Asenath Hatch Nicholson (February 24, 1792 – May 15, 1855) was an American vegan, social observer and
philanthropist
Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...
. She wrote at first hand about the Great Hunger in Ireland in the 1840s. She wrote about the life of Ireland both before and during the crop failures that caused famin as she walked the country distributing copies of the Bible, food and clothing.
Life
Nicholson was born in Chelsea in Vermont in 1792. Her family belonged to the Protestant Congregation Church and she was named after the biblical
Asenath
Asenath (, ; Koine Greek: Ἀσενέθ, ''Asenéth'') is a minor figure in the Book of Genesis. Asenath was a high-born, aristocratic Egyptian woman. She was the wife of Joseph and the mother of his sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. There are two R ...
, the daughter of Potipherah and wife of Joseph. She trained and became a successful teacher in her hometown before she married Norman Nicholson, a widower with three children, and went to live in New York. They family became interested in the diet recommended by
Sylvester Graham
Sylvester Graham (July 5, 1794 – September 11, 1851) was an American Presbyterian minister and dietary reformer known for his emphasis on vegetarianism, the temperance movement, and eating whole-grain bread. His preaching
inspired the graha ...
. In the 1840s they ran a boarding house that offered this vegetarian diet. Nicholson also advocated exercise and occasional fasting. She published the first Graham recipes.
In May 1844, after her husband's death she left New York for Ireland and when she arrived she walked around the country, visiting virtually every county. She noted that people lacked work and they relied almost entirely on their crop of potatoes. She left for Scotland in August having observed Ireland just before the outbreak of the
Irish Famine
The Great Famine ( ga, an Gorta Mór ), also known within Ireland as the Great Hunger or simply the Famine and outside Ireland as the Irish Potato Famine, was a period of starvation and disease in Ireland from 1845 to 1852 that constituted a h ...
. Upon her return to America, she wrote ''Ireland's Welcome to the Stranger, or, An Excursion through Ireland in 1844 & 1845, for the Purpose of Personally Investigating the Condition of the Poor'', which was published in New York by Baker & Scribner in 1847.
She had a sharp eye for inequality and exploitation - exploring the grounds of Clifden Castle in Connemara she wrote of a grotto she discovered:
Now appeared a fairy castle, a house with variegated pillars and open door, made of shells of the most delicate shades, arranged in stars and circles of beautiful workmanship. These showed exquisite taste in the designer, and must have been done with great cost and care. I found that a laboring peasant was the architect of this wonderful fabric, but he was kept most religiously in his rank, laboring for eight pence a day.
In Roundstone a man described potatoes to her as "The greatest curse that ever was sent on Ireland; and I never sit down, see, use, or eat one, but I wish
every divil of 'em was out of the island. The blackguard of a Raleigh who brought 'em here, entailed a curse upon the laborer that has broke his heart. Because the landholder sees we can live and work hard on 'em, he grinds us down in our wages, and then despises us because we are ignorant and ragged." She comments: ''This is a pithy truth, one which I had never seen in so vivid a light as now.''
She returned in 1846 during the second of the five annual crop failures of the potatoes on which the poor of Ireland depended, which, together with high unemployment, was creating a national disaster. Nicholson was concerned that she would just have to witness the suffering but she wrote to the '' New-York Tribune'' and ''
The Emancipator The Emancipator may refer to:
Media
* ''The Emancipator'' (newspaper), American anti-slavery newspaper founded in 1833
* ''The Emancipator'' (website), American online newspaper founded in 2021
* '' Manumission Intelligencier'', American anti-sla ...
'' in New York and assistance from their readers was organised. In the following July five barrels of corn arrived from New York. On the same ship were 50 barrels for the ''Central Relief Committee'', but Nicholson preferred to go it alone.
She wrote an eyewitness account of the Great Hunger in Ireland in the 1840s, ''Annals of the Famine in Ireland, 1847, 1848 and 1849'', which she had observed as she walked the country distributing bibles, food, and clothing.
Nicholson died in
Jersey City
Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.
In 1835, Nicholson authored the first American vegetarian cookbook, ''Nature's Own Book''. Nicholson stated that "good bread, pure water, ripe fruit, and vegetables are my meat and drink exclusively." The book utilized some recipes with dairy, but Nicholson personally advocated against its use.
Nicholson also authored, ''Kitchen Philosophy for Vegetarians''. The book was published by William Horsell in 1849. A review in the ''Vegetarian Advocate'', noted that "butter and eggs are excluded" from the recipes. The Vegan Society have cited the book as the first vegan cookbook."Key facts" The Vegan Society. Retrieved 14 July 2019.