By Muriel Bristol (Transcriber) | November 4, 2018
The following recipe was published in the Boston Globe in 1895. It was submitted by Mrs. J.L. of Milton Mills, NH.
Oyster Fritters
Take 25 oysters, 1 cup of milk, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon of salt, 2 dashes of black pepper, 2 cups of flour, ½ teaspoon of baking powder;
Drain the oysters and strip them with your fingers to remove any pieces of shell;
Chop them fine and beat them all together until light;
Add to them the milk, then the flour and salt until perfectly smooth;
Add the oysters free from all liquor and the baking powder;
Drop by spoonfuls in hot fat;
When light brown, take out and put on a piece of paper in a dish.
Some one please try these; they are delicious.
Milton Mills, N.H. Mrs. J.L.
The original was printed as a single paragraph. It is here broken into lines at the semi-colons for readability.
There seemed to be only one candidate with the right initials in Milton Mills Village in the Twelfth (1900) Federal Census.
That would have been Mrs. Jennie N. (Stevens) Lovering. She was born in Brookfield, NH, circa 1865, daughter of Plummer G. and Lydia Stevens. She married in Milton, March 13, 1895, George S. Lovering. She died in Milton, NH, March 26, 1901, aged only thirty-five years.
There were one or more fish stores in Milton Mills and J.U. Simes even once listed himself as selling oysters.
Answers. Of the many recipes I have taken from The Globe, I wish to thank, especially, Bertha of Melrose for soft gingerbread, A.M.K. of East Harwich for egg omelet, Mrs. J.L. of Milton Mills, N.H., for oyster fritters, and S.F.P. of Chelsea for graham gems. I have not the dates of the above, so cannot give them. Mrs. R.P.M. Lynn (Boston Globe, April 2, 1895).
References:
Boston Globe. (1895, February 14). Oyster Fritters. Boston, MA: Boston Globe.
Milton Observer 