History of Lemons in the United States by Zina Abbott

 

One common error I often see in American historical novels set in the latter half of the 1800s is the frequent use of lemonade being offered as a popular drink year-round. Whatever many pioneers—especially in the West—might have offered as a cold, non-alcoholic alternative to coffee or tea, it was probably not lemonade. Perhaps fresh or bottled juice or apple cider? Lemons—like all citrus fruit—were grown in Florida, the Southeastern citrus growing states, and California, or shipped by steamboat from Europe. No matter where one lived in the United States then, lemons were expensive.

In addition to lemons not being grown throughout the United States, they also had a limited growing season. Peak time for lemon harvest was from December through February, although, in some places, a small, secondary harvest period might last until June. Although there were ice houses in larger cities, and many farmers/ranchers preserved ice in dugouts to last most of the year, the capacity to preserve food through long-term freezing did not exist. The chances that our Western ancestors served iced lemonade made from fresh lemons in July or August was limited to non-existent. Lemon availability increased throughout the West only after the 1869 completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. The cross-country railroads made shipping from Florida, the Southeastern citrus growing states, and California to other parts of the country possible.

WHERE DID LEMONS COME FROM, ANYWAY?

Tomb of Nakht

It is believed the lemon (Citrus limon) is a native of northeastern India or Burma. They were known in Egypt. The earliest references lemons can be found in Sanskrit and Chinese literature. The Moors carried the plant into Spain, and Crusaders brought the plant back to Italy from Palestine and Turkey.

During his second journey to the New World in 1493, Christopher Columbus carried lemon seeds and introduced citrus on the island of Haiti. From the West Indies, the lemon migrated to the mainland where it grew wild, since the climate was somewhat like that of southeast Asia. Records show that these citrus trees were well established in the American colonies in about 1565 at Saint Augustine, Florida, and in coastal South Carolina. In Florida the Indians are said to have used citrus and aided in its dissemination.

The Spanish Conquistadores and mission fathers furthered the spread of this and other varieties of citrus wherever they went in the Americas.

During the 19th century and in the first decade of the 20th century Italian fruit growers held a virtual monopoly on the sale of lemons in the United States. Fruit grown in Florida and in California was considered to be of poor quality and could not compete with Sicilian fruit. It took time for Southeast states and California to develop varieties that favorably competed with the fruit shipped from Europe.

ATTEMPTS TO GROW LEMONS IN SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

Commercial production of citrus in the Southeast was not significant until after the American annexation of Spanish territory in 1821 when the Spanish gave up their groves to the United States. Florida growers who took over those groves began shipping oranges, grapefruit, limes, and lemons to Philadelphia and New York by railway and ships in the 1880’s.

Settlers from the United States took over Spanish plantings and the groves of trees which grew wild and began to ship citrus to other parts of the United States. Prior to the 1860's the commercial citrus crop of Florida was limited to the output of a few small groves in the northern part of the state. Most of the groves were located along the banks of the St. Johns and other rivers, since practically the only means of transportation was by river boats. The methods of culture, harvesting, and shipping were very crude, but in spite of the many handicaps the pioneer growers prospered. The building of railroad lines into the area in the early sixties brought about a rapid growth of the industry. According to a U. S. Department of Agriculture report published in 1887, by then, lemon culture in south Florida was making rapid strides. Although it was earlier believed by most people that a sweet rind, first-class aced, medium size lemon could not be produced on Florida soil, five varieties of commercial lemons began attracting attention.

BEGINNINGS OF COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION IN CALIFORNIA

The first plantings of citrus in the American Southwest were at the Spanish missions in Arizona between 1707 and 1710, and it is known that the lemon was growing in Baja California as early as 1739.

Citrus fruits were introduced in California by the padres around 1769. The first recorded citrus orchard was planted in 1804 at the San Gabriel mission, east of Los Angeles. In the early years, citrus were mainly grown in the missions from San Diego in the south to San Jose in the north and in garden plantings in the Los Angeles area.

The first commercial orchard was planted by William Wolfskill in 1841 near what is now the center of downtown Los Angeles.

