Josephine Shea

The Scott County Journal
May 14, 1968

The Sheas of Scott County
Retired Teacher has Rich Irish Background

By Beverly Shirley
(Ed. Note. This is the first of a two part series on Miss Josephine Shea. The second installment will be presented next week.)

A petite gray haired Scott County lady, Miss Josephine Shea is quite proud of her Irish family heritage. She is a descendant of original Irish immigrants to Scott County, and named for an uncle Joseph H. Shea, who served as ambassador to Chile, and the great niece of the highest ranking officer from Scott County to serve during the Civil War, Col. Thomas Shea.

Miss Shea was born on February 28 in the same two-story flemish-bond house where she now resides with her brother. William P. Shea; she is the youngest of eight children of William P. and Mary Crawley Shea. The brick from which the house was built were made from clay obtained nearby and made by hand. The house was built by a man named Clark in 1833. Her grandfather Patrick Shea purchased the house about 1848. (He and another man by the name of Ross were contractors that built the railroad from North Vernon to Louisville, later called the Ft. Wayne and Southern Railroad, then O & M and now the B & O. Her grandfather was largely responsible for the founding of the first Catholic Church in Scott County. It was built in Lexington and called the "Mother of God Church."

Miss Shea received her first schooling at Frog Pond School prior to attending school at Lexington, and graduating from Scottsburg High School.

She has an A. B. and Masters Degree from I. U. and has taken post graduate work at University of Chicago. A former school teacher, she retired after teaching high school English and history at Whiting after 29 years of service. She retired in 1953 because of illness in the family.

She is a charter member of the Scottsburg American Martyrs Catholic Church Altar Society and the Scott Hospital Guild and she is still active in both. She served as Past president of the Whiting BPW Club and for six years served on the executive board committee of the Indiana State Teacher's Association where she worked with Borden R. Purcell, Robert Wyatt and Burley Bechtold. Presently, Miss Shea teaches a first grade Catechism class at the Catholic Church each Saturday.

Reading she says, "is her most fatal hobby as she spends too much time at it." She also loves to play bridge or any type of cards, work cross word puzzles and she enjoys china painting.

Something she thinks is unusual is the fact that two of her grade school teachers are still living. They are Mrs. Anna Middleton and Mrs. Ella Hardy.

In her home are many antiques that have been in the family over 100 years. In the living room are two walnut rose-back love seats, maple marble top table, a Persian rug that has been in the family for many years, and a large walnut bookcase made by a cabinet maker named Amick for her grandfather which holds many books dating back to 1828 and several Travels and a ruby kerosene chandelier that has been wired electrically.

Her bedroom includes a hand carved sideboard with marble top that belonged to her uncle Joseph Shea: and a needle point rocking chair in blue that was made by Miss Shea's sister, Marie, who is a teacher in Clinton and East Chicago schools. The straight rose-back chair's needle point covering was made by another sister Kathleen who was a nurse in World War I stationed in France and at Ft. Harrison in Indiana. The chairs belonged to Miss Shea's grandmother.

One of the most rare furniture pieces that she owns is a ladies Secretary more than 100 years old with the original walnut finish.

On a wall in the dining room are two wall certificates that belonged to her uncle Joseph Shea. One is from President Woodrow Wilson that states as follows: "Woodrow Wilson, President of the U.S. of America to Joseph H. Shea of Indiana - Greeting: Reposing special trust and confidence in your Integrity, Prudence and Ability, I have nominated and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate do appoint you Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America and Chile, authorizing you hereby to do and perform all such matters and things as to the said place or office do appertain, or as may be duly given you in change, hereafter and the said office to hold and exercise during the pleasure of the United States for the time being. 'In testimony whereof, I have caused the Seal of the United States to be hereunto affixed. Given under my hand at the City of Washington, the sixth day of March in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and sixteen and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and fortieth - Woodrow Wilson." The other certificate is from the President of Chile accepting Ambassador Shea, all written in Spanish and signed by A.W. Duseco, Presidenta.

