LE ROY PENNYSAVER & NEWS - JULY 10, 2022 by Lynne Belluscio Jacob LeRoy grew cauliflower but more than likely, he did not grow sweet corn. Yet the story of this summer favorite starts not too far from LeRoy and includes George Washington, the Seneca Native Americans, Fort Niagara, and Lieutenant Richard Bagnal. The early pioneers cleared the land and grew corn. Not sweet corn, but hard flint corn that could be ground into corn meal and corn flour which was made into corn cakes, corn meal mush, and corn bread. Jacob LeRoy knew that it was difficult to store cornmeal and corn flour because it would get moldy, so he built a distillery, because the easiest way to store and ship corn was when it was made into corn whiskey and stored in barrels. The other advantage of flint corn was that the plants, after the corn was harvested, could be put in shocks. When the corn stalks were dried, it could be chopped and it provided food for livestock. Even the corn stubble, left after the corn was cut, provided food for livestock. The Native Americans relied on corn and it was part of their sacred ceremonies. Corn husk masks were made, as well as corn husk dolls. Corn was one of the “three sisters” with squash and climbing beans. The large squash plant leaves protected the ground beneath the corn and the bean plants would climb up the corn stalks. A traditional food of corn and beans known as "succotash” is derived from the Narragansett word msickquatash meaning boiled corn kernels. About 1750, in a Seneca corn field, a type of soft, very sweet corn appeared. The Senecas called it Papoon. It was eaten in the “green” stage. In 1779, General George Washington, frustrated by the threat of the Iroquois, sent troops, led by General John Sullivan and general James Clinton into Western New York to burn crops, cut down orchards, and burn villages. The Native Americans fled to Fort Niagara where they hoped the British would help them. Instead, they starved and froze. One of the men in Clinton and Sullivan’s campaign, Lieutenant Richard Bagnal found their unusual “sweet corn” and took some back home to Massachusetts, where he grew it for a few years. Eventually, the seed was commercially sold and two varieties became popular, Old Colony and Stowell’s Evergreen. These were a white kernel sweet corn. Stowells Evergreen was grown in many gardens for over 100 years, and it wasn’t until the introduction of Silver Queen in the 1950s, that Stowells went out of favor. The earliest yellow kernel corn was Early Golden Bantam introduced in 1902. Today, the Iroquois Corn Project grows a white corn, but it is used for white corn flour not sweet corn. Herearea fewother cornystories. •HuskingBees (picturedabove)were a common event before mechanical husking equipment was invented. •“Cornfusion” is when players or teams cannot agree on the scoring of an inning of Cornhole. • There are many corn dog vendors who claim responsibility for the introduction of the corn dog. Carl and Neil Fletcher introduced “Corny Dogs” at the State Fair of Texas sometime between 1938 and 1942. •Nebraskawas admitted to theUnion as the 37th state. It’s nickname is the “Cornhusker State” and the athletic teams of the University of Nebraska are called the Cornhuskers. • Cornhole was described in 1883 in a patent for “Parlor Quoits.” At one time the bags for cornhole were filled with corn. Then the bags were filled with beans – thus bean bags. • One of the best lotions for dried hands is Cornhuskers’ Lotion. • The Avon Rotary Club holds an annual Corn Festival. This year it is August 13. And I almost forgot – there’s corn fritters, and corn salad too. . 1779 Sweet Corn
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