Recipe: Six Generations of Cornbread Stuffing

There are as many variations of Thanksgiving stuffing as there are variations of any type of side dish, with cornbread stuffing being just one style. However, I hadn't realized until this past Thanksgiving that cornbread stuffing has been a holiday staple in the family for at least six generations.

Ralph remembers his grandmother, Bertha Clarice Copeland (1882-1977), making it, as well as his own mother, Juanita Inglish (1906-1995). It naturally follows that Ralph would continue to make it for his own children, and thus it continues. Ralph describes how when his children were young, they would make a big batch, stuff the turkey with some, and bake the rest in a pan -- the stuffing that was in the turkey usually had a different flavor as it had more of the turkey juices. 

In my household (the fifth and sixth generations from Bertha), it ranks up there with pumpkin pie as a favorite dish of our Thanksgiving meal! We make extra, just to make sure we have leftovers!

There's no written recipe for Bertha's version, per se, but it traditionally includes crumbled cornbread, chopped celery, chopped boiled eggs, turkey giblets, juice from the cooked turkey, and spices. 

I generally need a recipe to follow, so this is the variation we've come up with:

KF's Cornbread Stuffing

• Bake cornbread (equivalent of 12 muffins or one pan); crumble and set aside in a bowl. 
• In a large skillet over medium-high heat, saute 1 bunch of celery (chopped), 1 basket of mushrooms (about 8-10 oz, sliced; sausage or turkey giblets is also tasty), 1 yellow onion (diced), 1/4 c dried parsley, 1 Tbs dried sage, 1 Tbs dried rosemary, 1 Tbs dried thyme. Add to the crumbled cornbread in the bowl. 
• Mix in 1 cup dried cranberries (chopped even more finely) and 1 cup vegetable or chicken broth. 
• Put in an unbuttered casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. 

Anyone else in the family have a variation on cornbread stuffing that they make? If so, please share! And bon appetit!

..........

Sources:

• From a phone conversation with Ralph, 27 Dec 2015. 
• From a conversation with BR, Dec 2015. 

Places of Significance: Aberdeen Train Station, Aberdeen, Scotland

It's been said that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. In the case of Ella's family's emigration story, their journey of 5,000 miles began when they boarded the train at the Aberdeen Train Station in downtown Aberdeen.


Ella's narrative. Filmed on location, 30 September 2014.

Their family wouldn’t make the journey all together but in three different waves. Ella’s father, George, would depart first to pave the way for the rest of the family to come, leaving in late December 1948. Ella and her mother, Kate(1), followed in May 1949. Ella’s sister, Ina(2), would join the rest of the family in October 1949.

From the Aberdeen Train Station, Ella and her mother traveled to Southampton, England, where they boarded the SS Washington, which sailed them to New York City. From there they went to Salt Lake City, Utah, by train, and from Salt Lake to Mesa, Arizona, by bus.(3)

Ella remembers her dear grandmother, Charlesina Findlay, seeing them off at the train station, as well as her friend from the branch, Sheila, who was her same age (and who would eventually emigrate to the US as well). Two of her father's sisters were there, and also a cousin her age.(4)

On their last Sunday at church, the local branch members all sang, "God Be With You 'Till We Meet Again." Such a loving anthem and a tribute to the many significant contributions that her family made to the Aberdeen Branch and the Church. And indeed, God has been with them as Ralph and Ella have been able to “meet again” with their homeland and heritage.

Ella in front of the train platforms - 30 Sept 2014

Ella and Ralph reminiscing - 30 Sept 2014 

Another view of the interior of the station - 30 Sept 2014

See also:

• Across Oceans and Continents: Blog post with more detail about the family’s emigration story

Sources:

• Video recorded on location 30 September 2014
• Phone conversation recorded on 6 July 2014. Also an additional conversation on 26 October 2014 (unrecorded, but notes taken).

Notes:

1. Known by her friends as "Kate," her full name was Ursula Katherine Bruce Beattie Findlay.
2. Ina's full name was Charlesina Findlay, later Charlesina Slade when married.
3. Although we’re not sure which specific route George and Ina took on their journeys, we assume it was similar to the route that Ella and Kate took.
4. Ella didn’t mention her father’s sisters and cousin in the video here, but she did mention them in previous phone conversations on 6 July 2014 and 26 October 2014.

Inglish Pioneers

One Sunday as I was preparing a lesson for my Sunday School class on the Mormon pioneers, I wanted to challenge my students to learn about the first members of the church in their own families. It was at that point, ironically, I realized I didn’t know the details of the first converts on Grandpa Ralph’s side of the family. Here’s what I’ve discovered!

