francisco, after the Spanish American War.  

  Another picture I discovered this summer!  Date unknown, but it must have been taken around the turn of the century, sans mustache.  John Hansen was certainly proud of his physique.  He worked out with Indian clubs, which were all the rage at the time.  

John Hansen, far left.  This was a theater production he was involved in in Grass Valley, around the turn of the century.  Notice his large forearms!  He participated in theater to practice his elocution skills.  He was working on loosing his Norwegian accent.  

  John Hansen with his sons Jack (holding hands) and Robley (on his shoulder) around 1909-10.  Grass Valley, California.  From the Hansen Family Album shared by Skip Hansen.  John was a loving father to all three of his boys (Harold, my Grandfather, was born in 1910).  I can just imagine the strength in John's arm as he proudly held up his son for this picture.  And compare the size of his hand to the size of Jack's hand! Fatherly strength and fatherly tenderness in one picture.  

John H. Hansen San Salvador 1913.  He worked for the Pullinger and Butters Company which ran mines in Central America.  This must have been his supervisor pose.  He looks very sure of himself here. 

  Another pen and ink drawing on cardboard found with things saved by my Great Grandmother Vere Hansen and discovered this summer.   This could have been from San Salvador, also.  The forearms certainly look like John Hansen's!  He often went by the name Jack. 

  Caption on back..  "Dad with boom erected by him Idaho Maryland Mine".  John Hansen worked at the Idaho Maryland Mine in Grass Valley after he came back from San Salvador.  Did he erect the boom all by himself?  One wonders.  He certainly could have!

  John Hansen on far right posing with his three boys Harold (my Grandfather), Robley and Jack at the reservoir near the Idaho Maryland Mine in Grass Valley sometime in the mid to late 1920's.  John kept his athletic physique as he aged through swimming, skiing and skating; all great Norwegian sports!  He encouraged his boys to be active and athletic, also. 

  I posted John's obituary earlier in my blog (May 3, 2020 John Hartwig Hansen) which gives the basic outline of his colorful life.  I am sure there will be many more posts to come on John Hartwig Hansen, especially now that I have a small collection of pictures taken in San Salvador and the actual manuscript he wrote detailing his time in Central America.  These were also found at Cousin Skip's this summer. 

   It was fascinating to find pictures that visually told the story of John Hansen's physical strengths.  His strong personality continues to challenge me to write down the rest of his story.... 

Relationship Reference:  Me->Margaret Hansen Boothby->Harold Lloyd Hansen->John Hartwig Hansen m. Clara Vere Burrows Hansen

52Ancestors52Weeks Week 47 Theme: Thankful .................Pictures Preserve Moments in Time For Future Generations

 From the King Family Album taken before 1906, possibly in San Francisco, California.

  The theme for this week is thankful...I thought I'd share this small photograph that I found in the my Great Grandmother's family album.  It was either taken in Grass Valley or in San Francisco around 1903-1906.  I love the shadow to the right; that may have been my Great Grandmother Emma Lavinia King Hayes Van Duzer.  The picture captures someone's prize turkey strutting his feathers.  He probably  ended up gracing a Thanksgiving table somewhere that November.  I wonder what Emma's family was grateful for that particular year?  This picture preserved a moment in time, but I am left to guess at where it was taken, when it was taken, and who took the picture.  And whose turkey was this? 

  Whether it is family history on my side of the family or my husband and children's rich Mayflower ancestry, I am thankful for all the generations who have gone before us.  I am also very grateful and thankful for all the boxes and boxes (and more boxes) of pictures in my possession that I am able to share with family.  Each picture has preserved an instant of out of time and holds past lives still forever, for not only myself, but for future generations. These photographs are like return tickets to moments that have otherwise come and gone.  What a rare gift! 

    Now if only each and every picture had some kind of identification written on the back......

  

  

  

   

52Ancestors52Weeks Week 46 Theme: Birthdays.....Remembering Hulda Elizabeth Hansen

 

Hulda Elvine Kristine Hansen Klemmetsen b. about 1857 Christiana, Norway, death date unknown.   Hulda Elizabeth was named after her Aunt on her paternal side. 