Following the discovery of gold in California the influx of population resulted in a greatly increased demand for food of all kinds. The demand for an acid fruit was met by imports of lemons and limes from Europe and by an increased production of both these fruits within the state.

 

Prior to 1848 there had been little planting of citrus in the northern counties since most of the Spanish settlement had occurred to the south of the San Francisco Bay area. During the 1850's and early 1860's commercial plantings in these northern counties remained few in number for several obvious reasons. First of all, most of the people were engaged in a search for gold and were not interested in agriculture. Secondly, a large percentage of the gold miners came from the eastern part of the United States and from Western Europe and had no background in citriculture.

California Lemon Growing Districts

 

Starting in the 1870, the citrus industry expanded quickly. The bulk of California's citrus production was from Los Angeles County. While it was based on some 90,000 trees in 1875, this number had increased to approximately 2 million trees in 1885 and to 4.5 million trees in 1901. Commercial fruit production was concentrated in the three Southern Californian counties of Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and San Diego. (Personal note: I started First Grade in a San Diego County town named Lemon Grove.)

Golden Spike Ceremony-Transcontinental Railroad

The completion of the transcontinental railways greatly promoted this boom. The Southern Pacific Railroad did not connect Bakersfield until 1874 and completed its connections between California and El Paso, Texas in 1881. The Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad did not reach Los Angeles until 1887. Before then, for lemons grown in Southern California to reach the Central Pacific (Later Southern Pacific) line that joined the Transcontinental Railroad, they had to be shipped north to either San Francisco or Sacramento.

The completion of the Transcontinental Railway further stimulated the citrus industry, since citrus could be rapidly sent to eastern markets. Competition among the railroads led to lower freight and passenger rates to and from California. Prior to 1885 it cost as much at $1000 to ship a carload of produce to Chicago. Early in 1885 this dropped to $400 a car. With the completion of the Santa Fe the freight rate between Los Angeles and Chicago fell to $200 a car. Later improvements of refrigeration helped to increase citrus growing and planting, mainly oranges, lemons, and limes throughout the world in 1889.

Very gradually California growers overcame their production and marketing problems and captured a larger and larger share of the world lemon market. Their share of lemon sales in the United States rose from a few percent in the 1880's to 18 per cent in 1900. By 1920 their share had increased to 75 per cent.

In spite of the lower freight rates foreign fruit could be delivered to the major eastern cities at a lower cost than could California fruit. There was still a freight rate advantage enjoyed by imported fruit in the eastern markets.

The domination of citrus production in the United States by Florida continued until several devastating freezes in 1894 and 1899 severly damaged citrus production. They virtually wiped out certain citrus varieties in the Gulf States. Again in 1916, a hard freeze heavily damaged the Florida and Gulf Coast citrus production. It was then citrus production of the United States began to shift from Florida to California. This lasted until just after World War II when the citrus crops in California developed disease. More citrus growth shifted back to Florida.

 

In my recently published Christmas romance, Lemon Cookies by Lisbeth, part of the Old Timey Holiday Kitchen series. One of the challenge she faces is the wait until lemons are readily available for sale at a decent price in her 1882 Rocky Mountain community. To find the book description and purchase options, please CLICK HERE

 

 

My second Christmas romance for 2024 is Phoebe, part of the Christmas Quilt Brides series. Set in 1896 New Ponca, which was built along the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe tracks, not only would lemons be more available, but by that point in time, the lower shipping costs would have made them more cost-effective. To find the book description and purchase options, 

please CLICK HERE

 

My third and final Christmas romance for 2024, published two days ago, is A Surprise for Christmas. Set in 1867 Kansas, the Transcontinental Railroad was barely getting started in Nebraska, and the connections between the Kansas Pacific and Union Pacific had not yet been made. In this book, the hot-weather drink was either water or switchel, a concoction made from water and two pantry staples—vinegar and molasses. To find the book description and purchase options, 

please CLICK HERE

 

 

 