Please keep in mind: Because some of the information we have is from second-hand accounts, we’re trying to not make too many assumptions but represent the facts as they are.

..........

Earl and Bertha Inglish, Ralph's Grandparents

When Ralph’s grandparents⇀Earl Inglish (1873-1958) and wife Bertha Clarice Copeland Inglish (1882-1977)⇀ left Fannin County, Texas, they were moving west to follow better work opportunities. Earl was a machinist by trade, working primarily on cotton gins, moving to new locations with his family as employment was available. They would stay for a time (a year or so? we’re unsure) while Earl would fix the machinery and get it in good working order, then would move to another spot when the work was finished and his skills were needed elsewhere.

Murray Cotton Gin in Bonham, Fannin County, Texas.
(Image source and more information)

Eventually, Earl and Bertha would embark on a journey west, with the area near Mesa, Arizona, as their ultimate destination. Despite having their sites set on Arizona, they were also cautious about settling there: family members (likely well-intentioned) had warned them that it was an area full of Mormons, and they shouldn’t want anything to do with them.(1)

Sometime between 1915 and 1920,(2) they loaded up their Ford Model T with their possessions and provisions, and with 4 of their eventually 7 children:(3) Juanita Inglish (1906-1995) - Ralph’s Mother; Hugh Ophelia Inglish (1909-1987)​; Rayburn Earl Inglish (1911-2003)​; and Alvin Inglish (1914-1943). At that time, Earl would have been in his mid 40s, and Bertha in her mid 30s.

Earl, Bertha, Alvin, and Carl, in front of a Ford Model T, taken in the mid 1920s. (We’re not sure whether it’s the same car they drove from Texas or whether they had a larger one.)

The approximately 1,100-mile journey from their home in eastern Texas to Arizona would take them quite some time, at least several months and as long as 1 or 2 years. By today’s standards, it would be about a 16-hour drive. Their funds were limited, but Earl and Bertha kept going: they would drive as far as they had money for gas, then would settle for a time to find work locally and earn enough money to then move further along their route.

The approximately 1,100-mile journey from Fannin County, TX, 
to Maricopa County, AZ.

Along they way, they lived in a “dugout”⇀a hole dug several feet deep over which they would pitch their tent. This would be their living quarters for the time being, until they packed up and moved to another location. Particularly across the plains of Texas and New Mexico, having their tent submerged partially below ground in the dugout would help to protect their temporary accommodations from the harsh winds that would blow across the land. (4)

We’re not sure what year the family left Texas, how long their journey took, or where they stopped along the way, but they eventually ended up in Mesa, Arizona. According to family accounts, one day when Bertha was in town, she overheard someone say that the Mormons were going to build a temple there.(5) Wary of this development, she and Earl determined they needed to go further west out of town. According to census records, by January 1920 they were settled in the Cartwright Precinct, Maricopa County, Arizona.(6)

While they were moving to the west beyond Mesa, they temporarily camped along the new Highway 60 that was being built to California.(7) At some point, between 1920 and 1924, they camped near a gentleman named William Percy Johnson (“Percy”), who was working on the highway.(8)(9) Percy’s job was to keep the concrete wet so it didn’t cure too quickly and crack. The crew would start a section of the highway, get it poured, and keep that section wet for a while, while the rest of the crew continued on. He would be in a spot for a time (a few months or more?), camping with his wife and children and moving locations as the work moved. Although Percy and his family were kind of nomadic, they would plant a garden near their tent that yielded enough produce to provide for their own needs plus some excess.

William Percy Johnson and his wife Ethelyn (Image source)

One day, the Inglishes met Percy Johnson as they were camped nearby, and they received produce from him (either given or purchased, we’re not sure). During their interaction, they learned that Percy and his family were Mormons, and Percy was a stake missionary who took the opportunity to share about their beliefs.

As the Inglishes learned more about the doctrines of the Church, Earl was especially receptive. Growing up, his family was members of the Methodist church, and his father (Alexander Soloman Inglish, 1838-1923) was a devout student of the Bible, even writing articles on various biblical subjects.(10) Alexander taught Earl, his oldest son, that the church that Christ had established when he was on the earth needed to be restored, and that he should seek for that restored church. In particular, what converted Earl to Mormonism was learning about the restoration of the Levitical Priesthood to the earth, as this was something in particular that he had studied in the scriptures and was seeking.