Elizabeth Jane Hurd Burrows b. May 4, 1855 Tamaqua, Pennsylvania d. April 8, 1935 Oakland, California.  Hulda Elizabeth was also named for her Grandmother on her maternal side. 

  The theme for this week's challenge is Birthdays.  Birthdays are usually joyous occasions celebrated with family and friends to mark another year lived.  This little one, sadly, did not live much longer past her "birth" day.  But, she was always remembered by her family and frequently talked about so that her three younger brothers would not forget that they once had a sister. There is not much information on little Hulda; just a short obituary, a mention in the Big Book of Burials and a burial in an unknown plot at Greenwood Cemetery in Grass Valley, California in 1905.  She is still remembered, even though she did not live long enough to celebrate even a first birthday. 

  Hulda Elizabeth Hansen was the first  child born to my Great Grandparents John Hartwig and Vere Burrows Hansen. She was born on April 11, 1905 in Grass Valley, California.   Her first name of Hulda honored John's older sister Hulda who lived in Norway.  I believe John was very close to his sister and her family, as we have many pictures, newspaper articles and letters from the Klemmetsen family in Norway that were saved by my Great Grandmother.  Hulda's middle name  Elizabeth honored Vere's mother Elizabeth Jane Hurd.  Jane was very involved in all of her children's lives, and I believe she and Vere were also close.  Waiting for Hulda's birth must have been an exciting time for the whole family, as she was the first child for John and Vere.  Sadly, Hulda Elizabeth  died thirteen days after her birth.  

  This is taken from The Morning Union Grass Valley, California Thursday, April 13, 1905: 

  BORN--In Grass Valley, April 11, 1905, to the wife of John Hansen, a daughter.

This is taken from The Union April 25, 1905:

  INFANT DAUGHTER DEAD.

Hulda Elizabeth, infant daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Hansen passed away yesterday morning at 5 o'clock, after a week's illness.  The child was only 13 days old. A severe attack of congestion of the lungs was the cause of death.  The funeral will be held this afternoon at 2 o'clock, from the family home, and will be private. 

  Infant mortality was still very high at the turn of the century.  I don't know if she was born prematurely and did not have well developed lungs, or if she just caught an infection that she couldn't fight off.  It must have been devastating for my Great Grandparents.  Vere had lost her father Alexander Burrows to suicide just a year before in 1904. 

  Hulda's memorial is located on the Find A Grave website, and provides additional information that was taken from the Big Book "Record of Burials in Greenwood Cemetery, Grass Valley, 1867-1930, page 11: 

 

  "Hulda E. Hansen died April 24, 1905, aged 13 days. Resident of Grass Valley. Native of Grass Valley. Cause of death: Pneumonia. 

  Hulda's memorial on Find A Grave states that she was buried in Greenwood Cemetery, but does not give an exact location for her burial.  Through Find A Grave you are able to contact the person who originally created the online memorial you are viewing.   The person who created the memorial posted it in 2017. I was curious about this person's profile, as she described a project that she worked on at Greenwood Cemetery that lasted a few years.  She worked with a group of researchers that "walked, dug, documented, researched, and made new maps..."  I thought maybe she had more insight into the location of Hulda's gravesite.  

  I was able to get a response from her regarding my desire to find a more specific location.  She stated that..."We only know of Hulda because of the "Big Book" of Burials in Greenwood Cemetery which by the grace of Hooper and Weaver,  I was allowed to have photo copied.  I transcribed it to Find A Grave.  She is in one of the older blocks, which we prodded in and sometimes dug to locate markers below the surface. We also used a metal detector.  We spent a few years there."  I was able to work with this person and add Hulda to John and Vere's  memorials on Find A Grave.  I am working on adding her brothers, as well, so that the whole family will be listed together.  Their memorials were added by different people. 

  So, I know for certain that Hulda is buried at Greenwood Cemetery.  She is buried there along with her younger brothers Jack and Harold Hansen (see my previous post from June 4, 2021 Decoration Day Musings and How the Hansens Celebrated the Day in Grass Valley).  My next project will be to locate where the older blocks of the cemetery might be, so that I can add a picture of the general location to her memorial.  I am still in contact with the lovely person who worked on this project. 

Jack, Harold (my Grandfather) and Robley Hansen. Photograph taken around 1910 or 1911 in Grass Valley, California.  These boys were Hulda's three younger brothers. 

