Deacon Corey was a man full of energy, a Brookline Massachusetts farmer and Baptist deacon who put his hard earned money where his mouth was when it came to improving his community.
He first came to my notice in this amusing bit of leafy history.
PROFITABLE VEGETABLE CULTURE.
At a recent meeting of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, a discussion on profitable vegetable culture took place. William D. Philbrick had been appointed to lead the discussion, and said that the Dandelion holds the first rank in the list of spring greens.
Its earliness, the mild and pleasant bitterness of its flavour, its healthfulness as an article of food, the ease with which it is grown, and the certainty with which it produces a crop in our changeable climate combine to give it a first place in favour both with marketmen and consumers.
It is only recently that the dandelion has been much cultivated, and when the attempt was first made it caused considerable merriment. The first man who cultivated for Boston market was Deacon Corey, of Brookline, who began about 1836.
The marketmen of that time used to call them “Deacon Corey's grafted dandelions.” Now they are grown by the acre. The seed was at first obtained by selecting the largest of the wild dandelions ; lately, however, the French dandelion has been generally used, being larger, and since its introduction it has been much improved in colour and appearance.
The dandelion is always treated as an annual by the gardeners, who plough under the old roots as soon as the crop is taken, and use the land for melons or squashes, for the crop produced from old roots is much inferior to what is grown from young ones.
Looking at the map above you can see that Boston's Back Bay had not yet been filled in making it difficult for many farmers to get their goods into the city.
"Before the Back Bay in Boston was filled there was no direct access to north Brookline from the east until a road was constructed over the mill dam in 1829. "
Deacon Corey would have benefited greatly in 1836 from this new road.
The following information is an excerpt from an 1874 book, Historical Sketches of Brookline, Mass, by Harriet F. Woods. It is very readable for that sort of thing! Elijah Corey did many good things besides develop Boston's taste for alternative greens.
First, though, I am including some photos of Brookline from around the time Deacon Corey was taking his improved dandelion greens into Boston.
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| Cypress Street, which was originally the New Lane, was created in the17th century for residents of North Brookline to be able to get to the Meeting House...Google kmz download |
Elijah Corey, afterwards the deacon, married, when quite young, Polly Leeds of Dorchester... This was in November, 1797. The "wedding visit" (the old time name for a " Reception") was a gay affair for those times, and a quiet farming place, as Brookline was then. Almost everybody in the town was invited, and there was the inspiriting music of a fife and drum.
There was not much finery in those days, but what there was, was conspicuous on this occasion. An old citizen tells us that his mother, then young and fair, wore a new white silk hat, with white feathers, almost exactly in the style of those worn by young ladies the present season.
Mr. William Ackers, the former owner of the Fisher place on the corner of Boylston Street, used to relate an incident of his own participation in this ancient wedding. He was a stylish young man in those days, and had had black satin " small-clothes," ordered for the occasion, but as he was leaving his own house, a sudden slip in the muddy yard brought his satin finery to utter discomfiture, and he was forced to go back and make his toilet anew, in plainer garb.
The old house (lately the Bartlett house) was crowded with merry guests and the cheerful occasion was an event long talked of afterwards. ...
Deacon Elijah Corey was left a widower in 1827, and in 1829 married the widow of Captain Robert S. Davis.
The causeway across the valley from Washington Street to the steep hillside was built by Deacon Corey about fifty years ago. At the entrance of it stood a barn, underneath which was a cider-mill. This barn was destroyed by fire several years since.
All the Coreys of three generations have been farmers and have been considered shrewd, practical men. The two brothers, Elijah and Timothy, were among the first projectors of the Baptist Church enterprise in this town, and to that purpose devoted time, labor, and money.
None who were familiar with the old Baptist vestry will ever forget Deacon Elijah Corey's voice and manner in his old age. If the meeting flagged and there was an awful silence, Deacon Corey would strike out in a high key, " Come Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove," to the tune of Turner, or St. Martin's, or " Life is the time to serve the Lord," to the tune of Wells, or some other familiar old hymn, and by the time he had sung a line or two, other voices joined in and the solo became, not lost in, but a part of, a chorus.
His exhortations abounded in striking metaphors and strong language, frequently beginning with, "Brethren, a thought struck me," and he usually made the thought strike his hearers before he finished. He often ended an exhortation with the desire that the Lord would " make our souls like the chariots of Amminadib" (Song of Solomon vi. 12). But in what respect this would have been desirable, was not apparent to the listeners; and we often wondered what the good deacon's idea of such a condition of soul might be. There is no question, however, but that all through his life he had at heart not only the building up of his church here but of the denomination to which he belonged, not only here but abroad....He died in May, 1859, aged eighty-six, and was buried from the Baptist Church. A bunch of apple-blossoms, a fit tribute to one who had been all his life a farmer, was the only floral offering laid upon his breast.
Pg. 54The congregation at once became so large that their little new chapel would not hold them, and steps were soon taken to build a church. The five gentlemen above mentioned agreed to build it at their own expense, and each give a certain percentage of the whole cost, whatever it might be.
Deacon E. Corey pledged forty per cent. (that's our man!), Deacon T. Corey and Deacon Griggs each twenty per cent., and the others each ten. The church was built at a cost of about six thousand dollars; a few friends who had moved in gave from ten to a hundred dollars each, and the work was paid for. But there was no room for sheds, and hardly room enough to walk around the church on the west side, on their own ground which they had now bought.
At last the owner of the much desired piece of land, seeing that the church was built, signified his willingness to sell for a sufficient bonus.
Deacon Corey offered fifty bushels of corn, in addition to what was asked in money, and his offer was accepted. The land was secured, the sheds built, a strip west of them now in Mr. Panter's yard was sold to Mr. Holden, the next owner on that side, and thenceforward the Baptist ship sailed in smooth water.
The meeting-house was dedicated November 20, 1828. But the little chapel stood in front of it, and the gallows-like hay-scales in front of that. The hay-scales were bought and taken down, the chapel moved to the rear of the church and altered over into a parsonage; it still stands with additions and improvements, next south of the present church. The green in front of the church was fenced and planted with trees, and soon became a very attractive spot.
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