Bertha was also a student of the Bible (she was raised in the Baptist faith), though she was initially more reticent to join the Church. However, she soon became converted and they, along with 4 of their children (Juanita, Hugh Opehlia, Rayburn, and Alvin), were all baptized and confirmed on the same day - 16 February 1924.(11) Earl was now 50 years old; Bertha was 41.

Although the Inglishes didn’t attend church regularly at first⇀after all, they were still moving around a lot⇀they attended services when they were able to and they became more active when they were later settled in Mesa.

That decision to be baptized was the start of a legacy of church members, still going even 6 generations later.

..........

Sources:

• Phone calls with Ralph on 9 Aug 2013 and 11 Aug 2013
• Phone call with CI (son of Earl and Bertha) on 9 Aug 2015
• Phone call with AP (granddaughter of Earl and Bertha) on 30 Aug 2015

Notes:

1. An interesting fact but not essential: Family accounts differ as to who counseled them to avoid interactions with Mormons: Was it Bertha’s mother, Mary Ann McRae Copeland (1853-1899), who was firmly Baptist? Or Earl’s mother, Martha Ophelia Skipwith (1851-1934), a devout Methodist?
2. Earl and Bertha left Texas sometime after their son Alvin was born in 1914 but they were living in Cartwright, AZ, by January 1920, according to census records. See "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCR2-VFF : accessed 31 August 2015), Earl Inglish, Cartwright, Maricopa, Arizona, United States; citing sheet 5B, family 86, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,820,049.
3. Earl and Bertha had 7 children together, 4 of which made the journey with them from Texas to Arizona. The three who didn’t come did so for various reasons: the oldest, Paul Inglish (1902-1903) passed away as a child; the youngest, Carl Alexander Inglish (1922), was not yet born; and according to family accounts, Garland Ross Inglish Sr. (1904-1992) wasn’t with the family when they made the initial journey, but he must have joined them by 1920 as he’s listed in the household in the 1920 census. See "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCR2-VFF : accessed 31 August 2015), Earl Inglish, Cartwright, Maricopa, Arizona, United States; citing sheet 5B, family 86, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,820,049.
4. Find more information about dugouts here, which were common during this time of “frontier development.” Despite their dugout having a dirt floor, Earl and Bertha’s daughter Ophelia is said to have declared, when being asked to help with the chores: “Why do I have to sweep this floor when it’s dirt anyway?!”
5. The Mesa Arizona Temple was announced on 3 October 1919, with the groundbreaking on 25 April 1922 and the dedication 23-26 October 1927. During the last two years of construction, tours were available as a public open house.
6. Earl and Bertha’s residence is listed as Cartwright, AZ, in the January 1920 census. (But where is Cartwright, Arizona? From researching online, it looks like it’s an area in Phoenix?) See "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCR2-VFF : accessed 31 August 2015), Earl Inglish, Cartwright, Maricopa, Arizona, United States; citing sheet 5B, family 86, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,820,049.)
7. Based on information here, Highway 60 was completed in 1927. CI related that Phoenix seemed like the edge of the frontier at the time, with mostly dirt roads billowing up dust behind cars as they drove. He recalls that it was common for men to be working on the highways, as there were so many roads being built.
8. In the 1920 Census, William Percy Johnson, with his wife and their first 2 children, were living in San Antonio Ward 5, Bexar, Texas. We can assume they moved to Arizona sometime after that then. Also, Earl, Bertha, and family were baptized in 1924, which means they must have met before then. See "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MCMT-1Q5 : accessed 31 August 2015), William Johnson, San Antonio Ward 5, Bexar, Texas, United States; citing sheet 13B, family 321, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,821,777.
9. William Percy Johnson was the older brother of Lester Johnson, who would marry Jaunita Inglish in 1941 and become Ralph’s stepfather, making Percy Ralph’s step-uncle.
10. Unfortunately, the articles that Alexander Soloman Inglish wrote were lost when the church that kept them burned in a fire.
11. When the rest of the Inglish family was baptized, the oldest son, Garland, was already married (in 1923) and living on his own, but he would be baptized at a later time. Carl, the youngest child, would have been about 1 ½ years old at the time.

Ralph and Ella: Their Marriage

According to superstition, it’s unlucky if the bride and groom see each other on their wedding day, prior to the ceremony. With this in mind, Ralph pulled up in front of the Mesa Arizona Temple(1) and tried to stay in his car and out of the potential site of Ella and her parents, who were walking to the temple from their house. His plan worked! 

It was March 5, 1953. After 9 months of nurturing a long-distance relationship (Ralph in Wilmington, CA, and Ella in Mesa, AZ), the big day had finally arrived for them to be married.

