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Spotsy family tries to bring history alive THE CHARACTERS

Spotsylvania County family reenacts 18th-century cooking customs over an open hearth

Date published: 7/22/2008

By CATHY DYSON

Mark Taylor and his children slaved over an open hearth for hours, showing how food was cooked in the 1770s when people couldn't zip open a frozen dinner and zap it in the microwave.

Even after guests left the steamy Kenmore kitchen, the Taylors acted like they were still in another era.

Sara, 19, and Joshua, 15, continued to banter in Old English as they scrubbed iron cookware and emptied sea salt that had been displayed in an oyster shell.

The two called out their characters' names and spoke just as they had when Joshua explained earlier how to debone a chicken.

"Do you wish me to do that?" he asked his sister.

"No, I've already begun," she answered, reaching for a bowl she said "was as clean as the soul of an infant."

The Taylors' research on 18th-century customs often spills over into their modern conversations.

"We don't lapse into our characters. I think we just lapse into proper English," Sara said. "It's done wonders for our language skills."

The family, which includes 11-year-old Deborah, became interested in colonial cooking six years ago when a group called George Washington's Young Friends was formed. Sara and Joshua were founding members--and the only ones of the original 15 still practicing their skills.

Their art is called first-person 18th-century historic interpretation, said Susan Bailey, an executive assistant at Kenmore, who helped start the program.

Participants aren't given a script, but they are required to research a generic character--such as an indentured servant from Scotland--and find out about his life.

Then, the young re-enactors come up with a name and take on the persona, with all the 18th-century trappings.

The Taylors are particularly good at it, Bailey said.

"You can give them the seed of an idea, and it blooms in their mind," she said. "I love to stand back and watch them. It's phenomenal."

The Taylors do most of their re-enacting--which always includes cooking--in Kenmore's kitchen, a separate building outside the 1770s Fredericksburg mansion, which was home to George Washington's sister, Betty, and her husband, Fielding Lewis. About a dozen times a year, they rustle up squirrel stew or meat pies, carrot pudding or onion soup.

They rarely cook the same recipe, a word that, in Washington's time, was pronounced like receipt, without the "t."

"We get bored ever so quickly," Sara said.

Mark Taylor is Peter Mueller, a Prussian forced to fight for Frederick the Great. He ran away to Spotswood's mines, then convinced the workers he could cook when it got too cold outside. Sara Taylor is Katharyne Davey, a girl who was kidnapped at age 11 from the docks in Wales and pressed into service. Joshua Taylor is Mathias McCormick, an assistant cook and fire boy who became an indentured servant after his family's farm failed in Scotland. Deborah Taylor is Hannah, the daughter of Peter Mueller and, much to her chagrin, the one who's supposed to wash all the dishes her family members dirty. The Taylors cooked in Kenmore's kitchen last week for visitors from the Commonwealth Governor's School; 14 rising sophomores and juniors ate chicken pudding, kale salad and trifle the Taylors prepared. The portrayals drew rave reviews. "It's so authentic," said Travis Wakeman, who gobbled several helpings of the main dish. "I forget that I'm in the 21st century." Some of the drinks weren't as popular. "That first drink we had, the one called Fly? That tasted like rotten eggs and vinegar," said Emily Garlington. WHAT: George Washington's Young Friends WHO: For those ages 12 through 19 interested in 18th-century history WHEN: Group meets every Thursday at 4 p.m. at Ferry Farm Baptist Church MORE INFORMATION: George Washington Foundation at 540/373-3381

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Date published: 7/22/2008