Person:Jessie Mc Intosh (1)

During the voyage to America, Jessie Mc Intosh French ate jam her grandmother had sent. That pottery jam jar has been passed from the mother of Peter or Jessie (Mitchell) Mc Intosh to Peter and Jessie, then to Jessie Mc Intosh French, then to daughter-in-law Harriet Hazen French, and last to one of Harriet’s granddaughters in 1982. A curled, yellowing envelope inside the jar is about 3” x 5”. Inside the envelope is an index card with the following:

“Jessie. Fri - July - 13 - 1962. My Grand Mother gave Mother and I this jar full of Raspberry Jam when we left Scotland for America to put on our bread on the boat but Mother was sick all the time we were traveling so I got all the Jam I guess all she had when we got here was the Jar. so here it is, that is 77 years ago. I was 1 1/2 years old.” Harriet said she had asked Jessie to write this story when Jessie gave the jar to her.

The jar is 6“ tall, with a diameter of 3.5“ at the top, and 4.25” at the base. Two glaze colors were used on the pottery - a medium brown covers the entire interior and top 2.5“ of the jug’s exterior. The glaze on the lower 3.5“ is a warm tan color, showing some darker flecks in the clay under the glaze. It is hand-made, not factory-produced. The bottom exterior of the jar is unfinished, showing the raw clay that was used. The lid for the jar was broken or lost before Harriet received the jar.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Find A Grave
   [1].
2. ↑ Robin Mc Kercher. McKercher, Robin. World Connect Project: Robin Mc Kercher Family. (on-line)
   [2].
3. ↑ ^3.0 3.1 Cherokee, Iowa, United States. 1900 U.S. Census Population Schedule
   [3].
4. ↑ Cherokee, Iowa, United States. 1930 U.S. Census Population Schedule.