She also has a stirrup that a great uncle Col. Thomas Shea used during the battle at Peachtree Creek, Georgia probably in 1864. (Col. Shea was a brother of Patrick Shea and the son of James and Mary O'Donahue Shea. He came from Covington, Ky. to visit his brother and joined the army at Lexington and served in the 2nd Regiment of Indiana Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War of 1861-65. Some of the battles he fought in were: Battle of Chickamuga, Lookout Mountain, and where he lost his left arm in the battle of Peachtree. After the war he served 10 years in the regular army going out West to fight the Indians.)

The Scott County Journal
May 21, 1968

Shea Cook Book Remembered Digestion

(Ed. Note. This is the second and final installment about the Shea family of Scott County.)

One of the most outstanding pieces in her dining room is a cherry table from the first Scott County courthouse at Lexington. It has no seams down the center and is made from a 28' wide board. Her family purchased the table when the furniture from the courthouse was sold before moving to the present county seat at Scottsburg.

These are some recipes of Miss Shea's from a late 1800 cookbook.

BEAN SOUP - Soak quart white beans overnight: in morning pour off water; add fresh, and set over fire until skins will easily slip off; throw them into cold water, rub well, and skins will rise to top where they may be removed. Boil beans until perfectly soft, allowing 2 quarts water to 1 quart beans; mash beans, add flour and butter rubbed together, also salt and pepper. Cut cold bread into small pieces, toast and drop on soup when you serve. (Ed. note. 1/2 tsp soda may be added to enhance digestion .)

BOILED BASS - or other fish - Put sufficient water in pot to enable fish, if alive to swim easily. Add 1/2 cup vinegar, 1 teaspoonful salt, 1 onion, 1 dozen whole black peppers, 1 blade mace. Sew up fish in piece of clean net or muslin, fitted to shape. Heat slowly for first 1/2 hour; then boil 8 minutes at least, to poud, quite fast. Unwrap and pour over it cup of drawn butter based upon the liquor in which fish was boiled with juice of l/2 lemon stirred into it.

DOUGHNUTS: 1/2 cupful butter. 1 cupful sugar, 1 1/2_pints flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons Royal Baking Powder, 1 egg, 1 1/2 cupfuls milk, 1 teaspoonful Royal Extract Nutmeg. Rub the butter, sugar, and egg to get smooth. Sift the flour and powder together, add it to the butter, the milk, etc; Mix into a soft dough; well flour the board, roll out the dough to 1/2 inch in thickness, cut out with large biscuit cutter, and fry to slight brown in plenty of lard made hot for the purpose. Serve with sifted sugar over them.

WASHINGTON CAKE (ST. LOUIS, 1780) 2 cupfuls butter, 3 cupfuls sugar, 4 cupfuls flour, 2 tea-spoonfuls Baking Powder, 5 eggs, 1 cupful milk, 1 cupful stoned raisins, 1/2 cupful ; washed and picked currants, 1/4 cupful chopped citron, 1 teaspoonful each Nutmeg and Cinnamon. Rub butter and sugar to white light cream; add beaten eggs gradually the flour sifted with powder, milk, raisins, currants citron and spices. Mix into smooth medium batter: bake in shallow, square cake pan in rather quick, steady oven, 1 1/2 hours: (about 350 degrees) when cold ice with white icing.

WHITE ICING: The whites of 4 eggs. 1 1/2 pounds white sugar dust (powdered sugar), 1/2 teaspoonful acetic acid (or the juice of half a lemon), 1/4 oz. Rum flavoring. Place the whites with sugar in a bowl with the acid and flavoring. Beat with a wooden spoon until letting some run from the spoon, it maintains the thread-like appearance for several minutes, when used as directed.

The following is a list of utensils absolutely required in a kitchen. 1 Iron Pot, 1 fish kettle, 2 large iron sauce-pans, one with a steamer, 1 stew-pan, 2 small saucepans for vegetables, 2 butter saucepans, 1 small saucepan pined with china for boiling milk, 1 gridiron, 1 frying-pan, 1 roasting jack and stand, 1 bunch of skewers, 1 basting ladle and slice, 1 toasting fork.

For Miners or Stockmen: 1 iron pot, 3 saucepans, 1 gridiron, 1 frying-pan, Poor Man's Jack for toasting.

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