Virginia Housewife or Shrewd Yankee
Who Invented the Refrigerator?
In 1860 no less an authority on Richmond’s past than Samuel Mordecai
wrote: “The lovers of comfort and cool beverages are indebted to Mrs.
R’s (Mary Randolph) ingenuity for the invention of the ‘Refrigerator,’
as she called it. The first one was constructed according to her plan
for her own use. It was said that a shrewd Yankee who was an inmate of
her house for a few days, to whom she showed it, carried the invention
with him, perhaps obtained a patent, and it soon got into general use.”
She described her contrivance in her well-known 1824 cookbook, “The
Virginia House-Wife.”
Who was that “shrewd Yankee”? Was it Thomas Moore of Baltimore? He is
credited with inventing the refrigerator in 1803.
With the help of Francis P. O’Neill of the Maryland Historical Society,
we learned that Moore had used his invention to keep butter cool while
transporting it on horseback to his home in Georgetown.
Mrs. Randolph’s book noted: “Thomas Jefferson and some of the heads of
governmental departments used these devices.” In fact, the patent for
Moore’s refrigerator was signed by Jefferson.
Did Moore know Mrs. Randolph?
He was the chief engineer of the James River Canal in 1794. Mary
Randolph was in Richmond at that time. In 1790, her husband David was
appointed Federal Marshall for Virginia by George Washington, with the
help of the Secretary of State and his cousin Thomas Jefferson.
David and “Molly,” as she was sometimes called, built their house at
Fifth and Main Streets in Richmond in 1798. It was known as Moldavia, as
combination of their two names.
When David Randolph was removed from office in a political shakeup in
1804, the family was forced to sell Moldavia and move. The Richmond
Gazette reported on March 8, 1808: “Mrs. Randolph has established a
boarding house in Cary Street, for the accommodation of Ladies and
Gentlemen. She has comfortable chambers and a stable well supplied for a
few Horses.”
The boarding house was very successful. Always a good cook, she decided
to share her knowledge. The 1824 copy of her cookbook had some of the
earliest recipes for southern fried chicken and ketchup, and many
kitchen hints. That’s where a drawing of her refrigerator was displayed.
Both she and Mr. Moore utilized a box within a box and used charcoal
powder in between.
Which leaves us with question: “Who had the idea for the refrigerator
first?” We do know only one took the time to have it patented.
Ray Schreiner is a volunteer at the Valentine Richmond History
Center and the Virginia Historical Society, and is an avid reader of old
newspapers.
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