They were married at the temple that was literally a couple of blocks from their homes. And this was also the same temple where Ella’s parents (George and Kate Findlay), Ralph’s mother and stepfather (Juanita and Lester Johnson), and Ralph’s maternal grandparents (Bertha and Earl Inglish) were sealed, all of whom were in attendance at the ceremony. Three generations had been sealed there. Also present at Ralph and Ella’s wedding were Ella’s sister Ina, and Ralph’s best man, Lee Johnson. 

The Bride and Groom with Their Parents

Mesa Arizona Temple (Image Source)

Kneeling at the altar of the temple, their hands clasped, the officiator said, “Do you, Ralph Eugene Mitchell take Isabella Bruce Findlay…” “Who???” Ralph thought? Ella gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. Despite having dated her for two years, Ralph had only ever known her as Ella! Who was Isabella Bruce? :)

Ella wore a dress made by her neighbor who lived on the other side of her family’s duplex. It was white, of course, with long sleeves, and lace over the skirt. In her bouquet (made by one of

Ralph’s cousins who was in the floral business) were pink rosebuds and white gardenias; the rosebuds because Ella was fond of them, and the gardenias for their fragrance their color symbolizing purity.

Polaroid Land Camera from 1953.
(Image Source)

After the wedding, they took pictures on the grounds with the latest in photography technology at the time: Ella’s father had just bought a Polaroid Land camera, and he was taking snapshots and developing them right on the spot.

That evening was their reception, held in the cultural hall of the (at the time) Mesa 5th Ward chapel, on LeSueur street. This chapel was across the street from Ralph’s grandmother’s house (Bertha Inglish) and was the chapel that Ralph and Ella both went to while they were in high school.

Mesa 5th Ward Chapel. 

Something unique about their reception was that it was a full evening affair with a complete program of singing, speakers, jokes, and tributes.(2) (It seems ironic, now, that it didn’t feature kilts, tartans, or bagpipes, but they hadn’t considered it at the time.) John Freestone, the former missionary who was influential in the conversion of Ella’s parents in Scotland 20 years earlier and their sponsor when they emigrated, was the emcee of the reception. Ralph’s scoutmaster was one of the speakers, and the sister of Ella’s dear friend Faye sang their favorite song, “No Other Love” by Jo Stafford. That’s still their song today!

The reception also featured the familiar tradition of cutting the cake together and feeding eachother the first slice. Their cake was a fruit cake, a typical flavor of wedding cakes in Scotland and was made by a friend of theirs whose husband served a mission in Scotland. They saved a slice of cake, stowing it away in the tiny ice-cube freezer of their first apartment’s small refrigerator and eating it on their first anniversary.

As the evening reception wrapped up, they headed out to their car to find that friends decorated it with white shoe polish and put rocks in the hubcaps so they’d “clang-clang” as they drove away. Also amusing: Ralph recalls: “I remember, we got ready to go, and my cousin … wanted a ride someplace. He climbed in the back seat (the bride was still in her wedding dress even!) and asked us to drop him off.“

Where to for the honeymoon? Ralph didn’t have much time off from work, nor did they have much money, so the honeymoon mostly consisted of the drive back to Wilmington, CA, with a couple of stops in between, including San Diego and San Juan Capistrano. They brought some of their gifts in their car, and Ralph’s parents brought the others back with them when they drove back.

(Image Source)

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This past March, Ralph and Ella celebrated their 62nd wedding anniversary. Sixty-two years of marriage! What advice do they have for the younger generations for how to have a strong marriage?

“If I could talk to the guys, I would say that the best way to end an argument is to say, ‘You’re right dear!’” [Chuckles, and Ella says in the background, “Hahaha...oh my gosh!”]

“It’s a give and take thing. Nobody’s right all the time, nobody’s wrong all the time, but you’re together all the time. We’ve just enjoyed being together, sharing the same things. ”

“Don’t let an ego get in the way, or pride or anything like that, but be ready to accept each other the way that you are.”

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Notes:

1. 

   1939 Pontiac Coupe (Image Source)

   Ralph was driving his blue Pontiac Coup, rust removed, repainted, reupholstered, and ready for a getaway. Ella could hardly recognize it!
2. Their seminary principal, Max Cox, recorded their entire wedding reception program (audio). Ralph thinks they still have it!

Sources:

• Mostly from a phone conversation with Ralph and Ella on 22 March 2015, but also from a video filmed on 9 February 2014 and a phone conversation on 13 January 2015.

Would love to add:

• Photos taken on the grounds and from the reception.