Sources:

https://www.tytyga.com/History-of-the-Citrus-and-Citrus-Tree-Growing-in-America-a/381.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemon

https://apps1.cdfa.ca.gov/FertilizerResearch/docs/Citrus_Production_CA.pdf

https://scholarworks.calstate.edu/downloads/m613n230z

Wikimedia Commons

Secondary Characters Can Sometimes Be #1 by Zina Abbott

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I find one of the truly fun aspects of being an author is when I add characters to flesh out the plot or enhance the protagonists (hero and/or heroine) or antagonist (the bad guy/s) only to have them become a big part of the success of the story. Sometimes, they steal the show. Other times, after I write "The End," I realize that secondary character (or a pair of them) deserve their own romance.

Today I am featuring a few of my secondary (and in one case, a tertiary) characters.

First, I will feature Elizabeth "Betsy" Jewell, who, as Varinia Jewell's sister, six years her junior, I wrote as a secondary character in Vinegar Pie by Varinia. 

At age seventeen, Betsy had graduated from the tenth grade. Other than focus on fashions, jewelry, and gossiping with her friends, she had no interests or talents of note--certainly none her mother and sister thought she should have. She does make it her mission to serve as a chaperone for her older sister any time Varinia has an opportunity to socialize with the man of her dreams, Arnie.

Here is an excerpt featuring Betsy from Vinegar Pie by Varinia:

Varinia waited until the two older students left before she turned to Betsy. “If it was not your idea to help, I don’t expect you to. However, it’s not fair or considerate for you to distract them and be at least partially responsible for them receiving a lower grade on this assignment.”

            “Stop treating me like I’m still in school. I’ve graduated, and I’m an adult now.” Stamping her foot, Betsy stepped back from Varinia.

            “Then act like it,” Varinia hissed. “Adults find their seats prior to a performance. Unless they are helping, they stay out of the way.”

            “I’ll visit who I want, when I want!”

            “Not while they are busy as part of the school program. Save your visiting for after, when you can congratulate them on a performance well done.”

            “Leave me alone. I’m tired of you acting like you’re my schoolmarm.” Betsy turned to follow Sally and Belinda.

            “Like you said, you are no longer in school. Stay away from the students until after the program.” Varinia lunged for her sister. Grabbing Betsy’s wrist with a death grip, she twisted around and stood on the balls of her feet as she searched the room. Seeing their parents, she tugged on her sister’s arm as she pulled Betsy toward them.

... Stepping around his wife, Charles Jewell leaned toward Varinia. He shifted his gaze from Varinia toward her sister. “Betsy, go sit on the bench with your mother.”

            “Pa, that’s not fair. All I was doing was socializing until the program begins.”

            A burst of male laughter filled the air.

          Along with the rest of her family, Varinia snapped her attention to the rear of the room where a circle of five men stood conversing. What was more, she recognized that Betsy’s gaze had honed in on one particular man in the group—Arnie Dickens.

         “Fine. If you don’t want me to socialize with friends from school, then I’ll visit with a few other people, instead. Ma, I’ll come with you in a few minutes, I promise.” Turning to face her mother, Betsy assumed her most winsome, charming smile.

Betsy was a troublemaker, who caused all sorts of problems at the family Christmas dinner. Both Arnie and his widowed father, Bert, had been invited. They ended up bringing an unexpected visitor, Arnie's cousin, Roy Hobart. 

When I first wrote Roy into the story, I did so as a distraction for Betsy--someone who take some of the pressure off her and help the story reach a positive conclusion. 

Here is a scene involving Roy:

            “You might be older than I am, Arnie, but you need to get out more.” Roy continued to grin as he walked toward his cousin. “Let me take that plate, Cousin.” He picked up the partially consumed slice of vinegar pie. “While you’re with your lady, I suspect you have more important things to do than eating.”

            “I can’t claim her as my lady, yet, Roy. We barely started courting.” Arnie again forced his breathing to stay even.

