32 
economy” and gave them in her life and character the “brightest 
of examples,” so it can be presumed that her daughters were apt 
scholars in the accomplishments required of well-bred and trained 
gentlewomen of the day. 
The following reference to Miss Colden was the means of 
identifying with a fair amount of certainty some unsigned house- 
hold records of hers that are preserved among her father’s sci- 
entific papers. 
Walter Rutherfurd was an ancestor of the well-known New York 
family .of that name. He came to America in 1756, while the 
French war was in progress, and served as an officer of the Royal 
Americans. In New York in 1758 he married Catharine, the 
widow of Elisha Parker and a daughter of James Alexander. 
About this time he wrote to a friend in Scotland, describing 4 
visit to Albany : + f 
*« At one of our landings we made an excursion to Coldenham, the 
abode of the venerable Philosopher Colden, as gay and facetious in his 
conversation as serious and solid in his writings. From the middle oF 
the Woods this family corresponds with all the learned Societies 10 
Europe. Himself on the principles of Matter and Motion, his son 0” 
Electricity and Experiments. He has made several useful discoveries 
and is a tolerable proficient in music. His daughter Jennie is a Flor- 
ist and Botanist, she has discovered a great number of Plants never 
before described and has given their Properties and Virtues, many of 
which are found useful in Medicine, and she draws and colors them 
with great beauty. Dr. Whyte, of Edinburg, is in the number of her 
correspondents. N.B. She makes the best cheese I ever ate 7 
America,’’ 
With this note in mind it does not seem unreasonable to suppose 
that the “ Memorandum of Cheese made in 1756” is in Janes 
writing. This “ Memorandum” consists of five sheets of fools- 
cap and is the careful and painstaking record of her yea! of 
cheesemaking. The following are the two first receipts : 
* Colden MSS. cas 
+Family Records and Events, Compiled chiefly from the original MSS. ee 
Rutherfurd Collection. By Livingston Rutherfurd. Privately printed ; 1894. (ORY 
150 copies. ) 