Ralph and Ella: Their Courtship

When Ralph proposed to Ella, it wasn’t down on one knee, but he describes it as “kind of
a mutual thing.” After dating for just “a matter of weeks”, Ralph says,

“I became convinced that she was the girl for me and the girl of my dreams, early in our dating program."(1)

They soon decided they wanted to spend their lives together (though they didn't get married until almost 2 years after that first date).

"I remember when I asked her [to marry me], she said, ‘Let me pray about it.’ She wouldn’t give me an answer! … Well, the answer came back. [He chuckles.]”(2)

“I went and met with her father, scared to death, but I said, ‘Brother Findlay, I want to marry your daughter.’ He said, ‘Well, you will date.’ [Chuckles.] He was a man of few words. I don’t know whether he ever said OK! [Chuckles.] (3)

After graduating from Mesa High School in May 1952, Ralph was making plans to move in with his mother (Juanita), stepfather (Lester), and three half brothers (Ivan, David, and Eddie) at their apartment in Wilmington, California. But before he left, Ralph and Ella went to a jewelry store and bought an engagement ring set, tentatively planning to get married the following spring.

Submarine net. (Image source)

For the next 9 months, from May 1952 until March 1953, Ralph was in southern California, going to school at Los Angeles Harbor Junior College, taking classes for their architecture and drafting program.(4) He was also working, initially with Lester at his bait business (digging for and selling rock worms to fishermen) and then for a company named Grommet Reaver making submarine nets.(5)

Still in Mesa, Ella worked for a time as a secretary at one of the elementary schools. Then she got a job at the high school, working with one of the gym teachers to help keep track of sports records and other related details.

(Image Source)

How did they keep in touch during this long-distance relationship? Ella visited Ralph in California a couple of times (riding the Greyhound bus from Mesa to Los Angeles), though Ralph didn’t go back to Mesa again until their wedding. They kept in touch by letters and phone, but mostly by letters. 

“Nobody had more than one phone in their house, and they were all land lines.... There was a special little cubby hole built for the phone. Boy, if you had a phone in your house, you were uptown! And if it rang, you’d have to run and get it. Ella’s family had a phone in their apartment, and we would call occasionally, but mostly it was, I’d get to a phone booth because I had to pay for the long-distance call. Juanita and Lester had a phone in their house. We didn’t spend so much time on the phone.(6)

“We called occasionally - long distance calls were expensive at the time! It might have cost 50 cents or more! … No speakerphones, but the big old heavy handset! Dial on the base, and hold the phone on your shoulder.”(7)

They wrote letters!

(Image Source)

“The letters cost 3 cents to mail. I could write a letter, usually fairly short letters...and I could drive them down to the Wilmington post office, get them there by 5 o’clock, and she would have it the next day. Not even airmail!...We did a lot of writing, almost daily. For 3 cents, we could almost talk to each other!”(8)

Though there was that physical distance between them, their relationship still remained strong. 

Then one day…“I got this invitation in the mail that said the parents of Ella Findlay, George and Kate Findlay, announce the wedding of their daughter Ella to Ralph Mitchell...’Whoa! That’s me!’” [Chuckles.](9)

The big day was set for March 5, 1953.

Notes:

1. From a phone conversation with Ralph and Ella, recorded 22 March 2015, at  about min 9.
2. From a video of Ralph and Ella filmed on 9 February 2014,  at about min 39. Ella has also joked that she make a pre-nup agreement: “I’ll marry you if we don’t live in AZ.” (From a conversation recorded April 2018.)
3. From a phone conversation with Ralph and Ella, recorded 13 January 2015,  at about min 38.
4. The last couple years of high school, Ralph was interested in studying architecture. He had entered a drawing into a contest sponsored by the Ford Motor Company and received an honorable mention! (Ralph adds the caveat, “Like thousands of others,” but still impressive!) (From phone conversation on 22 March 2015, about min 53).
5. Submarine nets ---- [info here]. Ralph shared the company name in a conversation recorded on 9 Feb 2014.
6. From a phone conversation with Ralph and Ella, recorded 13 January 2015, at about 33 min.
7. From a phone conversation with Ralph and Ella, recorded 13 January 2015,  at about 37 min.
8. From a phone conversation with Ralph and Ella, recorded 13 January 2015,  at about 34 min.
9. From a phone conversation with Ralph and Ella, recorded 22 March 2015, at  about min 15.

Question:

• When did Ralph's parents, Juanita and Lester, meet Ella? They were living in Southern California and Ralph was living with his grandparents Bertha and Earl Inglish. Would love to hear that story!