            “She’s the same woman your heart was bleeding over when I came for Christmas last year. She’s your lady, all right.” Pausing with the plate in his hand, Roy turned toward Arnie. “It took you long enough to start moving things along, Cousin. Then again, you always were a bit slow and far too steady. Now she’s agreed to court, if I were you, I’d speed things up. As for this humble delicious pie, I wouldn’t want it to go to waste. We’ll just put this back in the pan.” Using the fork, he shoved the slice into the open space next to the rest of the pie. “We’ll take it with us when we return to the stable. When you bring the empty pan back in the next day or so, it will give you two another excuse to visit.”

            “I don’t need an excuse to visit Rina.” Arnie shook his head.

            “Sure, you do. You and all your properness.” Roy walked over and shrugged on his heavy coat before returning to the table. “If you’ll pardon me, I’d like to take a little air.  ... “Oh, and if you’re worried about propriety regarding Betsy and me both being outside at the same time, you’re welcome to watch us through the window.” Roy walked toward the front door. “If she’ll let me, I might talk to her for a few minutes. I don’t plan to say anything mean.  After all, it’s the same sort of thing I’ve been known to do in my day.”

            Isn’t that the truth? Swallowing, Arnie turned to gauge Rina’s reaction. The way she covered her mouth with her palm, was she trying to keep from laughing aloud?

           "In spite of the dirty trick she played on her sister, I like Betsy.” Ignoring Dorothy’s gasp, Roy opened the door and exited.

            “That young man is a little short of manners.” Her face turning pink, Dorothy glanced around the room before she turned her attention to gathering used dishes. “No offense, Mr. Dickens. Since he’s your relative, I shouldn’t have said anything. Besides, considering Betsy’s behavior today, I don’t have room to talk.” She pressed her fingertips to her lips and blinked back tears.

By the time I finished the chapter that included this scene, I decided Betsy and Roy needed their own romance. 

First, I encourage you to read Vinegar Pie by Varinia, which is on sale for 99c until October 27th in the U.S. only (Sorry, it's an Amazon thing). It is also available with a Kindle Unlimited subscription. For the book description and purchase options, please CLICK HERE.

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The secondary character I will feature next I wrote for Lemon Cookies by Lisbeth. 

How did Betsy end up being known as Lisbeth? After discovering her calling life--thanks to Roy's suggestion--she not only pursued her interest, but decided to reinvent herself starting by changing her nickname. As for Roy, he remained Roy.

Due to Roy's job with a railroad section crew, Lisbeth and Roy spent much of their growing romance being separated. I needed a way to expose Roy's thoughts and feelings. I did so through a secondary character named Enos. 

In my initial novel plot planning, Enos did not exist. He came into being as I wrote the first chapter in which he appears. By the end of the second chapter that features his interaction with Roy, I loved him as a secondary character.

Enos was the cook for the section crew. His backstory was, he was born into slavery and walked away from his owner after the Emancipation Proclamation. He never learned to read or write, never was married, but worked where he could. This unassuming character becomes a sounding board and font of wisdom for Roy:

            “What you planning on making when you done carving my bean scoop?”

            Roy snapped his face up and turned his gaze on Enos. “I plan on making a box so I can mail a rock. It’s a chip of that gneiss, or however you say it, that much of these canyon walls are made of.”

            “A rock?” His lips parted and the whites of his eyes standing out against his darker skin tones, Enos stared. “I’s seen enough of these here rocks to last me all my born days. They about buried me when no one told us get clear and that explosion hit too soon. Why you want to spend good money mailing someone a Black Canyon rock?”

            “Sounds crazy, huh?” Roy grinned. “You don’t have to answer that, Enos. I’ve been told all my life I say and do crazy things. However, when I went to Cleora to visit my uncle, a certain young lady—”

            “Um, um, um, Roy. You got you a woman there in Cleora?” Eyes rounded, Enos stared.

            “Keep it down, Enos.” Gritting his teeth, Roy glanced at the door leading to the other room. “No, I don’t got a woman.”

            “Uh-huh. If that what you say.” Enos grinned broadly enough his white teeth against his dark skin filled his face.

            “It’s true, Enos.” Unfortunately. “Her sister married my cousin. Nothing more than that.”

            “That your story, no one hear no different from old Enos.” Wearing a smirk, Enos shook his head.

