Born in Newport, she was insturmental in getting Thanksgiving recognized as a national holiday in 1863 by  Abraham Lincoln. A very versatile woman, she is the author of “Mary Had a Little Lamb,”  was the editor of Godey’s Ladys Book and published Ladies’ New Book of Cookery (NY:1852) which included two pumpkin pie recipes. Generally, the American version had only one crust, while the English had two crusts. A sample of a one crust is below.

“Stew the pumpkin dry, and make it like squash pie, only season rather higher. In the country, where this real yankee pie is prepared to perfection, ginger is almost always used with other spices. There too, part cream instead of milk, is mixed with the pumpkin, which gives it a richer flavor. Roll the paste rather thicker than for fruit pies, as there is only one crust. If the pie is large and deep it will require to bake an hour in a brisk oven.” The Good Housekeeper, 1839