  I am sorry that little Hulda did not live to celebrate her future birthdays.  But, she will still be remembered by her family for many generations to come, thanks in part to the work of a small team of researchers in 2017.  

  

  

  

  

52Ancestors52Weeks Week 45 Theme: Stormy Weather ........Snow , Snow and More Snow! Family Pictures Are Wonderful Documentation of Storms.....

  This week's theme is stormy weather....I have always been struck by how many pictures I have of family members posing in the snow.  Living in Northern California and Northern Nevada always meant winter and spring snow storms.  What better way to remember the fun after the storm than by having your picture taken? 

  These are a few pictures taken from various family albums on both my mother's and father's side of the family.  They document how we all "weathered" the storms in our own  neck of the woods.  Enjoy!

*****

Written on back...."Gertrude Elizabeth, her two sleds and her two playmates and all the snow we've had this winter"  (no date).....probably taken around the early 20's.  Reno, Nevada.  Gertrude Burrows (middle) lived on Thoma Street in Reno with her parents Roy and Lucie Burrows. 

Dorothy Ross Hayes  in the snow with her dog.  Auntie Dot was born May 17, 1910, and this picture looks like it may have been taken around 1915/16-ish.  Grass Valley, California. 

Dorothy Hayes (Arthur) fourth in from the left and Betty Hayes (Hansen) on far right, bending over.  Auntie Dot was born in 1910, and Grandma (Betty) was born in 1917, so this was probably taken around the early 30's.  It looks like a girls' day out in the snow, somewhere in northern California, complete with skis and a sled.  

Robley Hansen (Bob) with giant fur mittens.  Taken around the late 20's, early 30's.  Uncle Bob was living in Reno at this time.  From the Bob Hansen Family Album. 

Claire and Margaret Hansen (Mom) wearing their wool snowsuits after a Grass Valley snowstorm around  1946-47? This is one of the pictures that survived the 1950 house fire.  This is one of my favorite pictures!

 Lavinia Claire Hansen in her wool snowsuit.  Taken the same date as the above picture. 

 Millicent Gay Hansen on a toboggan on her way down a street in Reno, Nevada.  Gay was born March 9, 1934 so this picture may have been taken around 1936.  Her parents were Robley (Bob) and Alma Hansen.  From the Bob Hansen Family Album. 

Skip Hansen and Greta in front of the new house on Arlington in Reno Nevada, 1948.  Skip's parents were Robley (Bob) and Alma Hansen.  From the Bob Hansen Family Album. 

  Alma and Bob Hansen after the snowstorm in 1948.  I love the perspective in this picture!   From the Bob Hansen Family Album.  

*****

And, yes, I have pictures of houses and neighborhoods to go with pictures of people in the snow! 

Francis (Hayes)  and Joe Holman's house in Grass Valley after a 1946 snowstorm.  Auntie Fran and Uncle Joe lived across the street from Nana (Emma King Hayes Van Duzer) and the Harold Hansen family on South Auburn street for awhile.  This is another picture that survived the fire at the Hansen house in 1950.  I believe this is the same storm that my Mom and Auntie Claire are pictured in above. 

1012 S. Arlington, Reno, Nevada.  "First Winter in Home That Bob Built 1948".  Taken from the Bob Hansen Family Album. 

Unknown young man shoveling snow in front of Grass Valley Drug mid to late 40's.  Sterl Boothby was owner and head pharmacist in the late 40's and then the 50's. 

Frank and Dena Brondolo.  Picture taken in 1952, on Mainhart Drive,  Grass Valley, California.  They lived in San Francisco, but loved coming to Grass Valley and then up to Reno for some casino fun.  Frank was Terry Brondolo Boothby's (Nino's) older brother.  From the Brondolo Album.

 Mainhart Drive in a snowstorm, sometime in the 50's.  Grass Valley, California.  This is the house that my Dad, Dale Boothby, grew up in!

Late 1960's snowstorm on Banner Mountain, Nevada City, California. That is Dad's (Dale's) jeep buried in the snow.  This is the house that I grew up in!

The Alden home after a January 2021 snowstorm, Reno, Nevada.  

Still documenting!  (My Grandson ).....Reno, Nevada. 

*****