And later:

 ...      “Uh-huh. You don’t fool old Enos.” The man turned his back on Roy. Dipping a rag into a bowl of drippings, he began wiping the inside of his cast iron pot. “Why a lemon? Most women I’s know like flowers or hearts.

            “If you knew her, you’d understand why I chose a lemon.”

            “Lady got a little tartness about her?”

One thing I will say, I agonized over the dialect for this character. In some of my earlier works that included Black characters, in an effort to write true-to-life dialogue that would not offend, I discovered that dialects change over time. There are and were as many dialects spoken by Blacks as there are or were regions in which they live or lived The dialects sometimes spoken by many Black people today are not necessarily the same as those spoken by their ancestors one-hundred-and-fifty years ago. 

I hope I did justice to Enos, because he was my surprise, gold medal secondary character in Lemon Cookies by Lisbeth, which is now available for sale as an ebook and at no additional cost with a Kindle Unlimited subscription. To find the book description and purchase options, please CLICK HERE.

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The third secondary character I wish to feature is a child character--one of my favorites to write. Ellen is the daughter of one of my female characters in Wyatt's New Bride, which was published at the end of September. 

The first time the reader meets Ellen, she is four, almost five-years-old. She comes into her own farther along in the story. The first time my hero, Wyatt, meets her takes place almost two years after we first meet Ellen:

            Something opened his right eyelid and held it open. He again struggled to focus, only to realize a young girl with ash blonde hair and blue-gray eyes had placed her face several inches away on the same level as his. She stared at his eyeball.

            “You are sleeping in my bed.” Her voice a whisper, she raised her head and cocked an ear before stooping and returning her gaze to his. “I don’t mind. At first, Mama put you in her bed because you got shot really, really bad, just like Papa. Papa died before Grandpa brought him home. Only, you were still alive when some mens brought you here and when the doctor came. Mama sent me to the kitchen, but I sneaked back to the door and watched. He opened your eyes like this.” She reached her other hand to Wyatt’s left eye, which barely cleared the pillow, and pried that eyelid open, too. “The first time he said your pu…” She wrinkled her forehead. “I can’t say that word. Mama said it means the black dots in the center of your eyes. Anyway, they were different sizes, and you had a cussing.”

            “Concussion?” After searching for the right word, Wyatt spoke slowly. He wanted to laugh but feared doing so might send more physical pain coursing through him.

            The girl nodded. “Doctor Walker came again yesterday. He checked your eyes and said your head might still hurt, but the cuss…concussing…”

            “Concussion.”

            “He said it was gone because the black dots were the same size. They still are.”

            “That’s good. You can stop holding my eyelids open. I’ll try to do it myself.” Wyatt managed a smile. “What’s your name?”

            “Ellen.” She released his eyelids and leaned away.

            “That’s a pretty name.” Wyatt’s gaze grew unfocused. Ellen. One of the singing angels.

            “Uh-huh, but you have to talk really, really soft. Mama said not to wake you. Now the weather is warmer, she went outside to clean the chicken coop. I help gather eggs and feed the chickens, but I don’t like cleaning the coop.” Ellen wrinkled her nose. “Even though Mama said I must let you sleep, I stayed inside and watched you. I’m not supposed to bother you, but you were already waked. I saw you moving. You opened your eyes and lifted your head.”

            “I’m happy you’re here, Ellen.” He truly was grateful for the little chatterbox’s presence. Already, she had given him information that helped him understand what took place.

            “The doctor said the fection—I think that’s the right word.” Ellen scrunched her forehead.

            “Infection?”

            “Uh-huh, that’s it. He said it’s almost gone in the hole in your side. That part is healing really, really good, but your shoulder will take a long, long time.”

A special relationship develops between Wyatt and Ellen, the secondary character who, at times, steals the show. 

Wyatt's New Bride is currently available for sale as an ebook and at no additional cost with a Kindle Unlimited subscription. To find the book description and purchase options, please CLICK HERE.

I hope you enjoy reading secondary characters as much as I enjoy writing them.