Manuscript Location

Library of Virginia, Archives and Manuscripts

Place of Origin

United States ➔ Virginia

Date of Composition

1823-1857

Description

This 110-page volume contains recipes for food and drink as well as medical and household recipes. The volume also includes lists of hats, shoes, blankets, and clothing issued to slaves; notes on various topics, some in French; an account for "Nancie" dated 1823-1824; and a reading list. There are also newspaper clippings containing recipes and other information.

Martha Burke Jones was born in Halifax County, North Carolina, in 1790, the daughter of Willie Jones (1740-1801), a prominent North Carolina political figure. In 1809, Martha Burke Jones became the second wife of John Wayles Eppes (1772-1823), whose first wife, Maria ("Polly") Jefferson (1778-1804), was a daughter of Thomas Jefferson and his wife Martha Wayles. John Wayles Eppes served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1801 to 1811, and again from 1813 to 1815, and as a United States Senator from 1817 to 1819. The couple lived at Eppes's Millbrook plantation in Buckingham County, Virginia, where they had six children. Martha Burke Jones Eppes died at Millbrook in 1863.