Museum wins $500 toward artifact restoration

A 19th century receipt book kept by Eliza Breckinridge Watts of Roanoke County is among historical items selected by the Virginia Association of Museums as one of Virginia’s Top 10 Endangered Artifacts. The nominees vied for restoration money to be decided through number of votes received. We will receive $500 toward restoration, the cost of which is expected to be slightly over $3,000.

The book is in the Historical Society of Western Virginia’s collection in Roanoke. The Society operates the History Museum of Western Virginia and the O. Winston Link Museum.

The receipt book contains recipes for cakes, pies and meat dishes, as well as household remedies for things like asthma. Eliza started the book in 1818 and signed it on the inside cover. She was the daughter of Gen. James Breckinridge of Grove Hill in Botetourt County and married Gen. Edward Watts in 1811. The couple built Oaklands in what was then Botetourt County and later Roanoke County where he served as Roanoke County’s first commonwealth attorney from 1839-1845.  Oaklands no longer exists.

“The receipt book provides a unique look into the domestic lives and social circles of upper class and frontier women, as Eliza wrote down where she got the recipes and gave tidbits on what worked in the recipe,” according to Ashley Webb, curator at the Society, which operates the History Museum of Western Virginia.

The book was used for the majority of Eliza’s life. Its latest recipe is dated 1857. Edward Watts died in 1859 and Eliza in 1862.

The competing items were chosen from among 30 applications by a review panel from the Library of Virginia, Preservation Virginia, Virginia Conservation Association and Virginia Department of Historic Resources.