The Stonington Historical Society has recently reissued The Davis Homestead, a local memoir of life on the farm in lower Pawatuck written by John Davis, Whit Davis’ father.
Originally published in 1986, the book contains accounts of the Davis Farm and the family's history dating back to before the American Revolution. This memoir is not only a family history but also a major window into our collective early colonial life.
To celebrate the arrival of the new edition, the Historical Society hosts a morning event at the Palmer House. Whit Davis, a vibrant, white-haired man now in his 80s, is to cook Jonny-Cake using the farm’s flint corn meal.
As so often happens with Whit, he is quickly surrounded by a crowd and absorbed in telling some vivid anecdote. He moves with the group from the small kitchen to an adjacent parlor. It seems the cooking assignment for the assembly of fifty will fall to Velora, Whit’s wife ... and myself.
Before being called to the other room, Whit measured corn meal, salt, and sugar into a large ceramic bowl to make a triple batch. On a side table, a small electric coffee pot heats water to a boil.
“Remember, Velora, that water must be boiling.” Whit cautions. “That’s what cooks the corn meal. Frying just crisps up the edges.”
With Whit busy and the Program’s hostess eager to start feeding her hungry crowd, Velora reluctantly begins to mix the batch.
“I’ve never done this before,” she whispers to me in a tone of slight worry and small conspiracy. “I’ve only watched Whit do it.”
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